New leadership team for ECLA: Fougou re-elected, Lavorel and Mínguez vice-presidents
The European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA) has renewed its leadership, unanimously re-electing Stéphanie Fougou (pictured) as President for the next three years, and appointing Laure Lavorel and Teresa Mínguez as Vice-Presidents. Marcus M. Schmitt has been confirmed in his role as Secretary General.
The new structure reflects the organisation’s governance model, which represents over 78,000 in-house lawyers across 25 member countries through a network of national associations. Founded in 1983, ECLA serves as a coordinating body for European corporate legal associations.
“We recently held a particularly productive strategic workshop in Poland, during which we defined ECLA’s strategy through to 2030 and beyond. This meeting provided the renewed leadership team with a clear framework for guiding the association through a period of profound transformation of the profession, driven by artificial intelligence and geopolitical challenges,” said Mr Schmitt in a statement to our editorial team.
The appointments come at a time when in-house lawyers are taking on increasingly broad roles in governance, compliance, and corporate strategy within European organisations.
The profiles
Stéphanie Fougou is General Counsel of HBX Group and has led ECLA as President since 2024. Her re-election extends her mandate at a time when the organisation is strengthening its engagement in the European regulatory and policy debate affecting in-house lawyers.
Laure Lavorel is Group General Counsel of Broadcom and is active in international in-house lawyer networks, bringing experience gained at a global technology multinational.
Teresa Mínguez is Legal Director, Compliance and Integrity Officer at Porsche Ibérica, where she also sits on the management committee. She additionally serves as Sixth Deputy at the Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid (ICAM), with responsibility for international affairs. Prior to joining ECLA’s leadership, she served as a board member of ACC Europe (Association of Corporate Counsel Europe), where she also chaired the membership committee.
Marcus M. Schmitt, confirmed as Secretary General, has held this position since 2017 and is responsible for the association’s operational and representational activities.
