Fees
Tailored fees, agreed in advance
No two matters are alike. The fee basis and amount are defined with you according to the nature of the work, its complexity, urgency and stakes, then set out in a written agreement before work begins.
Litigation, Court Technical Investigations
Hourly
An hourly rate agreed in advance. Time is recorded in units of 0.1 hour, i.e. 6 minutes: 1 = 1 hour, 0.5 = 30 minutes. Each invoice comes with a detailed time record.
Ongoing relationship
Retainer
For companies and insurers who want regular support, based on an agreed volume.
In addition
Success fee
Possible on top of a base fee, depending on the outcome. Fees based solely on the outcome, known in France as a pacte de quota litis, are prohibited.
- Tailored proposal
- After a first conversation, I send you a proposal suited to the matter: a budget per stage and an estimate of the time required. For insurers, terms can follow your panel rates and claims-handling guidelines.
- Advance payments
- An advance may be requested at the start of the engagement and is credited against later invoices.
- Expenses
- Expert, translation, travel and foreign-counsel costs are presented separately and subject to your approval.
- Transparent reporting
- Each invoice itemises the work in units of 0.1 hour (6 minutes): for example, a 12-minute call is billed as 0.2. The budget is reviewed at key stages of the matter.
Professional rules
What French professional rules provide
- Client information. From the outset, the lawyer informs the client how fees are calculated and how they may change (article 11 of the French Bar’s National Internal Rules, RIN).
- Criteria. Fees take into account, among other things, the time spent, the difficulty of the matter, the costs incurred, the lawyer’s standing and experience, and the work performed.
- No outcome-only fees. Contingency fees (pacte de quota litis) are prohibited; a success fee is only possible on top of a base fee.
- Disputes. Any fee dispute may be referred to the President of the Paris Bar (articles 174 et seq. of Decree no. 91-1197 of 27 November 1991).