Law of France

Capstone

Capstone: Léa Martin and the ceramics workshop

Léa Martin is an invented potter who runs a small workshop and shop in Lyon, organised as a company (SARL) of which she is the manager. In one year, several things happen. The **mayor** withdraws the permit that let her put tables on the pavement in front of the shop, with a two-line decision and no hearing. A **supplier** of clay, a company, claims payment of an invoice that Léa says is not due because the clay was of poor quality. Léa dismisses **Hugo**, an employee of five years, in a letter that says only that he has ‘a bad attitude’; Hugo says that the real reason is that he asked to be paid for his overtime. Six months ago she bought a **second-hand kiln** from a dealer who, she has just learnt, knew that the kiln had been badly damaged in a fire and said nothing. Her mother has died, leaving a will that gives the **whole estate**, of about 300,000 euros, to a family friend, Mme Rousseau. Léa has one brother. Finally, another employee, **Samir**, is held in **police custody** after a complaint of theft, and asks Léa what he should do. You are asked to advise. Use the questions you have learned: which order of courts and which court, which rule and which ground, which time limit, and what remedy. The people are invented and the facts simplified, so state your assumptions.

General education on French law, using invented people and businesses. It states constitutional provisions, codes and landmark decisions in simplified form, and it is not legal advice. The law changes and every case turns on its facts. Consult a lawyer qualified in France for any real matter.