Famous French Lawyers & Judges

Pierre Laval was a French politician who served as prime minister of France for two non-consecutive terms. A lawyer by qualification, he defended trade unions and leftists against government prosecution. As a politician, he held many governmental positions. After the liberation of France in 1944, he was arrested by the new French government and executed following a flawed trial.

Former prime minister of France and Republican party member François Fillon had also held many important portfolios, such as the ministries of education and ecology. An Anglophile, he is married to a Welsh-born wife. He was later found involved in a fake jobs scandal and was convicted of fund embezzlement.

Though he initially studied law, Carlo Buonaparte quit without a degree to take charge of his inheritance after his father’s death. He later served Pasquale Paoli. However, following the French conquest of Corsica, he completed his legal education. He is best remembered as the father of Napoleon Bonaparte.

A qualified lawyer, René Coty had been the last president of the Fourth French Republic. His presidency was plagued by issues such as the Algerian question, and his threat to resign during the May 1958 crisis accelerated the election of Charles de Gaulle as the prime minister of France.

Once the prime minister of France, Jules Ferry was a Moderate Republican leader, who is remembered for his efforts in the French colonial expansion. He followed in his father’s footsteps to become a lawyer but gained fame as a political critic. He later became increasingly unpopular due to expenditures incurred in wars. 

Jacques Vergès was a French lawyer, political activist, and writer. He is best remembered for defending the FLN militants during the Algerian War. Nicknamed the Devil's Advocate, Vergès achieved notoriety and attracted widespread public attention for advocating political activism. In the 2010 French-German biographical film Carlos, Jacques Vergès was played by Nicolas Briançon. 

René Cassin was a French jurist best known for co-authoring the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to be adopted by the United Nations General Assembly. For this contribution, he received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1968. The same year, he also received one of the UN General Assembly's Human Rights Prizes. The René Cassin Award is named in his honor. 

A qualified lawyer, Alexandre Millerand had served as both the president and the prime minister of France. He had also held important portfolios, such as the ministries of war and commerce. He once attempted to increase presidential powers by revising the constitution. His published works include Le Socialisme réformiste.

Frédéric Ozanam was a French lawyer, literary scholar, equal rights advocate, and journalist. He is credited with co-founding the Conference of Charity, which came to be known as the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul. in 1997, Frédéric Ozanam was beatified at Notre Dame de Paris by Pope John Paul II and his feast day is observed on 9 September.

Jurist and political scientist Maurice Duverger is best remembered for proposing the Duverger's law, related to the formation of a two-party system. He taught at the Sorbonne and had also been an MP, representing the Italian Communist Party first and then the Democratic Party of the Left. 

Eva Joly is a Norwegian-born French magistrate and politician. An important member of Europe Écologie–The Greens, Joly represented the party as a presidency candidate of France in 2012. A popular politician, Eva Joly has also received prestigious awards such as the Peer Gynt Prize and the Sophie Prize.

Alexandre Auguste Ledru-Rollin was a French politician best remembered as the leader of the working-class men. He was one of the most important politicians whose deeds and speeches led to the French Revolution of 1848, which is considered one of the most prominent events in the history of France. A Paris Metro station and an avenue are named after him.

Jacques-Nicolas Billaud-Varenne was a French lawyer and politician of the Revolutionary period. An influential personality, Billaud-Varenne played an important role during the Reign of Terror and is regarded as a key architect of the Reign of Terror. One of the most important members of the Committee of Public Safety, Billaud-Varenne worked with influential figures like Maximilien Robespierre and Georges Danton.

Élie, duc Decazes was a French statesman who led the liberal Doctrinaires party during the Bourbon Restoration. A lawyer by profession, he served as a judge of the Seine Tribunal before entering politics. He was a self-proclaimed royalist and remained faithful to the Bourbons throughout the Hundred Days. He became the prime minister of France in 1819.