It follows from the preamble and Article 1 of the professional agreement of January 19, 2007, concerning interns in law firms, that an internship agreement between a supervising lawyer and a holder of the CAPA is prohibited.
This is what the French Supreme Court (Cour de cassation) affirmed in a judgment of January 7, 2026 (24-14.659), published in the official bulletin.
1) Analysis.
1.1) No Internship Agreement for a CAPA Holder with a Supervising Lawyer.
The holder of the CAPA (Certificate of Aptitude for the Legal Profession) obtained her certificate on October 25, 2017.
On July 23, 2018, she signed an internship agreement with the law firm of Mr. [T] and Fac For Pro, a private educational institution.
Ms. [M] received a fixed gross monthly salary of €899.
She was transparent about her CAPA qualification from the outset of her application on the "Le village de la justice" website.
Work placements are governed by an agreement between the intern, the host organization, and the educational institution [1].
Company internships must be formalized by an internship agreement.
The existence of a written agreement signed by all parties is a condition for the existence and validity of the internship.
The professional agreement of January 19, 2007, concerning trainees in law firms, extended by decree of October 10, 2007, states in its preamble that no traineeship agreement may be concluded between a law firm and a person holding the Certificate of Aptitude for the Legal Profession (CAPA).
No special agreement containing less favorable conditions than the agreement may be established.
It is irrelevant whether this special agreement is established at the initiative of the law firm or the trainee.
The Court of Cassation affirms that "a collective agreement, if it lacks clarity, must be interpreted as the law, that is to say, first by respecting the letter of the text, then by taking into account any legislative text having the same purpose and, as a last resort, by using the teleological method of seeking the social objective of the text."
She adds: “According to the preamble and Article 1 of the professional agreement of January 19, 2007, concerning trainees in law firms, it is reiterated that no traineeship agreement may be concluded between a law firm and a person holding the Certificate of Aptitude for the Legal Profession (CAPA). The agreement also stipulates the conditions for remuneration of trainees, as well as trainee lawyers currently enrolled in professional training centers for lawyers, in accordance with Articles 56 et seq. of Decree No. 91-1197 of November 27, 1991, organizing the legal profession, within the framework of their contractual relationships with supervising lawyers, whether natural or legal persons.”
This solution should be approved.
It protects CAPA holders.
The firm should have asked the CAPA holder to take the oath and hired her under a freelance collaboration agreement.
This would have saved them from costly litigation.
To read the full article, click on the link below.
Frédéric CHHUM avocat et ancien membre du conseil de l’ordre des avocats de Paris (mandat 2019-2021)
CHHUM AVOCATS (Paris, Nantes, Lille)
e-mail: chhum@chhum-avocats.com
https://www.instagram.com/fredericchhum/?hl=fr
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