The French association for the legal arms of the big accountancy firms has dissolved after a decade following the decision this month by KPMG's tied giant Fidal to quit the group.

The group, Juri-Avenir, was set up in 1992 to represent the affiliated law firms of the big five accountants in France and lobby regulators on issues central to their practices.

Juri-Avenir's remaining members, PricewaterhouseCoopers' Landwell, Deloitte & Touche Juridique et Fiscal and HSD Ernst & Young/Andersen Legal, formally disbanded the association on 19 September after Fidal's departure.

The decision of Fidal, France's largest law firm, to formally quit the group has been directly attributed to regulatory pressure this year for accountants to separate their audit business from related legal and consulting services in the wake of the Enron scandal.

Fidal partner Jean-Louis Paul told Legal Week. "In light of the new post-Enron regulations, there is a problem for auditors. We want to show the link between Fidal and KPMG is different to the other accountancy firms and so decided to stop our involvement in Juri-Avenir."

With its termination, the big four's law firms have no separate representation in the country.

HSD Ernst & Young's Juri-Avenir member, Robert Tarika, said the decision to terminate the forum was an "evolution" and had been "in the air" for some time.

"Many of the topics have been covered and we have accomplished our goals. We don't want to be seen as entrenched group but like all other law firms," he told Legal Week.

Since its inception, Juri-Avenir has promoted issues such as the ability to work as independent lawyer as salaried employee of an accountancy firm and more rights for lawyers operating in large cross-professional networks.

Click on 'e-mail news' at www.legalweek.net to be alerted to breaking news stories.