Publications: Commercial and Corporate Law

When the legal protection afforded to commercial agents turns against them                                                                                                                                                     :
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Advocates of the systematic comparison of prices between competitors have every reason to be pleased! :
Two recent court decisions confirmed the recognition of the positive effects of price comparability by facilitating the implementation thereof, in the name of the sacrosanct principle of free competition. First, in a judgment dated October 3, 2011 (n°09/04687), the First Instance Court of Strasbourg rejected the claim of the discount supermarket chain Lidl who challenged the right of Leclerc (a major operator of medium-sized hypermarkets in France) to compare, via its price...

The Law no. 91-593 dated June 25, 1991 transposing the European Union Directive 86/653 EEC of 18 December 1986 is notoriously protective of the status of commercial agent it created. For example, Articles L. 134-1 et seq. of the French Commercial Code (codifying the aforementioned Law) notably grants the agent a virtually automatic right to an indemnification “if its commercial relationship with the principal ends” (Article L. 134-12 of the French Commercial code).  Further, case law interprets the provisions of French law in favor of the agent. As such, case law is well-established:...

The recent developments on the interpretation and application of the maximum contractual payment terms effective since January 1, 2009 can be found at the end of this article. :
The Law for the Modernization of the Economy dated August 4, 2008 (known as the “LME Law“ instituted a ceiling for contractual payment terms agreed between professionals : “45 days end of month” or “60 days as from the date of issuance of the invoice” (Article L.441-6 paragraph 9 of the French Commercial Code “FCC”), considering that professionals (clients and...

Arrêt de la Cour de Cassation du 3 mars 2009 :
As a continuation of the article on the new maximum payment terms applicable as of January 1, 2009 (see our January 2009 e-newsletter), a recent decision of the French Supreme Court[1] established the principle that a supplier can automatically require payment of late penalties even if, in its General Conditions of Sale (“GCS”), there is no clause providing for such. The law on new economic regulations dated May 15, 2001 (“NER”) established that “late penalties are due without the need for any...

The Law for the Modernization of the Economy dated August 4, 2008 (known as the “LME Law“ instituted a ceiling for contractual payment terms agreed between professionals : “45 days end of month” or “60 days as from the date of issuance of the invoice” (Article L.441-6 paragraph 9 of the French Commercial Code “FCC”), considering that professionals (clients and suppliers) operating in the same business field may decide to further reduce the payment terms through inter-professional agreements. As a temporary measure, certain inter-professional agreements...