The son of a member of the Great Chamber, and a student of Charles Rollin, Antoine Portail rose from an attorney, to an attorney general, to the President of the Mortar (chief justice of the Great Chamber), before becoming a First President (a royal appointed position) of the Parlement of Paris in 1724.

"His natural eloquence and his love of literature," d'Alembert laconically noted, "were his qualifications to the Academy.

"[2] He was of great service to Louis XIV and, under the regency of Louis XV, he was appointed, with Guillaume de Lamoignon de Blancmesnil, President of the Chamber of Justice, created in 1716 to audit the country's financial records after 1698, and to prosecute any criminal activity uncovered.

Later, he was one of the commissioners named to help the regent resolve the problems created by John Law's General Bank.

"He was," said Barbier,[3] "a magistrate who represented a very beautiful individual, graceful, with an infinite politeness for everyone and full of spirit."