Nîmes Bar Association President and Vice-President Elections 2023: Meet the Candidates and Their Vision

These are figures from the world of lawyers who are applying for the position of president of the Nîmes Bar Association. Thus, Maître Jean-Faustin Kamdem and Hélène Mordacq present themselves respectively as President of the President and Vice President of the President on a list. The other list is carried by Maître Séverine Moulis and Romain Léonard.

The Séverine Moulis and Romain Léonard list

Me Séverine Moulis “was sworn in in 1996 and began working as a freelance associate in the office of President Jean-Pierre Cabanes. When, eight years later, she left her internship supervisor’s office, it was Maître Romain Léonard who succeeded her The candidates have therefore already worked in pairs. Me Moulis was elected member of the Council of the Order and the Regional Disciplinary Council twice by her peers, responsible for relations with the Judicial Court, among other mandates. In addition to managing her offices, the candidate provides consultations, notably at the CIDFF, to support and guide women in distress. “Mother of a family, sportswoman, loving the Fine Arts, she wrote a collection of short stories and donated her royalties to associations working for the autonomy of young people with autism or Down syndrome”, indicates the presentation of the candidate.

Me Romain Leonard has been a lawyer since November 2004. “At the end of his collaboration, he joined the firm of his father, President Patrick Léonard, in 2008. He was president of the Union of Young Lawyers of Nîmes in 2012/2013. He was on the council of the Order from 2019 to 2021, he worked on various commissions. He has been a member of the Regional Disciplinary Council of the Nîmes Court of Appeal since 2022. He has been a delegate to the CNBF since January 2023 and an alternate member of its Board of Directors. Since 2016, he has served on the board of directors of the Kerialis Provident Institution upon appointment by the National Federation of Young Lawyers’ Unions. Father of 2 children, he is passionate about the mountains and the wines of our region”, specifies the candidate’s note produced for the election.

The program of the two lawyers. “The State seeks to develop alternative methods of dispute resolution. If legal advice is accustomed to amicable practices, lawyers accustomed to litigation will need to be accompanied and supported to adapt to changes in judicial practice. We will be keen to help our Bar reinvent itself. The situation of our young colleagues is also a priority. With the evolution of the collaboration contract and the conditions of entry into the profession, young people no longer benefit from this form of support from an older lawyer which made it possible to learn and understand the uses of the legal profession for s integrate better and faster. Transmission as a vector of inclusion must be rethought. And then, 15 years ago, Me Moulis submitted to the Council of the Order a project to create a crèche to facilitate the daily life of those who have to reconcile professional and family life. A dedicated association was even created but the project, too innovative for the time, was ultimately abandoned. My Moulis and Léonard have not given up on this idea…”, indicates their program.

The Jean-Faustin Kamdem and Hélène Mordacq list

Me Jean-Faustin Kamdem “I hold a doctorate in business law, qualified as a faculty lecturer. After a university career at Montpellier I and III, I took the oath on December 19, 1996 as a lawyer and
joined the Nimes bar in 2001. I have been practicing as a lawyer for 22 years in an individual structure in a group firm, always in Nîmes. I have been involved in the management of the Order for several years having been elected to the council of the Order three times, from January 2010 to December 31, 2012, from January 2013 to December 31, 2015 and since January 2022. During these mandates, I worked more specifically in several commissions: accounting control, criminal, foreigners’ rights, legal monitoring and reforms, taxation. I have had the honor of representing the Order on multiple occasions. My personal investment for the Order is long term,” explains the lawyer in his presentation.

Hélène Mordacq
“I took the oath on December 16, 2003 and I currently work in an individual structure in a group practice after having been an associate for several years, still in Nimes. I am also involved in the management of the Order having been elected to the Council of the Order twice, from January 2009 to December 31, 2011 and from January 2018 to December 31, 2020. I was involved in the training and taxation commissions, which allowed me to understand the ethical aspects and difficulties faced by many colleagues. My heartfelt commitment to women victims of violence led me to chair the VIA FEMINA FAMA association from May 2018 to May 2023 and to work in this fight, both on a personal and professional level. “I currently sit in the legal section of the Interprofessional Training Fund for Liberal Professionals (FIFPL)”, explains the candidate for the position of vice-president.

Their vision of the batonship
“This vision is structured around three main axes, which arise from a single postulate: The Order is everyone’s business and must be accessible to all. We must find support in it in all circumstances. Why this candidacy? We are driven by the desire to continue our commitment within the Order and defend our profession at a time when the very essence of our oath is being called into question from all sides. We can make our contribution to the building in line with previous presidents. We are aware of the burden and responsibilities that this role entails. The choice to exercise it in pairs allows us to consider it calmly. The trust, mutual respect, complementarity that drives ushave the guarantee of solidity and our determination to serve the Order with a common vision. Our legal profession is one and indivisible, brotherhood is its foundation, the president of the bar is its guarantor. This brotherhood sometimes fades and we will work to restore it. The imperative of economic profitability sometimes takes precedence over our oath and gives rise to ethical disputes which harm the image of our profession and our common exercise. Our association will be that of all the components of our profession”, indicates the program of the Kamdem-Mordacq pair who also wish to “support colleagues in difficulty” and create a crèche for the order of lawyers.

Asked about the elections which are organized, the President Me Khadija Aoudia was delighted with “the richness and elegance of the applications”. Elections are due to be held on November 28.