The event brought together over 400 in-house lawyers from throughout Europe, providing them with essential knowledge and networking opportunities needed to navigate an increasingly complex business environment.
ACC Europe recently held its 2022 Annual Conference, marking the return of physical events for the European chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC). Taking place in Madrid from May 22 – 24, the event brought together over 400 in-house lawyers from throughout Europe, providing them with essential knowledge and networking opportunities needed to navigate an increasingly complex business environment.
The overall theme of the conference was “Embracing New Beginnings”, and the event inspired those in attendance with fresh perspectives on the in-house legal community. This exciting event featured a jam-packed itinerary of talks, informational sessions, law labs, and more. Hosted by leading experts who shone a light on the opportunities now being presented to in-house counsel after the many changes the role has gone through over the past few years.
Speaking about the event, ACC Europe chapter president Ilse De Loof, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, Swissport, said, “The combination of topics, venue, and networking all made for a wonderful event. There was so much energy and excitement to be back together again and to see in-house counsel from across Europe. The wealth of knowledge and expertise shared during these exciting three days was incredible, and I’m grateful to all the speakers, attendees, and sponsors who helped make the event such a success.”
Throughout the three-day event, experts guided and advised all in-house counsel in attendance through sessions around numerous topics. Some of the topics discussed included ESG, outstanding leadership challenges, DE&I, risk management, counsel in a crisis, variance in global anti-trust regimes, legal operations and more.
There was a wealth of knowledge shared by some of the top in-house legal counsel from across the globe. At the opening plenary “Embracing new beginnings - Re-inventing in-house counsel profile” Barbara Van Koppen, SVP Corporate Centre & General Counsel, KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, spoke about the important role in-house counsel can play in a company in terms of influence and retention. “You need engaged leadership in sustainability and ESG that sets the tone and shows the way within your company. Otherwise, it gets difficult - retaining talent in a competitive market is a real challenge.” John Rigau, Vice President, General Counsel, Pepsico West Europe added, “You can always buy technical skills in law firms. But if you find talents which understand and embrace your company culture and values, these are talents who you don’t want to leave behind.”
At the same talk John Rigau highlighted the importance of sustainability, “sustainability needs to be a transversal practice and all lawyers, and professionals should be trained on sustainability. We need to speak the business and not like lawyers.”
During the discussion “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) as a driver of success,” Lola Conde, Corporate & Internal Legal Counsel at Banco Santander said, “There are three steps for corporate governance that any company can undertake in order to achieve DE&I success. These three pillars are awareness, compliance, and value. Ensuring that your efforts and policies touch upon these three aspects is a major step towards becoming more aware of diversity and being more inclusive.”
The conference was a strong return to form for live events by ACC Europe and continued where they left off after the 2019 conference in Edinburgh. ACC Europe looks forward to delivering even more exciting and educational events aimed at imparting expertise, knowledge, and networking to in-house counsel throughout Europe and beyond.
About ACC Europe: The Association of Corporate Counsel Europe (ACC Europe) serves the needs of
lawyers practicing in corporations and other organisations throughout Europe. ACC Europe, with more than 3,100 members, promotes the interests of all in-house counsel across the region through the sharing of information, education, networking and advocacy while demonstrating innovation, inclusion and leadership for the benefit of the whole profession. ACC Europe is a chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), which since its founding in 1982 has grown to more than 45,000 members in 80+ countries employed by over 10,000 organizations, ACC connects its members to the people and resources necessary for both personal and professional growth. Additional information about ACC Europe can be found at https://www.acc.com/chapters-networks/chapters/europe.
By in-house counsel, for in-house counsel®.