“Only they can stare at the sun”? French supreme courts lawyers, a legal elite in the supreme courts space

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article focuses on a long-standing profession, that of avocats aux Conseils d'État et à la Cour de Cassation – supreme courts lawyers – in France. This distinct professional group, separate from regular lawyers, holds a monopoly on supreme court cases, spanning centuries. The aim of this research is to reflect on the conditions that have maintained such a privilege in a changing legal world. Based on largely unpublished data, the socio-historical approach combines quantitative and qualitative analyses. One hypothesis is to show that the profession has established itself as a partner of choice for magistrates, whose work in producing decisions relies significantly on the expertise of these specialized jurists. To understand this, the morphology of the group and its recent transformations are considered, as well as the concrete work these lawyers carry out in the context of their relations with the supreme courts.