Lawyers demand investigation of illegal French law firms

Lawyers have decried the recent opening of two French law firms in Douala and Yaounde and want them investigated for illegally establishing in Cameroon.

The Bar General Assembly President, Barrister Nico Halle, expressed the embarrassment of the Cameroon Bar at the action of the French law firms that reportedly entered Cameroon without the authorisation of the Bar or without any contact with the Bar.

Referring to a news article published in The Post Newspaper (No. 1726) on Monday, May 16, 2016, titled: “French Business Law Firm Opens Branches In Cameroon”, Nico Halle quoted the report, which states that Lefevre Pellestier &Associés, LPA, specialised in Business Law has announced the opening of two branches in Douala and Yaounde.

It further states that LPA “is the second internationally active business law firm to be established in Cameroon in less than a year, after Centerium Law Group in 2015”.

Barrister Halle Saturday, May 21, 2016 read out the story to hundreds of participants who included the representative of the Minister of Justice and Keeper of the Seals.

According to the law, no lawyer can settle down in Cameroon to practise law without having been sworn-in and registered by the Cameroon Bar Association.

Halle said neither the Bar Council, nor the Bar President was aware of the opening in of the branches of the two French law firms mentioned in the newspaper report.

He asked who authorised the French law firmsto open branches in Cameroon without the involvement of the Bar.The barrister said a Cameroonian law firm cannot be allowed to just move into France or any other country, and set up a branch, without going through the laid down legal procedure in that country.

He requested that the Bar Council should carry out an investigation based on the report by The Post Newspaper, on how the French law firms entered Cameroon without authorisation from the Cameroon Bar.

A majority of the lawyers strongly hold the view that French law firms should not be allowed to open branches in Cameroon, considering the way French companies carry out business in the country.

He said most French companies will prefer to deal with them to the detriment of Cameroonian law firms.