Class action online, s'il vous plait?

Leave it to the French to improve upon an abomination.

Attorney Jean-Marc Goldnadel knew he was going to make waves when he launched classaction.fr _ a French Web site that lets users sign up to lawsuits online for as little as 12 euros ($14.50).

Sure enough, the site has ruffled France's traditionalist establishment and raised the temperature of a debate on government plans to let plaintiffs file U.S.-style class actions in French courts.

But Maitre Goldnadel underestimated the backlash, and even several consumer groups are trying to shut him down. A verdict is due next month on their court challenge, the second against the site, and the Paris Bar Council is scouring its pages for ethics breaches.

In the interest of fairness, the French didn't even have class action lawsuits until recently when Jacque Chirac introduced them, for reasons we cannot fathom. Maybe he thought it would help the ailing French economie?

Give the French their due, at least they require anyone attempting to benefit from class action lawsuits to actually sign legal forms. They also forbid lawyers from advertising for clients, but Goldnadel's website seemingly gets around the law. The first two legal actions attempted by Goldnadel are drawing a crowd (at $14.50 a pop).

Whereas a single U.S. consumer can file a class action covering all those who have suffered the same prejudice, French attorneys need a signed mandate from each litigant. Rules barring them from advertising or approaching prospective clients make it almost impossible to gather plaintiffs.

Goldnadel and his associates work around the restrictions by getting the clients to come to them. Close to 1,000 plaintiffs have signed up online for two pending lawsuits.

The first accuses movie distributors of breaching consumer rights by copy-protecting DVDs; the second seeks damages for misleading financial information allegedly given to Vivendi Universal SA shareholders.

With lawsuits costing the American economy at estimated $250 billion a year, according to the Bush administration, it will be illuminative to see what happens to France.