France Process Service

              What we do

.

Service of Process in France from Abroad

Where a claimant located overseas (a "Non-French Claimant") considers bringing a legal action again a company or an individual located in France (a "French Defendant"), the Non-French Claimant's solicitor/attorney will need to advise his client as the relative advantages and disadvantages of bringing the action outside France or in France. Paris

If a decision is made to commence proceedings before a Court located outside France, it is important that service of process be effected in a timely manner, to avoid an issue of litis pendence (see below). 

The purpose of this article is to assist non-French legal counsel for a Non-French Plaintiff in avoiding some common pitfalls with respect to service of process in France.

Service of Process Options

Article 5 of the convention November 15, 1965 Hague Convention on the ServiceAbroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Documents in Civil or CommercialMatters sets non-exhaustive options for service of process.

The Hague Convention allows service through governmental channels, but the procedure is extremely slow and feedback even slower.

Article 10 of the November 15, 1965 Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extra-Judicial Documents in Civil or Commercial Matters provides a second, non-exclusive option for service of process: It is possible to use a French process server without using the services of the Central Authority. This second alternative i.e. direct service enables off-shore lead counsel and such counsel's local French counsel to avoid a number of potential defects in service of process in France which may otherwise go unidentified until enforcement is sought may years a later.

Unless legal counsel of theNon-French Plaintiff is used to selecting and working direct with Frenchbailiffs, the use of local French counsel is a justified expense and therefore it is advisable to serve the papers in France using our services. 

Language of Documents and Translations

Assuming that the original summons is not in French, it is recommended that a translation be attached, unless the Defendant/Respondent speaks perfect English, as the FrenchDefendant/Respondent may otherwise successfully claim that service was not valid by invoking the terms of Article 688-6 of the French "Code of Civil Procedure".

Avoiding enforcement issues

Ultimate results in international litigation and settlement negotiations are often determined by successful, judicious forum shopping. 

Non-French legal counsel for a Non-French Plaintiff should not assume that selecting a non-French judicial forum will lead to the best result, as, inter alia, French courts may, by application of French internal law, refuse to enforce (grant exequatur of) certain foreign final and executory judgments. Accordingly, if the prospective Defendant is French, the choice of forum issue should normally be discussed with French us.

Avoiding Litis Pendence

It often is important that the French Defendant be validly served from the outset. Failure to effect valid service on the first try can offer some French Defendants the possibility of serving the Non-French Plaintiff "first" and thereby creating a situation of litis pendence in France, thereby possibly denying the Non-French Plaintiff the home Court advantage.

The Hague Convention is available here.