Manuel Cavaleiro Brandão is right to be concerned about the way law in Europe is being influenced by Anglo-Saxon culture (see [2006] Gazette, 23 March, 6). He is also right to say that it would be reasonable for Anglo-Saxon lawyers to accept some evolution.

I practise almost exclusively in French tax and property law, generally dealing with high net-worth clients investing in France, often into eight-figure numbers. My experience is that the leaders of the notaires' profession in France have sadly set themselves against evolution by excluding Anglo-Saxon lawyers from participating in any way in their profession. Their short-sighted approach means that there is no incentive for the civil law to be used in transactions other than where absolutely essential, such as in French Land Registry deeds.



There is a significant minority of mainly younger notaires in France who understand the folly of this protectionism, and it is vital English lawyers forge links with them to allow the common law and civil law to grow together, thereby strengthening both systems and making it easier for clients wherever they are based to invest where they want.


David Anderson, Sykes Anderson, London