The Gazette 1975

can no longer avail of limited liability and sleeping partners are penalised by being obliged to charge V.A.T. on their fees. Limited company partnerships which existed at the date of passing of the law of 1971 are permitted exceptionally to enrol on the list of Conseils Juridiques subject to certain conditions relating to control of capital and transfer of shares. The extraordinary anomaly of the right to advertise has now been radically curtailed. The Conseil Juridique may only mention his particular legal qualifications in addition to any field in which he claims to be a specialist. The latter right is in turn limited to one of three defined specialities namely fiscal law, com- pany law and social welfare law. Moreover, an appli- cation must be made for authorisation to mention a particular specialist field and the applicant must prove that he is properly qualified to practise in that field. In all other respects, the right to advertise has now been effectively abolished. The other reforms affecting Conseils Juridiques are broadly aimed at establishing rules of conduct and standards of practice designed to bring the profession into line with that of the Avocats. Professional negli- gence insurance as well as insurance against loss or misappropriation of client's fund& is compulsory. Regulations prescribing accounting methods require that clients' monies be deposited in a separate bank account. It is provided incidentally that Conseils Juridiques have withdrawn from practice as a result of the reform. The part timers in particular have given up, as have those whose qualifications were insufficient to enable them be admitted to the roll. Public con- fidence in the profession has to some extent improved though it is too early to ascertain the extent to which the regulations affecting Conseils Juridiques will be imposed. Foreign Lawyers There has always been a relatively high number of foreign lawyers practising in France. Their presence was originally required to meet the needs of the large foreign population in France. More recently, they have become active in the commercial field as a result of the post war development of the French economy in the context of world trade. Indeed the numbers of foreign lawyers in France, the nature of their practice and the type of clientele for which they cater have been more or less constantly determined by the varied international circumstances affecting French life both at the economic and social level over the last century and a half. These changes are reflected in the history of some of the older firms whose practices were set up in the last century to act as family lawyers for wealthy clients having secondary or principal residences in France. These firms were called upon to deal with most matters of legal consequence in the lives of their foreign clients — marriage, divorce, property, acquisi- tion, succession, tax, etc. However, as already mentioned, over the last two decades, a very sharp increase in the intake of com- mercial clients and the handling of commercial matters generally has been experienced by most foreign prac- titioners in France, particularly American and European law firms.

In be found only where they are needed in France. The vast majority are located in Paris while the re- maining handful are scattered around the Southern Mediterranean where there is a large foreign popula- tion in retirement or temporary residence. There are practically no foreign lawyers elsewhere in France although it is possible that over the next decade this situation will change as the larger French cities develop. Indeed the efforts of the French government to decentralise industry from the Paris region in favour of the larger cities are being increasingly applied to foreign companies setting up in France. It is therefore evident that the foreign lawyer is there to serve a particular clientele whose needs cannot normally be met by the members of the French legal profession themselves. This however is an over simplification and is reflected in the various misleading titles applied to foreign lawyers in France — "Juristes Etrangers" (Foreign Legal Adviser), "Avocat Etranger" (Foreign lawyer) and "Avocat International" (International lawyer). In fact, the most appropriate description appears to be "Avocat inscrit á un Barreau Etranger" — a lawyer attached to a foreign Bar. This in fact is the term now officially acknowledged as the correct descrip- tion of foreign practitioners in France. It is a minor result of the 1972 reforms during which the French Ministry of Justice consulted quite regularly with the foreign practitioners in France. Incidentally, there is a tradition in French legal practice whereby a foreign lawyer may plead his national law before a French Court provided he obtains the consent of the President of the Court and that he is assisted by a French Avocat. This, to some extent, justifies the description of "International Lawyer". The foreign lawyer is basically required to advise on his own national law, to assist clients in the administration of French law and to resolve problems resulting from the conflict of French law with that of his national law. The major portion of the average foreign firm's clientele is non-French, the source of which is gener- ally the country having closest connection with the particular firm. For example, a British client will invariably tend to consult one of the British law firms in France. The same is true for the Americans. English speaking clients of other nationalities notably Orientals, Scandinavians, Dutch, Germans and citizens of the Commonwealth countries divide their loyalties among the English speaking firms in fairly haphazard ways, determined by introductions from abroad, reputation, convenience, whim, or whatever. It is significant that the vast majority of the foreign firms and even the few individual prac- titioners in France tend to be connected in some way to firms in their own countries. Many are simply French branches of very large firms from abroad, some of which possess branch offices in various other countries as well as France. These connections in- variably account for a large proportion of a French office's clientele. As the clientele is invariably non-French, it follows that foreign practitioners are heavily involved in 115 general the foreign firms are to