Liora Israël. “From Cause Lawyering to Resistance: French Communist Lawyers in the Shadow of History (1929-1945).” In The Worlds Cause Lawyers Make: Structure and Agency in Legal Practice. Eds. Austin Sarat and Stuart Scheingold, pp. 147-170. Redwood City: Stanford University Press, 2005.
This chapter explores the work of French communist lawyers from 1929 to 1945, focusing on the Association Juridique Internationale (AJI), founded by Marcel Willard. The AJI combined legal defense for workers and leftist causes with political training for young communists. As France shifted from democracy to Nazi occupation, these lawyers increasingly used the law as a tool of political resistance, continuing their struggle even when both their profession and party were declared illegal.
The AJI engaged in international campaigns against fascism and repression, using legal analysis, public advocacy, and symbolic trials to advance their cause. Ultimately, Israel shows that in repressive regimes, lawyering can evolve into a form of clandestine resistance, expanding the concept of cause lawyering beyond its traditional boundaries.