Judicial expert

A judicial expert (expert judiciaire) is a specialist registered on a court of appeal list, appointed by a tribunal to provide technical opinions requiring specialised knowledge — financial valuation, accounting, engineering. In financial matters, they intervene in valuation disputes, economic damage quantification and accounts analysis. Their mandate is precisely defined by the judge; they must respect the adversarial principle through the expert consultation procedure and submit their report within the prescribed timeframe. Their conclusions, while not strictly binding on the court in France, carry substantial practical authority.

‍

Example: appointed as judicial expert in a dispute over the value of a 35% stake in a Franco-Swiss company, Hectelion conducts the valuation following the adversarial process — receiving written submissions from both parties' counsel, responding to technical objections, and producing a final report using three methods (DCF, multiples, practitioners' method). The CHF 3.2 million conclusion for the 35% interest serves as the primary basis for the court's judgment.

‍

Hectelion experts are registered as judicial experts before French courts of appeal and conduct financial valuation expert mandates in France and Switzerland.