Your company is Swiss. Your customer, your goods, your debtor or your dispute is in France. This page sets out what a Swiss business most often needs from a French lawyer, with links to the detailed analyses published on this site.
Enforcing a Swiss judgment in France
A Swiss judgment in civil and commercial matters circulates under the Lugano Convention of 30 October 2007. It is not enforceable as of right in France, but it does not require a full exequatur trial either: the creditor obtains a declaration of enforceability on application to the registry of the judicial court (Article 509-2 of the Code of Civil Procedure), and protective attachments on French assets can be considered at the same time. Details: enforcing a Swiss judgment in France: Lugano and seizures and enforcing a foreign judgment in France.
Swiss arbitration and French assets
An award made in Geneva, Zurich or Lugano is enforced in France under the New York Convention, through an exequatur order. To compare institutional costs: Swiss Arbitration Centre, WIPO and CIETAC fee schedules. See also international arbitration.
Goods crossing the Franco-Swiss border
Switzerland is outside the EU customs union: every shipment into France is an import, with a customs declaration, a customs value and rules of origin. A post-clearance audit or a reassessment notice can follow months later. See customs and challenging a customs reassessment.
Contracts, distributors and setting up in France
Governing law and jurisdiction clauses, termination of a French distributor, unpaid invoices: international contracts and international commercial litigation. Subsidiary, branch or acquisition: foreign companies in France.
A matter in France for your company? Describe the contract, the amounts at stake and where things stand with the French party.
Reply within 24 business hours. Before any work starts, you receive a written fee agreement with an estimate of the budget. The work is carried out in writing and in English.
Matters in this field are handled by Hervé Guyader, avocat at the Paris Bar and Doctor of Law. Page updated on 8 November 2026.