The President of the International Association of Lawyers decorated with the French Legion of Honour

The President of the UIA, Stephen L. Dreyfuss, received on May 28, from the hands of François Delattre,[1] the Ambassador of France to the United States, the insignia of Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honour.[2]

This ceremony took place at the French Consulate in New York, in the presence of Consul General Bertrand Lortholarly, along with numerous lawyers, members of the UIA’s executive committee, assembled at New York for institutional meetings. 

During his speech, the ambassador mentioned “the unbending integrity and the steadfast conviction” of Dreyfuss the lawyer and his contribution – notably through the activities of the UIA – to the promotion of a “fair, humane vision of the legal profession.” He also highlighted the constant engagement of Mr. Dreyfuss in the promotion of the French language and the academic, cultural, and commercial exchanges between France and the United States.

It’s thus completely natural that “France, [his] second homeland, is particularly proud to honour him,” he concluded  

President Dreyfuss himself stuck to thanking everybody who had been with him all throughout his life and supported his projects. A special thank you was addressed to his international colleagues of the UIA: “As lawyers, we often are the only barrier standing between our clients and the unfettered, seemingly limitless power of the State. There is no more noble calling than that, and I salute the work that the UIA and its members do all around the world.”