The Gazette 1973

Lawyers in France—The French Legal Profession after the Reform (Reprinted from English Law Society "Gazette", by kind permission) LEGAL EUROPE

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 217

FRENCH LEGAL PRACTITIONERS Before the 1971 Reform

1. Avocat

3. Avocat au Conseil D'Etat et a la Cour de Cassation

2. Avoue

(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

Merged into the one, fused profession of Avocats (barristers and solicitors)

1,2 (partly) and 5 :

Unaffected

3 and 4 :

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.)

6 :

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-