IT dispute lawyers
Whether you are a customer or an IT service provider, difficulties can arise during an IT project, such as migration to a new ERP system or the development of software, a website or a mobile application. Problems may also occur with ongoing IT services, including maintenance and support, hosting, data backups and training in the use of IT tools.
As lawyers specialising in IT disputes under French law, we help you navigate these often complex and technical situations to defend your rights.
Legal support for difficulties arising during an IT contract
As a customer, does the solution delivered fail to meet the requirements you originally set out in your specifications, making potentially costly additional development necessary? Are the IT services you commissioned, such as systems integration, subject to repeated delays and rising costs? Has your data been destroyed or corrupted while entrusted to a hosting provider?
Our IT lawyers help you address these issues and identify a solution that safeguards your interests. The operational consequences can be substantial, particularly when the problem affects software essential to your day-to-day business.
As a service provider, is completion of a development project repeatedly delayed by additional customer requests? Is the customer’s team insufficiently involved to bring the project to completion?
Our lawyers can provide guidance on all these matters. A customer’s lack of engagement or repeated requests for additional work can directly affect your business, particularly where customers require fixed-price quotations or spending caps on services billed on a time-and-materials basis. A project that runs over budget or falls behind schedule can therefore have serious consequences.
Taking the necessary steps in an IT dispute
Seeking an amicable resolution
Before starting proceedings, it is important to identify the alleged breaches by the other party. For a customer, this may involve a provider’s failure to deliver an IT solution that meets the agreed requirements. For a provider, it may involve a customer’s failure to fulfil their duty to cooperate.
In IT disputes, determining each party’s responsibility is not always straightforward. One party’s disengagement or inadequate performance can lead the other party to disengage in turn.
Once the alleged breaches have been assessed, we help you prepare and send a formal notice clearly setting out your demands and explaining that failure to comply may lead to legal proceedings. These demands may include completing outstanding work, resuming services or paying an additional invoice for development work outside the original quotation.
The aim is to restore communication and reach a mutually acceptable solution. A negotiated agreement is often preferable to uncertain litigation.
Preserving evidence of contractual breaches
Once the alleged breaches have been identified, preserving evidence is essential.
Should you obtain an official report from a judicial officer, commission an independent expert assessment, seek a court-appointed expert investigation or apply for an evidence-seizure measure?
As IT lawyers, we help you choose the most effective approach for your circumstances. We work with trusted professionals, including judicial officers and IT experts.
Bringing court proceedings with an IT lawyer
If the other party refuses to comply with the formal notice or engage constructively, or if the contract was flawed from the outset, proceedings before the competent court may need to be considered.
We represent our clients in these proceedings and work to defend their interests before the courts.
If you need assistance from an IT lawyer in France, please contact us. You may already find answers to your questions below.