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Attorney’s fee

Our fees are fixed in accordance with the provisions of article 10 of Law No. 71-1130 of December 31, 1971. Appointments for legal advice which do not require the opening of a case are invoiced at the end of the appointments according to the time spent on the basis of a previously defined hourly rate. In the event that the file is entrusted to the Firm, the first meeting will be included in the attorney fees agreed between the Firm and the client. When the case is opened, a written fee estimation is established taking into account the nature and degree of complexity and difficulty of the case, as well as the estimated time to be spent on. Fees are billed either on hourly rates or on a flat-fee basis, with additional contingent fees.

Hourly rates

For fees charged on time spent basis, we determine the hourly rate considering the nature and the complexity of the case. We indicate, when possible, the foreseeable hours to be spent in order to deal with the case.

Flat fees

The flat fee is normally applied to “simple” procedures, without major legal uncertainty. These are, for example, company’s incorporation, summary procedure (“référé”), precautionary measures or termination of work contract by mutual consent.

Contingent fees

A contingent fee is either a fixed amount or proportional to the outcome of a case. In France, it is prohibited to fix attorney fee only by contingent fee. We always draft a fee agreement for files requiring more than three months to deal with. A contingent fee must be stated in a prior fee agreement to be applied.

Fee arrangements

The legal assistance agreement (on annual subscription basis), is proposed to regular clients of the firm. This type of agreement offers client, for a fixed fee, legal advices during the agreed period without hourly rates. In practice, it is mainly used in Corporate matters.

Costs

Costs and expenses incurred during a case (registry fees, registration fees, bailiff fees, notary fees, local lawyer fees (“postulation”), expert appraisal fees, etc.) are paid by clients. Various costs relating to files are invoiced at 5% of the attorney fees.

VAT

The Firm is subject to VAT at the standard rate of 20.0% (applicable rate in France since January 2015) (exempt for non-EEC residents, article 259B of the General tax code).