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Lawyers in France—The French Legal
Profession after the Reform
(Reprinted from English Law Society "Gazette", by kind permission)
LEGAL EUROPE
FRENCH LEGAL PRACTITIONERS
Before the 1971 Reform
1. Avocat
2. Avoue
3. Avocat au Conseil
D'Etat et a la
Cour de Cassation
(Avocats admitted to
practise before these
highest courts)
4. Notaire
5. Agree
(Pleader before
Commercial
Courts
6. Conseil Juridique
(Unadmitted legal
practitioners)
After the 1972 Reform
1,2 (partly)
and 5 :
Merged into the one, fused profession of
Avocats (barristers and solicitors)
3 and 4 :
Unaffected
6 :
Restricted and, for the first time, regu-
lated. (This category also comprises for-
eign practitioners in France, qualified in
their countries of origin but not, or not
necessarily, in France.)
The lawyers before the 1971 reform
Until its reform, enacted by law at the end of 1971
and which came into force in September 1972, France
was served by several classes of lawyers, with over-
lapping and complementary functions. The "Avocats"
(loosely : barristers) did, to a large extent, the work
both of the English barrister and solicitor, and
"Avoués" attended to procedure, doing also the solici-
tor's part of it, has the monopoly of preparing and
lodging written pleadings. Notaries, in addition to
English notaries' functions, had—and still have—the
monopoly of preparing, attesting and holding wills,
deeds relating to real property, mortgages and leases
and settled and authenticated memoranda and articles,
and other formal company documents. Arising from
their conveyancing activities, notaries also had and have
lucrative real estate practices, did probate and adminis-
tered estates. But much of the day to day non-con-
tentious work was in the hands of "Gonseils juridiques"
(legal advisers), also called "hommes d'affaires", "Men
of Business'. These, astonishingly, did not require any
legal education, training or qualifications. And yet they
did much of the French advisory, commercial, family,
administrative and tax work, done in England by solici-
tors and accountants. There existed also "Agréés, who
pleaded before some special commercial courts and,
further, high court barristers, called "Avocat au Conseil
d'Etat et á la Cour de Cassation", who were avocats
with an exclusive right of audience before these highest
courts.
The law of 31 December 1971 brought about a funda-
mental reform. It was the result of decades of debat»
and long preparation. The reform adopted is called
the "small reform"; a "major" reform was to deal with
the
whole
of the legal profession and would have put
an end to the unregulated activities of the
conseils
juridiques
entirely. The present reform, as will be shown
is more limited.
Historical background
The existence of the two main types of lawyers before
1971—of avoués and avocats, has a long history. All
professional organisations, including also lawyers, having
been abolished in the Revolution, the need, once the
Revolution simmered down, led in 1800 to the re-
admission of avoués. They were appointed by the
executive and attached to particular courts. Besides
an exclusive right to handle procedure and the right
to appear for clients and prepare their cases for trial,
they also obtained the right to
conduct
cases in court.
In 1810, the need for lawyers with a wider range came
to be felt. Although Napoleon—like other dictators
before and after him—had no liking for lawyers, who
meddled too much for his liking in politics, the pro-
fession of avocats was restored. But neither his oppor-
tunism nor his excessive concern with family ties——his
father and one of his brothers had both been avocats—
which he rated high in other fields, led him to grant
to the avocats the right of audience; this as an exclusive
right was not granted to them until 1922.
The
avoués
Up to the time of industrialisation in the 19th cen-
tury, it was the avoué who, thanks to his monopoly,
conducted proceedings. It was he and not the client
who mostly chose the avocat for a case. The avoué also
advised the client in other respects and the notary
gradually became the economic adviser of the well-
to-do and of property owning clients.
The number of avoués was limited. Their appoint-
ment created a "charge" or right of property transfer-
able
inter vivos
and which could also devolve by in-
heritance—often to sons-in-law. They were licensed to
act, in civil matters, in the courts of first instance of the
High Courts and in the appeal courts.
in commercial courts, legal representation came to
be the preserve of agrees—lawyers with lesser legal
qualifications and specialising in commercial matters.
The avocats concerned themselves with legal argu-
ments in the pleadings and with appearances at hear-
ings ("plaidoirie"), considering themselves as members
of a noble, gentlemanly profession. For this reason, they
refused to be agents of the client; they merely assisted
him and defended his cause. Yet, compared with the
English barrister, he bad the inestimable advantage of
direct contact with the client, without the intervention
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