You live in London, New York, Dubai or Singapore, and an email from your French manager ruins your morning: a commissaire de justice (the enforcement officer formerly called huissier de justice) has delivered a thick writ to your French company’s registered office, or a French court order has arrived by post at your foreign address. The document is in French, it names the tribunal de commerce (the commercial court) of Paris, Lyon or Marseille, it sets a hearing date that looks alarmingly close, and it warns that the court can rule against you if you do not appear. Panic is understandable, but the situation is manageable if you read the writ correctly, count your deadlines under the special rule for defendants who live abroad, and build a defence file before the first hearing. French civil procedure gives a defendant who resides outside France an extra two months on most procedural deadlines, it allows you to challenge a writ that does not state the claimant’s case, and it lets you be represented at the hearing without boarding a plane. This guide walks you through the document you have just received, the court that claims jurisdiction over your company, the exact arithmetic of your time limits, and the practical steps that turn a frightening French writ into a case you can defend from abroad. Every French acronym is explained along the way: the Kbis (the official company identity extract issued by the greffe, the court registry), BODACC (the official bulletin publishing company and insolvency notices), and URSSAF (the body collecting social contributions, mentioned here only to distinguish a tax audit from a court summons).

I. Read the Writ Before Doing Anything: Is Your Company Properly Sued and Before the Right Court?

A. What your French summons must contain, and when a defective writ can be annulled

The document served on your company is normally an assignation, the writ that opens proceedings. It is served by a commissaire de justice, and it must contain a series of mandatory statements. The baseline sits in Article 54 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which requires the initial claim to state the court seised, the subject matter of the claim, and, for a legal entity, its form, name, registered office and the body that legally represents it. The writ itself must go further. Article 56 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: L’assignation contient à peine de nullité, outre les mentions prescrites pour les actes de commissaires de justice et celles énoncées à l’article 54 : 1° Les lieu, jour et heure de l’audience à laquelle l’affaire sera appelée ; 2° Un exposé des moyens en fait et en droit ; 3° La liste des pièces sur lesquelles la demande est fondée dans un bordereau qui lui est annexé ; 4° L’indication des modalités de comparution devant la juridiction et la précision que, faute pour le défendeur de comparaître, il s’expose à ce qu’un jugement soit rendu contre lui sur les seuls éléments fournis par son adversaire, le cas échéant, selon les modalités prévues au troisième alinéa de l’article 472. In plain English, the claimant must tell you where and when the case is called, explain the facts and the law relied upon, list the exhibits in an attached schedule, and warn you how to appear and what happens if you do not.

Before the commercial court, one additional statement is required. Article 855 of the Code of Civil Procedure states: L’assignation contient, à peine de nullité, outre les mentions prescrites par les articles 54 et 56, les nom, prénoms et adresse de la personne chez qui le demandeur élit domicile en France s’il réside à l’étranger. If the claimant lives abroad and sues your French company, the writ must give an address for service in France. Check this line first when you are the foreign-based party on either side of the case.

A missing statement does not automatically kill the case, and this is where foreign directors often misunderstand French procedure. Nullity for a formal defect is governed by Article 114 of the Code of Civil Procedure: Aucun acte de procédure ne peut être déclaré nul pour vice de forme si la nullité n’en est pas expressément prévue par la loi, sauf en cas d’inobservation d’une formalité substantielle ou d’ordre public. The same article adds that the party invoking nullity must prove the prejudice caused by the irregularity. The Cour de cassation, the French supreme court for civil matters, applies this strictly to writs. In a decision of 22 October 2020, Second Civil Chamber, appeal no. 19-15.316 (Cour de cassation, 2e civ., 22 October 2020, no. 19-15.316), the Court held: Selon ce texte, l’assignation contient, à peine de nullité, l’objet de la demande avec un exposé des moyens en fait et en droit. The Court then quashed a judgment that had annulled writs for lack of detail about investments, explaining that the judge must verify that the writ contains a statement of the factual grounds needed for the defence, but must not assess the probative force of the allegations under cover of ruling on validity. The lesson for your company is practical: read the writ for the four Article 56 items, note precisely what is missing, and gather evidence of how the gap harms your defence, because a bare complaint that the writ is vague will not suffice.

Build a validity checklist the day you receive the writ. Confirm the exact corporate name and SIREN number (the nine-digit company identifier) of the defendant, compare them with your Kbis, and flag any confusion with a similarly named entity. Confirm the hearing venue, date and time, and the chamber named. Read the factual narrative: does it say which contract, which invoice, which delivery or which fault is alleged, and does the attached exhibit schedule actually list the documents? Note whether the writ tells you how to appear before that specific commercial court. If an item is absent, preserve the writ and its envelope, photograph every page, and instruct whoever represents you to raise the nullity at the very start of the proceedings, before any defence on the merits, because French procedure requires procedural objections to be raised in limine litis, before arguing the substance. If you are choosing between vehicles for a future French operation, the comparison of the SAS (the simplified joint-stock company), the SARL (the limited liability company), the branch and the subsidiary explains who signs and who answers for the company: choosing between a SAS, a SARL, a branch or a subsidiary in France.

B. Which commercial court hears your case, and how service works when one side is abroad

The second question is whether the court named in the writ is the right one. Commercial courts have a defined remit. Article L. 721-3 of the Commercial Code provides: Les tribunaux de commerce connaissent : 1° Des contestations relatives aux engagements entre commerçants, entre artisans, entre établissements de crédit, entre sociétés de financement ou entre eux ; 2° De celles relatives aux sociétés commerciales ; 3° De celles relatives aux actes de commerce entre toutes personnes. If your French company is a commercial company (société commerciale) such as a SAS or SARL, disputes about its commercial commitments, its company life and commercial acts go to the commercial court. A claim against a foreign parent that is not itself a trader, or a dispute about a purely civil matter such as a residential lease, may belong before the judicial court (tribunal judiciaire), and a jurisdictional challenge can then be raised. Check also the contract sued upon: many distribution, supply and service agreements contain a jurisdiction clause designating a specific commercial court or an arbitration clause, and standard terms printed on invoices rarely bind a party that never accepted them.

Geography matters as much as subject matter. The general rule sends the case to the court of the defendant’s domicile, which for your company means the court of the place of its registered office (siège social) shown on the Kbis. Special rules allow a contractual claimant to sue at the place of delivery or performance, and a tort claimant to sue at the place of the harmful event. When the writ arrives from a court far from your registered office, compare the court’s location with these connecting factors and with any jurisdiction clause before accepting the venue. An ill-founded venue objection wastes the extra time your foreign residence gives you, while a well-founded one can move the case to the court that holds your company’s file at the local greffe.

Service itself follows strict rules that protect you. The starting principle is simple. Article 654 of the Code of Civil Procedure states: La signification doit être faite à personne. Service on a legal entity is made on the person when the document is delivered to its legal representative, to an authorised agent, or to any person empowered for that purpose. In practice, the commissaire de justice attends your registered office and hands the writ to the person present, recording their identity and capacity. If nobody is present, the officer follows the fallback procedures for service at the domicile or by recorded delivery with notice, and each step must be documented. Ask your French team for the officer’s report (procès-verbal), the identity of the person who accepted the writ, and photographs of the premises log the same day. If the writ was handed to a cleaner, a subtenant or a domiciliation agent without authority, that fact must be preserved immediately.

When the document must cross a border, an additional layer applies. Article 683 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: Les notifications des actes judiciaires et extrajudiciaires à l’étranger ou en provenance de l’étranger sont régies par les règles prévues par la présente section, sous réserve de l’application des règlements européens et des traités internationaux. Within the European Union, service runs through the European Service Regulation, which organises direct transmission between competent agencies and standard forms. Outside the Union, the Hague Service Convention of 15 November 1965 often governs, through central authorities and a model certificate. French procedure draws consequences from these channels. Article 688 of the Code of Civil Procedure bars the seised court from ruling on the merits, where it is not established that the addressee learned of the document in good time, unless the document was transmitted through the applicable European regulation or treaty or, failing that, through the domestic fallback provisions, and unless a sufficient period has elapsed since transmission. The Cour de cassation applies these service rules with precision. In two decisions of 10 October 2018, First Civil Chamber, appeals nos. 16-19.430 and 17-14.401 (Cour de cassation, 1re civ., 10 October 2018, nos. 16-19.430 and 17-14.401), the Court held: A l’égard des parties domiciliées à l’étranger, le délai de pourvoi de deux mois augmenté de deux mois court du jour de la remise régulièrement faite au parquet et non de la date de la remise aux intéressés d’une copie de l’acte par les autorités étrangères, except where a European regulation or treaty authorises direct transmission. The reasoning matters beyond appeals: the date the French officer hands the document to the prosecutor’s office (parquet), the certification returned by the foreign authority, and the date you actually received the papers can all differ, and each date drives a different deadline. Keep every envelope, every acknowledgment of receipt and every transmission certificate, because the court will reconstruct the chronology from these papers, not from your memory of a phone call.

Two practical consequences follow. First, if you, the director, live abroad but your company is registered in France, service is validly made at the French registered office; your personal residence abroad does not shield the company. Second, if the claimant sues you personally at your foreign address alongside the company, the cross-border service rules apply to you, and any defect in transmission can affect the proceedings against you personally. Distinguish at all times the company, which is domiciled at its siège social in France, from its director or shareholder, who may be domiciled abroad. The official Infogreffe guide to seising the court by writ and the Service Public guide to proceedings before the commercial court describe the same mechanics from the claimant’s side and confirm the central role of the greffe and the exhibit schedule.

II. Answer From Abroad Without Losing by Default: Deadlines, Representation and Proof

A. How to count your extra time as a defendant living abroad, and who appears for the company

The most valuable protection for a foreign-based defendant is the distance extension. Article 643 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: Lorsque la demande est portée devant une juridiction qui a son siège en France métropolitaine, les délais de comparution, d’appel, d’opposition, de tierce opposition dans l’hypothèse prévue à l’article 586 alinéa 3, de recours en révision et de pourvoi en cassation sont augmentés de : 1. Un mois pour les personnes qui demeurent en Guadeloupe, en Guyane, à la Martinique, à La Réunion, à Mayotte, à Saint-Barthélemy, à Saint-Martin, à Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, en Polynésie française, dans les îles Wallis et Futuna, en Nouvelle-Calédonie et dans les Terres australes et antarctiques françaises ; 2. Deux mois pour celles qui demeurent à l’étranger. If you reside outside France, your time limits for appearance, appeal, opposition, third-party proceedings in the stated case, review and cassation appeal are increased by two months. The Cour de cassation reads this broadly. In a decision of 21 December 2023, Second Civil Chamber, appeal no. 21-21.140 (Cour de cassation, 2e civ., 21 December 2023, no. 21-21.140), the Court stated: les délais de comparution, d’appel, d’opposition, de recours en révision et de pourvoi en cassation sont augmentés de deux mois pour les personnes qui demeurent à l’étranger dans tous les cas où il n’est pas expressément dérogé à cette règle. The company in that case had its seat abroad with only a representative in France, yet the Court held that it remained a person residing abroad and benefited from the two-month extension. Apply the reasoning carefully to your own position: the company registered in France is domiciled in France, while you as an individual director or co-defendant residing abroad benefit from the extension for your own deadlines, including your own appeal if you are ordered to pay personally, for example under a personal guarantee (cautionnement).

Count from the right starting point. The appearance period runs from service of the writ, not from the date you first heard about the dispute. Note the date of service on the officer’s report, add the standard appearance period stated in the writ, then add the two-month extension if you qualify, and diarise the result together with the hearing date. The appeal period, by contrast, runs from service of the judgment, and opposition against a default judgment runs from its service as well. Because French courts compute procedural periods in precise days and exclude certain starting days, have the count verified against the stamped dates rather than reconstructing it from emails. A missed appearance deadline does not end the case, but it exposes the company to a judgment entered on the claimant’s evidence alone.

That risk is not theoretical. Article 472 of the Code of Civil Procedure warns: Si le défendeur ne comparaît pas, il est néanmoins statué sur le fond. The judge then grants the claim only so far as it appears lawful, admissible and well founded, which means a one-sided file can still produce an enforceable judgment for the full amount claimed plus interest and costs. Before the commercial court, representation does not necessarily require a lawyer: the parties may appear in person or be represented by a person with a written authority, and companies appear through their legal representative or an authorised agent. In practice, a foreign-based president of a SAS or manager (gérant) of a SARL gives a written power of attorney (pouvoir) to a French lawyer (avocat) or another authorised representative, transmits a current Kbis of less than three months proving the signatory’s authority, and arranges for exhibits to be filed with the greffe before the hearing. Verify the exact appearance formalities stated in your writ under Article 855, because they differ between courts and chambers, and follow them to the letter: the court checks powers and standing at the opening of the hearing.

Organise the representation package in one week. First, confirm who signs for the company by pulling a fresh Kbis from the greffe or Infogreffe and checking the articles of association for any joint-signature rule. Second, execute the power of attorney with the signatory’s name, capacity, the case reference and the scope of authority, and have it translated only if the court requires it. Third, designate a contact in France who can receive mail from the court and the opponent and forward it the same day, because court notices go to the address in the proceedings. Fourth, calendar the hearing with two alerts, one for the exhibit filing cut-off your representative sets and one for the hearing itself in French local time. None of these steps requires your presence in France, but each of them requires a dated paper trail.

B. What to file, what to prove, and how the judgment or payment order is enforced or challenged

Your defence file must mirror the claimant’s exhibit schedule and attack it point by point. Start with the contract: the signed agreement, its general terms, any amendment, and the purchase orders or statements of work that define the price, the delivery terms and the payment period. Add performance evidence: delivery slips signed by the recipient, acceptance reports, time sheets, emails acknowledging receipt, and photographs or logs showing the goods installed or the service rendered. Add the invoicing chain: each invoice, its date of issue and due date, proof of sending, reminders, and any formal demand letter (mise en demeure) with its acknowledgment of receipt. Add the payment trail: bank statements showing partial payments or their absence, set-off notices, and credit notes. Where the claimant alleges defective performance, add your quality records, the complaint handling correspondence, and any expert report or bailiff’s report (constat) drawn up by a commissaire de justice. Number every exhibit, translate foreign-language documents that the court will need to read, and file the bundle with the greffe within the timetable your representative confirms. French commercial judges work from the exhibit schedule; an argument without a numbered exhibit attached carries little weight.

Structure the legal response around four layers. First, procedural defences: nullity of the writ for missing Article 56 statements with proof of prejudice under Article 114, irregular service with the officer’s report and transmission certificates, lack of jurisdiction under Article L. 721-3 or the contract’s jurisdiction clause, and limitation, which in commercial matters is generally five years. Second, substantive defences: performance was rendered, the goods were accepted without reservation, the price was paid or validly set off, the penalty clause is manifestly excessive and should be reduced, or the claimant’s own breach excuses your delay. Third, counterclaims: if the claimant owes you money under the same relationship, quantify the reciprocal debt with invoices and raise set-off (compensation) or a counterclaim (demande reconventionnelle) rather than mentioning it informally. Fourth, requests for time: where the debt is undisputed but immediate payment would ruin the French company’s cash flow, French civil law allows the court to grant payment delays of up to two years considering the debtor’s situation and the creditor’s needs, and the request is best supported by accounts, bank correspondence and a realistic payment schedule.

Distinguish the ordinary writ from the shortcut many creditors use first. For a contractual or statutory claim of a fixed amount, the creditor may apply for an order to pay. Article 1405 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that recovery of a claim may be sought through the order-to-pay procedure where the claim has a contractual cause or results from a statutory obligation and is for a fixed amount. The judge rules without hearing you, and the order is then served. The defence is an opposition that returns the case to a full hearing. Article 1416 of the Code of Civil Procedure states: L’opposition est formée dans le mois qui suit la signification de l’ordonnance. If service was not made on the person, opposition remains available until one month after the first document served personally or the first enforcement measure attaching assets. Many foreign directors discover the order to pay only when the bank reports a seizure; the Article 1416 fallback then becomes the decisive text, and the distance extension of Article 643 can add time for a debtor residing abroad. Diarise both the one-month opposition period and the fallback trigger, and treat any enforcement paper as day zero for a fresh deadline check.

After judgment, the timeline continues. An adverse commercial court judgment is served by a commissaire de justice and carries its own appeal period, extended by two months for a party residing abroad under Article 643. Appeal lies to the cour d’appel (the court of appeal) and must be lodged by a lawyer qualified to represent before that court. Meanwhile, the winning party may enforce the judgment if it carries provisional enforcement (exécution provisoire), which commercial court judgments commonly do: your bank account can be seized and your assets attached while the appeal runs. If enforcement lands before you have organised the appeal, the remedies include applying to the first president of the court of appeal to stay provisional enforcement on proof of serious grounds and manifestly excessive consequences, negotiating a payment schedule against suspension of enforcement measures, and, where the judgment was entered by default, filing opposition within the extended period. Publication follows in some company cases: amendments to the company’s situation appear through filings at the greffe and notices in BODACC, which banks and suppliers read. A judgment alone does not dissolve the company or cancel its Kbis, but an unpaid enforceable title damages credit, blocks distributions and can trigger liability proceedings against a director who ignored the summons. Keep the judgment, the service report and the enforcement papers together, because each remedy runs from a different service date.

Conclusion

A French writ served on your company while you live abroad is a deadlines case before it is a merits case. Verify the four Article 56 statements and the Article 855 address for service, challenge jurisdiction only where Article L. 721-3 or the contract supports it, reconstruct service through the officer’s report and the European or Hague transmission papers, and add the two-month Article 643 extension to every deadline that belongs to a person residing abroad. Appear through a properly authorised representative with a current Kbis, file numbered exhibits that prove performance and payment, and treat any order to pay as a one-month opposition case under Article 1416. Handled in this order, a summons received in Paris, Lyon or Marseille becomes a structured file that a foreign-based director can defend without improvisation and without surrendering the company’s rights by default.