They are only five in the running. Four men, one woman. Five black robes gathered in the president’s office, their common boss. “I can’t wait to be passed”, loose Baptiste Hervieux, 30, who paces in the hallway. This Wednesday, October 19, at 2 p.m., at the Bobigny lawyers’ house, tension is mounting among the candidates for the eloquence competition of the Seine-Saint-Denis Young Bar Conference, while the public gathers at the foot of the building.
For this third and final round, the competitors will each have fifteen minutes to prove their verve in front of a five-member jury divided between presidents and court officials. “I like orality, sending good words, making friends laugh”, confided earlier Baptiste Hervieux, whom some members of the jury have already nicknamed “Julien Doré” – he has blue eyes and the same long blond curls as the singer. “It is also a platform in front of the highest authorities, the opportunity to titillate them and to convey messages about our profession”, does he think. The young lawyers have the choice between two subjects received ten days earlier. Baptiste chose the question: If the truth hurts, is it his fault? » Others preferred a quote from Paul Eluard: ” There is no coincidence, only appointments. »
“Me, I’m a lot into jokes, I’m going to show that I know how to be serious too. » Maïmouna Haïdara, lawyer
A few minutes before the final, everyone comments on their speech. “Me, I’m a lot into jokes, I’m going to show that I can be serious too”, says Maïmouna Haïdara, 32, dressed all in black, cheekbones and lips made up in mauve. The young lawyer is preceded by a flattering reputation. She has already won two competitions, and not the least : the Gisèle-Halimi prize, organized by the Women’s Foundation, at the Odéon, in March, and Eloquentia, in 2014, which promotes the oratorical talent of young people from the suburbs. But nothing is won : in the second round, the jury winced over his performance, “a little fast” and ” less good ” than at first.
Jean-Baptiste Leclerc, 30 years old, with fine features and a classic look, is about to dash into the arena, ” delighted ” to inaugurate the final. In less than three hours, at the end of the deliberations, two winners will be awarded the title of “secretary” for the next two years, adding their names to the list of winners of this competition launched in 2002. The winning tandem will will face on December 10, through the parody trial of a public figure, on a stage at the Stade de France, during the solemn return to the bar.
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