Swiss franc loans: which lawyer handles your claim?

Under the Hello Justice Swiss franc loan programme, ACTIVE AVOCATS, a firm of the COGEP AVOCATS group, conducts the proceedings against the bank. The firm reviews your claim, quantifies it and represents you before the court. Hello Justice funds the claim and covers 100% of your lawyer’s fees.

The firm that handles the claims.

ACTIVE AVOCATS is a Lyon law firm, established in 2004 and part of the COGEP AVOCATS group since 2024. In the programme, the firm reviews each borrower’s situation and conducts the proceedings, independently. Maître Vincent DURAND, a partner at ACTIVE AVOCATS, has been a member of the Lyon Bar since 1996.

Hello Justice is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. It funds the claim, without intervening in the firm’s strategy. The choice of your lawyer is yours.

What the lawyer does in your claim.

The lawyer first reads the loan offer and its appendices, because that is where the exchange‑rate clause sits. The lawyer looks for what the bank said about the risk before signing: simulations, worked examples, signed notices and their dates.

These documents decide a claim, and the outcome depends on what the bank can prove. For the Court of Justice of the European Union, the burden of proving that a term was clear cannot rest on the consumer (10 June 2021, C-776/19 to C-782/19) Source [1].

On 9 July 2025, the Cour de cassation handed down two rulings with different outcomes. One, no. 24-19.647, opens the protection against unfair terms to borrowers paid in Swiss francs Source [2]. The other, no. 24-18.018, upholds the clause of a bank that had given clear information on the exchange‑rate risk Source [3]. This is recent case law, liable to change.

Our guide to the exchange‑rate clause sets out the court’s criteria.

The fee agreement, signed before the review.

French law requires every lawyer to enter into a written fee agreement with the client (Act of 31 December 1971, article 10). Once your claim is submitted, ACTIVE AVOCATS sends it to you through DocuSign, to be signed online by you, the firm and Hello Justice.

Your signature starts the review of your claim. The firm reads your loan offer, checks its dates and quantifies your loss, then sends you its review. If your claim is not eligible, it ends the agreement and you owe nothing. Not every claim is accepted.

Quantifying your claim.

The firm relies on the Hello Justice simulator to quantify your claim. The simulator recalculates each instalment of your loan at the official European Central Bank rates and at the interest rates set by your contract. It then checks the result against the lines of your bank’s amortisation schedule.

The proceedings before the court.

Before going to court, the lawyer sends the bank a formal notice. Without an agreement, the lawyer summons the bank before the court. The parties then exchange written submissions, and the lawyer pleads the case at the hearing. You follow each stage from your online space, with the messages and documents of your claim, and our guide to the stages of a claim covers them in detail.

Your lawyer’s fees.

Hello Justice covers 100% of your lawyer’s fees, whatever the amount you borrowed. If there is an appeal, Hello Justice also covers 100% of your lawyer’s fees, as well as local counsel before the court of appeal. Only the €225 appeal duty remains yours to pay.

If your claim is accepted, you pay €300 incl. VAT when the summons is issued against your bank. This covers the court costs of the proceedings (stamp duty, judicial officer, local counsel). Only if the claim succeeds, a success fee of 14% incl. VAT is due on the sums recovered and on the saving obtained on the outstanding capital. If the claim fails, you repay nothing to Hello Justice.

Without funding, a firm specialising in Swiss franc loans usually charges fees of around €10,000 at first instance. On appeal, they are around €5,000. Each lawyer sets their fees freely. Our article on funding the proceedings covers each item.

Frequently asked questions.

Do I pay to have a lawyer review my loan?

No. Having your claim checked is free, as are the eligibility test and the submission. The €300 incl. VAT is only paid when the summons is issued, if your claim is accepted.

What happens if I lose?

You repay nothing to Hello Justice: it bears your lawyer’s fees, and the success fee is only due if the claim succeeds. The €300 incl. VAT of procedural costs is not returned to you, nor is the €225 appeal duty if there was an appeal. As in any lawsuit, the court may also order the losing party to pay the other side a procedural indemnity (article 700) and the costs of the proceedings.

How can I have my loan checked?

The programme’s eligibility test starts with a few questions about your loan, then you upload your documents from your online space. Our guide to the remedies covers the whole process.