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This paper highlights inequalities in access to the French administrative courts. Using data from a large number of judgments, it emphasizes an important selection effect whereby cases involving managers and white-collar civil servants as well as store owners and business leaders involved in litigation over taxes are over-represented. Subsequently, the probability of obtaining a recovery judgment is not dependent upon the legal competence of the parties as those with the best chances of winning know how to find their bearings in legal circles and orient the defense of their cause. The notion of procedural capital relates to this capacity to adapt. However, the judge’s decision is not the only issue in the submission of a case to the court. For many applicants, it is also a matter of resuming the dialogue with the civil service.