The Gazette 1975

ORGANISATION OF THE FRENCH LEGAL PROFESSION by COLM MANNIN, Solicitor, Paris

Part II

THE CONSEIL JURIDIQUES AND THE FOREIGN PRACTITIONER IN FRANCE

Conseils Juridques The preceding article mentioned briefly the position °f the Conseil Juridiques — the hitherto unqualified, unregistered and entirely autonomous legal adviser, whose position in France has now been formalised by the Law n° 71-1130 which became effective in 1972. The background to the overhaul of the Conseil Juridique's position presents a bizarre story without Parallel in any modern legal system. It would be suf- k C n t * 0r t b e r e a d e r t o visualise a situation in which "te Solicitors' profession in Ireland ceased to exist, while the Bar continued on exactly as before, to under- stand the chaos that would result for the business community. This broadly conforms to the circum- stance in which the Conseils Juridiques emerged in France. The Avocats retained their traditional functions of consultant and advocate, leaving an e normous gap in legal service to be filled by a varied array of "legal advisers", not being members of any re gimented profession, often not even possessing legal qualifications at all. There was even a case of a bank- ru Pt butcher who found new life happily specialising •n liquidations of small private companies! It is not surprising that the. numbers of Conseils luridiques grew to a proportion that alarmed the rest °f the legal profession. Moreover, complete autonomy re sulted inevitably in abusive methods offensive to a n y standard of legal ethics. Advertising tactics deluded paid canvassers, newspaper announcements a "d even neon signs. Several firms enjoyed the benefit limited liability. Professional negligence insurance W a s the exception rather than the rule. Standards of Practice were so undisciplined that property negotia- . 10n methods knew no rules, commercial speculation clients affairs was quite common and highly suspect standards of practice including "get tough" tactics on e b t colection issues were all well known to the public well as legal practitioners generally. Pressure for reform was such that it was originally ^ t ended to abolish the activities of Conseils Juridiques n d to incorporate existing practitioners into the pro- 'fssion of Avocat. This proved too ambitious due to e wide divergence in standards of practice of the ^°nseils Juridiques compared with those of the fitoly disciplined Avocats. In the end the changes nich were made in 1972 came to be rather unjustly ete rred to as a "mini reform". Ti vi f a c t ' f r o m t h e point of view of the Conseils JUNdiques, the law of the 31st December 1971 is of a Jor significance. The second Chapter of the law nstitutes the first charter of the Conseils Juridiques, °w recognised as a "Profession Libérale" (Learned P r ofession).

Conditions of Registration Article 54 provides that persons who hitherto dis- pensed legal advice or service without being practising members of one of the recognised professions are now obliged to register on a list of Conseils Juridiques to be drawn up by the Procureur de la République. More- over, three conditions are required to qualify for registration on the list. (1) The applicant must hold a law degree or diplomas recognised as the equivalent. (2) He must have professional experience. (3) He must advance the same proofs of good character as are required for admission to the profession of Avocat. Persons who could not satisfy condition (1) could nevertheless apply for enrollment on the list if they had practised for at least 5 years prior to the passing of the law. Article 55 was of particular interest to foreign lawyers practising in France in so far as it provides legislative recognition of their role and status. Foreign lawyers are by the new law entitled to give legal advice and draw up documents in France provided: (1) Their service relate principally to "foreign laws" and international law and (2) that for this purpose, they register on the list of Conseils Juridiques established by Article 54. Nonetheless, lawyers from Member States of the E.E.C. are exempt from the obligation to register as Conseils Juridiques. Similarly, lawyers of any non- member state of the EEC are exempt if French lawyers are allowed to practise as such in that state. As this reciprocity is not accorded by the United States, American lawyers in France will be particularly affected by Article 55 except those who were already in practice in France on the date of passing of the 1971 Law. Article 56 abolishes the phenomenon of the part- time Conseils Juridique. Practitioners are now for- bidden to engage in any other remunerative activity, particularly, commercial. This puts an end to the "all rounder" who apart from dispensing legal advice, also acted as estate agent, unqualified accountant, com- mission agent, etc. These services were all rendered under the umbrella of the Conseil Juridique and often at package deal rates. Moreover, partnerships among Conseils Juridiques 114