Paragraph 3: Qualifications required

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Article A321-4

French Commercial codeIn force

Updated 4 Nov 2023

The following are admitted as exemptions from a national bachelor's degree in art history, or the applied arts, or archaeology or the plastic arts required to manage voluntary sales of furniture by public auction:


1° Any national diploma attesting to a level of training corresponding to at least three years of study after the baccalauréat in art history, applied arts, archaeology or plastic arts;


2° Any diploma conferring the grade of licence or the grade of master, attesting to studies in art history, applied arts, archaeology or plastic arts;


3° The first cycle diploma from the Ecole du Louvre;


4° The diploma of archivist palaeographer issued by the Ecole nationale des chartes;


5° The diploma of bi-disciplinary law-history of art and archaeology from the University of Paris-I;


6° The diploma of bi-disciplinary law-history of art from the University of Lyon-II;


7° The licence droit-histoire de l'art diploma from the University of Brest;


8° The "specialist consultant in cultural goods and services" diploma from the Institut d'études supérieures des arts (IESA), awarded until 2018 inclusive.

Mariela Petrova

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Common Questions

Working with a corporate lawyer in France — Q&A

Any time a strategic decision changes how the company is owned, governed or contractually bound — incorporation, fundraising, M&A, restructuring, shareholder agreements, or major commercial contracts. Earlier engagement always costs less than later remediation.

A notary (notaire) is a public officer who authenticates specific deeds (mainly real-estate transfers and certain family-law acts). A corporate lawyer (avocat) advises on strategy, negotiates and drafts company documents, and represents you in disputes. The two roles complement rather than overlap.

Yes — most of our clients are foreign suppliers, investors or holding entities. We bridge the gap between French law and your home jurisdiction's expectations and deliver everything bilingually.

The SAS (Société par Actions Simplifiée) is the default choice for most international structures: flexible governance, single shareholder allowed, no minimum capital, and works cleanly with foreign holding entities. We assess SARL, SA, SCI on the merits when the situation calls for it.

Yes — communications with a French avocat are protected by the secret professionnel (Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971). This protection is broader than the common-law attorney-client privilege and applies to written and oral exchanges.

We work on fixed fees for clearly scoped engagements (incorporation, contract drafting, audits) and on monthly retainers for ongoing advisory. Hourly billing is the exception, not the default. You always know the cost before work starts.

Typical timeline is 2–3 weeks from KYC kick-off to RCS registration, assuming standard documentation. Holding-company structures, foreign-shareholder identification or in-kind contributions can extend this — we flag the gating items at the first meeting.

Absolutely. We routinely coordinate with your in-house counsel, expert-comptable or notaire — pragmatic collaboration is the norm, not the exception. We send them everything they need to do their part without duplicating work.

Mariela Petrova

Mariela Petrova

Avocate au Barreau de Paris

Toque #C2396

15+ Years In Corporate Practice

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Communications protected by professional secrecy — secret professionnel de l'avocat, Article 66-5 of the Law of 31 December 1971.

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