Collège de droit - Montpellier

What Collège de droit - Montpellier does

Collège de Droit de Montpellier is a three-year university diploma (diplôme d'université, D.U.) program embedded within the Faculté de Droit et de Science politique de Montpellier at the Université de Montpellier. Founded in 2009 by Pr. Daniel Mainguy, it is a selective, parallel-track program (Collège I, II, III) running alongside the standard Licence en Droit (Years 1–3), targeting top-performing law students who seek a fundamental, philosophical, and historical approach to law rather than purely technical training. Teaching is delivered by agrégés — the highest academic rank in French higher education — and the program culminates in the annual Concours Jacques Coeur moot trial (Collège I and II) and a Grand oral dissertation defense (Collège III). The headcount is six (faculty/coordinators), and operations are housed at 39 rue de l'université, Montpellier.

The business model is a low-fee academic subscription: students pay 360 € per year in D.U. registration fees, with fee waivers (exonérations) available for students in financial difficulty, funded through partner and sponsor support. The go-to-market is a selective admissions process (dossier + interview) targeting students already enrolled or admitted to the Universit\u00e9 de Montpellier's Faculty of Law. The program is not listed on Parcoursup (the national French higher education platform), and students must select the Faculty directly. Distribution is purely in-person in Montpellier; reach is domestic France and the broader Université de Montpellier catchment. Marketing is limited to a WordPress website, organic social sharing, and a low-volume newsletter (≈31 subscribers), with occasional earned media such as a Dalloz Etudiant interview.

Strategically, the program operates as a high-reputation, low-revenue niche within a public university: there is no scaling capital, no commercial product surface, and no proprietary technology. Its defensibility rests on the agrégé faculty, 15+ years of curated curriculum, and the institutional ecosystem of the Concours Jacques Coeur with law firm sponsors — making it best understood as a quasi-endowed academic brand rather than a growth-stage venture.

Name

Collège de droit - Montpellier

Legal name

Collège de Droit de Montpellier

Website

https://collegededroit-montpellier.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Collège de Droit de Montpellier is a selective three-year university diploma program within the Université de Montpellier's Faculty of Law, offering top law students complementary, philosophy- and history-oriented legal education alongside their standard Licence studies, taught by agrégés and culminating in a moot trial.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113), Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (611310)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Paralegal & Legal Studies Programs (Law School–Affiliated) (EDAHAIAI)

Keywords

• Legal education program
• University diploma
• Moot trial competition
• Law faculty excellence
• Agrégé instruction

Headquarters

HQ city

Montpellier

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Diplôme d'Université (D.U.) Registration Fees: Students pay annual registration fees of 360 euros per year to obtain the diploma of the Collège de Droit. Exonérations (fee waivers) are available for students in financial difficulty, funded through the support of partners and sponsors. The Collège is a diploma distinct from and complementary to the standard Licence en Droit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Collège de Droit de Montpellier is a three-year university diploma (D.U.) program offered in parallel to the standard Licence in Law at the Faculté de Droit et de Science politique of the Université de Montpellier. It delivers complementary excellence-level legal education with a fundamental, philosophical, and historical orientation rather than purely technical training, structured into Collège I (Culture juridique), Collège II (Droit approfondi), and Collège III (Théorie et pratique). The curriculum features weekly oral examinations ("colles"), intensive May-June seminars, an annual mock trial competition (Concours Jacques Coeur), and a Grand oral dissertation defense.

Product overview

The Collège de Droit de Montpellier is a three-year university diploma (DU) program running parallel to the standard Licence 1, 2, and 3 at the Faculty of Law and Political Science of Montpellier. The program consists of three distinct annual cohorts: Collège I (Culture juridique) focusing on legal culture and philosophy, Collège II (Droit approfondi) emphasizing advanced law topics, and Collège III (Théorie et pratique) combining theory with practical seminars. The curriculum includes weekly "colles" (oral examinations) during the academic term, intensive seminars in May-June, and culminates with examinations including the annual mock trial competition (Concours Jacques Coeur) for Collège I and II, and a Grand oral for Collège III.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Collège I (Culture juridique): First year program focusing on legal culture, running parallel to Licence 1.
• Collège II (Droit approfondi)
• Collège III (Théorie et pratique)
• Concours Jacques Coeur

Products and services

• Coll\u00e8ge I - Culture juridique (1st Year Program) First-year D.U. program running parallel to Licence 1, focusing on legal culture through seminars on philosophy of law, civil code sources, legal vocabulary, codification, and rhetoric. Students prepare for the mock trial examination (Concours Jacques Coeur).
• Coll\u00e8ge II - Droit approfondi (2nd Year Program) Second-year D.U. program running parallel to Licence 2, providing in-depth study of law topics including economic analysis of law, history of civil liability, contract law, administrative law, and business law. Students attend seminars and prepare for the annual Concours Jacques Coeur mock trial.
• Coll\u00e8ge III - Th\u00e9orie et pratique (3rd Year Program) Third-year D.U. program running parallel to Licence 3, combining theory and practice through seminars on contract law, labor law, fundamental rights, and banking law. Culminates in a Grand oral dissertation defense rather than a mock trial.
• Concours Jacques Coeur (Mock Trial) Annual mock trial competition in which students serve as prosecutors or defense attorneys arguing cases against historical or fictional figures, writing legal briefs and delivering oral arguments, culminating in finals.
• Grand Oral (Final Oral Examination) End-of-year oral examination for Coll\u00e8ge III students in which students prepare a dissertation on a transversal topic proposed by an instructor, then answer questions from a jury panel based on their research work.

Quantifiable outcome

• Programme running continuously for over 15 years with annual admissions cycles

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Cabinet Carbonnier Lamaze Rasle & AssociésminorOthers · 1 January 2019Law firm Carbonnier Lamaze Rasle & Associés sponsored the 2019 Concours Jacques Coeur moot trial (procès fictif de Mark Zuckerberg). Me Eric Morain from the firm served as jury member and presented the best speaker prize.
• Cabinet Scheuer, Vernhet et AssociésminorOthers · 1 January 2013Law firm Scheuer, Vernhet et Associés parrains (sponsored) the Concours Jacques Coeur moot trial competition, providing prize money for the best speaker award. Stéphane Destours, a maître de conférences and avocat at the firm, served as jury president.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Institut des Hautes Études Juridiques (IHEJ): A French supplemental legal-education institute providing advanced seminars and diplomas for law students and young lawyers; shares the niche focus on legal culture and continuing legal training but operates more broadly across practitioner audiences rather than solely undergraduate excellence cohorts.

Direct peers

• Collège de Droit de Paris (Paris II Panthéon-Assas): One of the most established French 'Collège de Droit' excellence programs at Université Paris II Panthéon-Assas, offering a parallel three-year supplemental curriculum for top law students with similar agrégé-led instruction, philosophical/historical depth, and moot trial traditions — a near-identical operating model to the Montpellier program.
• Collège de Droit de Lyon (Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3): A parallel Collège de Droit excellence program at Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3, running alongside Licence 1/2/3 studies with a similar selective admissions process and agrégé teaching model, directly comparable in structure and pedagogical philosophy to the Montpellier Collège.
• Collège de Droit de Toulouse (Université Toulouse 1 Capitole): A regional Collège de Droit program at Toulouse 1 Capitole delivering the same kind of supplemental excellence training for top Licence students at a major French law faculty, directly comparable in mission, admissions selectivity, and curriculum design.
• Collège de Droit de Bordeaux: Another Collège de Droit program at Université de Bordeaux offering a comparable complementary D.U. for high-performing law students, with similar agrégé direction, three-year structure, and philosophy/historical emphasis — making it a direct structural peer within the same French excellence-program category.

Others

• École de Formation des Barreaux (EFB): The official French bar-school training institute for aspiring lawyers, providing post-degree professional legal training; adjacent to the Collège de Droit's excellence-training mission and shares the broader French legal-education ecosystem and student pipeline, but operates at a different career stage.
• Dalloz Etudiant: The leading French legal-student publication and digital platform covering legal education, bar exam prep, and law-school news; relevant as the media ecosystem that disseminates Collège de Droit content (e.g., the Jallamion interview) and shapes student awareness of these programs.
• Cabinet Carbonnier Lamaze Rasle & Associés: A French business law firm that has sponsored the Concours Jacques Coeur moot trial (2019) and serves as a legal-industry patron and jury member; relevant as an ecosystem participant that bridges the Collège de Droit program to the practicing French legal profession.

Broad incumbents

• Sciences Po — École de droit: A broader French institution offering a dedicated law track alongside its political science and other programs, serving a comparable elite undergraduate audience with rigorous selective admissions; relevant as a French higher-education incumbent that competes for the same top-tier student pool.
• École de Droit de la Sorbonne (Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne): A broader and longer-established law school at Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne offering advanced legal instruction including supplemental excellence tracks; operates at much larger scale and does not specialize in the Collège de Droit niche, but covers the same target market of high-performing French law undergraduates.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/coll%C3%A8ge-de-droit-de-montpellier

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Collège de droit - Montpellier