Do full costs follow the action in French Law ?
The short answer is “no” in spite of the fact that there are a certain number of French provisions, notably article 700 of the New Code of Civil Procedure, which provide for limited costs to be paid to the other side by the losing party to litigation. Notwithstanding such provisions, common-law practitioners might do well to assume that, as a general rule, full costs do not follow the action, as a party which has won a particular suit is most unlikely to recoup anything like his own real costs, notably lawyers fees, disbursed in pursuing or defending the litigation in question.
