The mandate of , who has been head of the Luxembourg Bar Association since her election in September 2020, will end in a few weeks. will succeed her. Dupong’s presidency was marked by the health crisis. But Dupong, who comes from a litigation background and specialises in family and child law, helped the Bar Association make progress on local and social issues.
Jeremy Zabatta: At the beginning of July, the Bar Association organised the election of its future president and council for the period 2022-2024. But it seems that the turnout was quite low, with less than 20% of the lawyers eligible to vote. Is it common to have such a low turnout?
Valerie Dupong: I don’t think this can explain the low turnout, but lawyers have to travel to vote. There is no possibility of proxy or electronic voting. I have been at the Bar for 30 years and the turnout has always been low, but stable. In the Young Bar election, the rate is also low, even with electronic voting. More generally, it has been like this for a very long time. Perhaps there is a study to be done on this. It must also be said that there is no real tradition of election campaigns, as is the case in France. It is obviously a pity to have a low turnout, but voting is not compulsory. I conclude that lawyers are either satisfied with the system and the people who make up the Bar Association, or that they do not feel concerned by the election. We would like to see a higher turnout, that is obvious. But I note that there were a few more people this year than in 2020.
You didn’t run as a candidate for your succession. Why not?
Normally, the president of the Bar does not stand for re-election. It happened once, I think, but that was because no one put themselves forward at the time [editor’s note: Gaston Stein was president of the bar for the first time from 2003 to 2004 and from 2009 to 2010. At that time, the term of office of the president of the bar was one year. Jean Kauffmann had two terms, from 2007 to 2009.] The president of the bar is elected for two years before becoming the outgoing president of the Bar Council, also for two years, which is the only position that is not eligible [to be contested].
With the health crisis, there were many young lawyers, working alone, who were very much affected financially.
What are the issues that have been close to your heart during your term of office?
I pushed a bit for a social bar with the young lawyers’ remuneration survey and the bar welfare survey. We had a lot of feedback, particularly from young lawyers, and, more generally, a third of lawyers responded. A number of lessons were learned, including the fact that something had to be put in place to help lawyers who were in financial distress, victims of harassment or victims of addiction.
And were you able to set up a project to help these lawyers?
It is no longer a project because we have just implemented a service at the bar called Listen. It allows lawyers who are experiencing difficulties to talk to colleagues who have been trained in mental health in order to be guided and listened to, in complete discretion. We have also set up a support fund, funded by donations, to provide further support to lawyers in this situation. With the health crisis, there were many young lawyers, working alone, who were very much affected financially. We always talk about the big, beautiful law firms, but the litigation lawyers have been very hard hit and some have struggled to recover.
What other issues have been priorities?
We also worked a lot on anti-money laundering with the arrival of the FATF. As well as on the reception of citizens, with the improvement of the free consultation service every Saturday. More generally, because of covid-19, we travelled very little and were able to concentrate on national issues. In the end, it could be said that this was a blessing in disguise. A reform of the law on lawyers has been initiated. A bill should soon be presented with an improvement of the competences of the president of the bar and the Bar Council. We have really done some fundamental work. We have issued a circular on the remuneration of young lawyers with recommendations, in particular that trainee lawyers should be paid at least the minimum wage.
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Generally speaking, a lawyer is president of the bar only once in his or her life. Is it a regret to have assumed this function during the health crisis?
No, not at all. I thought I should use the time to implement certain things, including the social bar. We also worked to improve training for lawyers. We used this time to professionalise the bar, recruit staff and set up more services for lawyers.
What advice will you give to your successor, Pit Reckinger?
“ think he knows perfectly well the advice I can give him because as vice president of the Bar Association we meet three or four times a week. What I can tell him is to remember to take time to breathe and to enjoy his family. The president of the bar works a lot and the days are often very long. You have to know how to delegate, and delegate well, working with the Maison de l’avocat, which has a great team. Pit Reckinger will make an excellent ‘bâtonnier’. He also has this social fibre, particularly in relation to CSR. He has always been very supportive throughout my tenure. He comes from a business background and will obviously keep his eye on legislative advances in this area.
Read the original French version of this interview on the site