Le monopole de l'avocat — vous ne pouvez pas enchérir vous-même

France (FR) — civil law.

Nothing on this page describes United States or Argentine practice.

Le monopole de l’avocat

The rule that breaks imported workflows

At a saisie immobilière, a bid may be placed only by an avocat enrolled at the bar of the tribunal judiciaire conducting the sale. Not by the buyer. Not by an avocat from another bar. There is no self-service bidding and no registration path that removes this.

What it means in practice

• The buyer instructs an avocat of that specific barreau, and gives them a mandate and funds before the hearing.
• The avocat bids in their own name on the client’s behalf, then declares the adjudicataire afterwards.
• One avocat may hold one mandate per property — they cannot bid for two competing clients on the same lot.
• A deposit is lodged in advance, commonly 10–20% of the mise à prix by chèque de banque — needs_verification for the current floor and whether it is set nationally or by each cahier des conditions de vente.

Why this matters more than it looks

Two consequences follow, and both are structural rather than procedural detail:

1. Cost has a floor. Every bid carries a lawyer’s fee whether or not it wins. A strategy of bidding widely and cheaply across many lots does not work here.
2. Coverage is bounded by relationships. Bidding in 20 ressorts means instructing avocats at 20 bars. There is no national counterparty.

Contrast — do not carry these across

• In Argentina, a licensed martillero conducts the sale and any registered person may bid directly on a portal. That model does not exist in France.
• In the United States, bidders commonly appear in person or online without counsel. That also does not exist here.

Both comparisons appear on this page only to mark the boundary — see faux-amis.