05 Jun Stéphanie Fougou Elected President of ECLA
ECLA is pleased to announce the election of Ms. Stéphanie Fougou, SVP, General Counsel and Board Secretary at Technicolor Group SA, as its new president, effective immediately. This transition marks a significant milestone in the association’s history as it continues to advance its mission of strengthening the corporate legal profession across Europe.
Ms. Fougou brings a wealth of experience to the role, with a decades-long background in legal leadership positions at Executive Committee level. She is the first woman to serve as president of the association. Under her stewardship, ECLA will continue growing the representation and promotion of the profession at both European and at international levels, while further building relationships with existing organisations whose goals are aligned. Furthermore, she particularly aims to target contemporary legal and regulatory challenges and enable ECLA to provide increased value to corporate lawyers across Europe.
Comments from Leadership
“I am honoured to take on this role and continue the great work that ECLA has already done.” said Ms. Fougou. “My primary goal will be to enable ECLA to act as the European relay for national corporate lawyer associations and provide increased value to company lawyers across Europe. As an umbrella association, ECLA will strive to become both a lightning rod for regulatory and other advocacy-related challenges and act as an information and networking hub for all corporate lawyers based in Europe, among which the reflexions about the future of Corporate In-House Lawyers facing IA challenges and the CSR systemic litigation risks for companies. I look forward to collaborating with all our 22 member associations and stakeholders to achieve our objectives and with our 6 additional board members.”
Her tenure starts at a challenging time, as both geopolitical challenges and technological advancements have significantly impacted legal work in recent years. ECLA’s outgoing President Jonathan Marsh has been elected honorary president of the association, and commented as follows: “Current challenges require leadership to be both sharp and experienced in leading legal departments and advocating for the profession. I am delighted that our beloved association gains such an industry titan to steer us through the unknown. I am excited to see how ECLA will evolve further.”
Stephanie Fougou will serve as the 17th president of the association. She has been elected for a 2-year term which will last until Spring 2026
About ECLA
The European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA) was founded in 1983 and is the umbrella organization of 22 different national associations of in-house counsel working in companies and organizations. For more than 41 years, ECLA has been committed to the profession of company lawyers throughout Europe and accounts for approximately 70,000 professionals in its network and represents the more than 160,000 company lawyers across Europe.