White & Case man pulls out of Paris bar race

White & Case finance partner Jean-Luc Boussard has pulled out of the race for a place on the Paris Bar Council following the first round of elections yesterday (23 November).

Boussard received 1164 votes in the first round, placing him towards the bottom of the list of 42 candidates.

However the three other candidates from international firms – Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s Dominique Mondoloni, Allen & Overy’s Edouard Didier, and Clifford Chance’s Claude Lazarus – are still in the running.

All were amongst the top 17 candidates, indicating a strong chance of election to the council in today’s second round. There are 17 council seats to be filled.

Jean-François Prat, senior partner of Bredin Prat, came second in the first round with 3767 votes. Lazarus, standing on a platform of maintaining the identity and independence of lawyers, was fourth with 2905 votes. Meanwhile Mondoloni and Didier both received in excess of 1700 votes.

Gérard Nicolai, the former global head of Landwell, also stands a good chance of election today, receiving 1835 first-round votes.

International firms are currently under-represented on the Paris bar council, holding just four of the 33 seats.