His baptismal certificate was dated of October 11, 1665 at the Church of St Eustache of Paris.
His father was Renault Marais, prosecutor at the Grand Châtelet, and his mother was Catherine-Françoise Billon.
It was long thought that he ended his career as bâtonnier, but that was actually Jean Marais (or Marays).
[3] His nickname was "the lawyer of the women" (l'avocat des dames), because he pleaded for a lot of them.
He was in contact with several personalities of his time, including Nicolas Boileau, the Chancellor d'Aguesseau, the Cardinal Polignac, the Viscount Charles-Henri-Gaspard de Saulx of Tavannes, and also the financier Samuel Bernard.