TAll generations of lawyers for the last sixty years have experienced it. Henri Leclerc was their undisputed champion, lawyers from the left and the right, old and young, women and men. It was unanimous. Like those great athletes who surpass all their peers in their discipline and write their name in history, Henri Leclerc was the best among us. He had everything. He had all the qualities of a lawyer.
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A very fine lawyer, a procedural ace, he was a hard worker who slept only a few hours a night so as to know everything about the cases he was going to plead. He had the empathy and kindness that allowed him to understand and convince his judge. He was lucid. He knew how to be patelin or terrible and threatening, depending on what the case required. But he never compromised on principles. He had the science of the hearing, listening without seeming to, appearing when no one expected him, and an unequalled facility for questioning, confusing and confessing if necessary, the witnesses and parties testifying at the bar. He imposed his rhythm, his breath, his logic.
He was formidable and feared, because he could be sarcastic or raise his deep, warm voice to drown out tumults and recriminations. In a word, Henri Leclerc was fascinating. A lion. He was our Churchill. And when his turn to plead came, the fascination turned to enchantment, to bewitchment. We didn’t miss a crumb of what he said. It was an elevation. It must be said that he had one more card than the others: an immense humanity. He believed deeply in redemption. He loved mornings, when dawn announces another day. He spoke of his faith in man, his faith in justice, and the jurors listened to him in tears. He was the defense.
Learning by example
I experienced all this one day. I was still at law school, a trainee in the jurisdiction. I skipped the work of the chamber to which I was assigned to follow a trial before the assize court. That of Betty Sebaoun, in which he defended Philippe Allouche whom everyone accused. His plea upset me. I then did everything to join his office and work alongside him.
As a student, I launched the monthly in 1986 Legipressewith Charles-Henry Dubail. He was the lawyer of Release. It was the right entry point. We did a lot of press law together. But I didn’t follow him until the 17the [chambre correctionnelle du tribunal de Paris spécialisée dans les affaires de presse]. I accompanied him before many French assize courts. It was learning by example. And going away for a few days with him was a blessing to have him to yourself, to listen to things that were always intelligent, never mediocre or petty, often funny. He loved to transmit.
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