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On January 14, 2011, after twenty‐three years in power and one month of popular protest demanding his resignation, President Ben Ali fled Tunisia. Lawyers, wearing their official robes, had marched frequently in the uprising's demonstrations. By engaging with and supporting the uprising, lawyers—both the profession in general and the bar's leadership—gained considerable symbolic influence over the post‐uprising government that replaced Ben Ali's regime. This article outlines the various forms of political lawyering undertaken by Tunisian lawyers and their professional associations from Tunisia's independence to post‐uprising transitions. We demonstrate that economic concerns, professional objectives, and civic professionalism contributed to the collective action of Tunisian lawyers before and after the uprising. Tunisian lawyers moved beyond the realm of their profession to adopt a role as overseers of the post‐uprising government.

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En Tunisie, la notion clé qui permet d’apprécier la dynamique des relations entre les gouvernants et les organisations des droits de l’Homme et entre courants politiques de l’opposition en leur sein est celle de compromis. Certains acteurs de l’opposition, membres des associations de droits de l’Homme, sont à la recherche constante d’espaces de médiation avec les pouvoirs publics. La contradiction entre la recherche d’un compromis à tout prix et l’affirmation d’une posture oppositionnelle explique que la seule association des droits de l’Homme légalisée constitue un enjeu de confrontations entre acteurs politiques et qu’il s’agit pour le pouvoir de la transformer en une organisation faire-valoir de son discours en matière de droits humains.