Benelux 2019 – GC Powerlist
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Benelux 2019

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Agnieszka Kominkiewicz-Hibbert

EMEA and APAC legal director | Bird

Agnieszka Kominkiewicz-Hibbert has served as the Netherlands EMEA legal director for California-based scooter share company Bird since July 2018, where she has built the EMEA legal team which currently is...

Alexandra Olbrechts

General counsel company lawyer | Napoleon Games

Passionate about media and innovation, Alexandra Olbrechts has held various roles within many different fields within the media sector, dealing with a wide range of negotiations and contracts in constantly...

Alexis Vandeginste

General counsel Belgium | bpost

Considered an expert in identifying strategic business opportunities, Alexis Vandeginste is highly knowledgeable in dealing with complex enterprises, acquisitions, divesture and major transactions. After having worked for eight years as...

Alix Aspeslagh

Real estate legal counsel and development manager | Decathlon

French sporting goods retailer Decathlon has over 1,500 stores in 49 countries and is one of the largest sporting goods retailer in the world. As of July 2017, Alix Aspeslagh...

Anna Hägg

Head of legal affairs and corporate governance | Inter IKEA Systems

Anna Hägg has extensive experience serving as an in-house counsel in high-profile international commercial environments. She has sat on several boards and has previous experience of being part of management...

Annabelle Vos

General counsel | Fugro

Before joining Fugro, the leading provider of geo-intelligence and asset integrity solutions for construction, infrastructure and natural resources, Annabelle Vos was a corporate litigation lawyer and M&A lawyer in private...

Anne-Bérangère Sudraud

Head of legal business development M&A and regulation | ENGIE

As the head of legal business development M&A and regulation, Anne-Bérangère Sudraud reports to the director of legal, strategy, regulation and public affairs of Engie Benelux. She possesses strong leadership...

Antonio Benítez-Donoso Tarascón

Head of legal and compliance | KPMG

Antonio Benítez-Donoso Tarascón started his career as a lawyer in 2004 at one of Spain’s largest law firms, Uria Menendez. After six months in the corporate department, he switched to...

Aurore Versele

Compliance and legal officer | Crédit Agricole CIB

Crédit Agricole CIB is headquartered in Belgium and provides Benelux based companies with financing, capital markets and investment banking operations. A key part of the company’s legal division and support...

Axel Viaene

General counsel and company secretary | GrandVision

Axel Viaene started his career as an international associate attorney with The Coca-Cola Company at the company’s global headquarters in Atlanta in 1997. He moved to Amsterdam to take up...

Baukje Dreimuller

General counsel member of the executive committee | Renewi

European waste management company Renewi was created in 2017 following the merger of Shanks Group with Van Gansewinkel Groep. It has big plans to be part of the solution to...

Beatrice Nelson-Beer

Chief legal officer | PM-International

Right from the start of her career, PM-International’s chief legal officer Beatrice Nelson-Beer made the conscious decision to give her work an international approach. Something which Nelson-Beer admits ‘put her...

Bernard van der Voort

Corporate director legal affairs and company secretary | Royal HaskoningDHV

Bernard van der Voort joined Royal Haskoning in 1997 during a time of significant growth, starting with 1,400 staff in 1997 to 3,500 in 2012. In that year Royal Haskoning...

Bruno Favre

Deputy general counsel and compliance director - specialised nutrition | Danone Specialised Nutrition

With 18 years of in-house experience in the EMEA and Asia Pacific regions, Bruno Favre, has vast experience of leading in multicultural environments in the food and beverages sector. Favre...

Catherine Delsemme

European legal counsel | Panattoni

Catherine Delsemme has served as the European legal counsel for real estate developer, Panattoni Europe the last 11 years. She previously practiced as a lawyer for Wildgen, Partners in Law...

Cristiane Rego

Legal director and managing director | Braskem

Cristiane Rego is responsible for the legal area at Braskem Netherlands as well as that of Braskem Europe. Initially joining the Brazilian arm of Braskem in 2013, Rego joined in...

David Blackmon

General counsel and director of services | Heerema Marine Contractors

David Blackmon is an individual with extensive experience in managing large legal teams across multiple locations. Over the years he has accumulated experience in international commercial negotiations, contracts and dispute...

Donny Ching

Legal director | Royal Dutch Shell

Donny Ching was appointed legal director of Royal Dutch Shell in 2014 and is responsible for legal services, intellectual property services and compliance matters. Ching graduated with a law degree...

Dr Beatrice Vos

Executive director head of legal international | Elanco

Dr Beatrice Vos currently serves as executive director, head of legal international for Elanco Animal Health, a company spun off from Lilly that went public on the New York Stock...

Duco Zoomer

Company secretary and general counsel | DAF Trucks

Respected lawyer Duco Zoomer has served as the company secretary and general counsel for Dutch truck manufacturing company DAF Trucks for 20 years. In this role he is responsible for...

Elona Ganaj

General counsel and company secretary | Play Communications

In January 2018, Elona Ganaj was appointed group general counsel and company secretary of Play Communications, a Luxembourgish entity regulated by Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financière and listed in...

Els Ponnet

Head of legal | BNP Paribas Fortis

Els Ponnet joined BNP Paribas Fortis in March 2000 as head of legal global markets, and over the years has assumed the position of head legal private equity, corporate finance...

Els Steen

Senior vice president legal Belux, Central and Southern Europe | Koninklijke Ahold Delhaize

Deemed as ‘clearly one of the top names in our general counsel community’, by a nominator, Els Steen has built a notable career at large Dutch international retailer Ahold Delhaize,...

Emma Moloney

General counsel | Endemol Shine Group

Emma Moloney boasts an impressive legal career having taken on various legal leadership roles with the likes of Sky, Amazon (Kindle) and News UK. Moloney completed her law degree in...

Emma Trogen

Legal director | Cosmetics Europe

Cosmetics Europe is deeply involved in various scientific research projects which require significant negotiation of contractual frameworks from the legal department. When Emma Trogen joined Cosmetics Europe in 2013, the...

Ernst Van De Weert

Executive director global legal affairs | Heineken

Ernst van de Weert joined Dutch brewing company Heineken in October 2008, in the capacity of regional counsel for Asia Pacific. In April 2013 he assumed the role of company...

Eva Erauw

Senior vice president and general counsel | Rezidor Hotel Group

Eva Erauw is an experienced lawyer in the hospitality sector, with vast understanding of both international law firms and in-house legal departments. Having worked for the likes of Starwood Hotels...

Fabio Riva

Global legal director | Anheuser-Busch InBev

Fabio Riva assumed his current position as global legal director for multinational drinks and brewing holding company AB InBev in March 2017. Prior to this position, he worked for seven...

Flavia Kaczelnik

Vice president associate general counsel EMEA | BCD Travel

An in-house counsel with over 25 years of experience in a diverse range of areas, Flavia Kaczelnik has served in a number of senior legal leadership roles. These include taking...

Geneviève Bérubé

General counsel | Chemviron

Geneviève Bérubé is a business lawyer with 23 years of experience within large national law firms and multinational corporations. As a Canadian and Belgian lawyer, Bérubé has lived and worked...

Geraldine Nolens

Executive vice president legal, security, EHS, audit, P&T | Umicore

Géraldine Nolens was appointed chief counsel for the group in 2009 and joined the executive committee in 2015. She had a stint in private practice at international law firm Cleary...

Gregory Leboutte

Vice-president and associate general counsel CEEI, Russia and MEMA | Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Together with a team of 25, Gregory Leboutte is responsible for providing legal support to the Hewlett Packard CEEMA vice president and his staff, covering Central Eastern Europe, the Middle...

Gwenn Vanweddingen

General secretary | LuxairGroup

Gwenn Vanweddingen first joined LuxairGroup as legal counsel in 2010 but left in 2013 to join deSter, a subsidiary of gategroup, in Belgium. Vanweddingen re-joined LuxairGroup in 2016 as assistant...

Hanneke Dorsman

General counsel and company secretary | ABN AMRO

Hanneke Dorsman joined Dutch ban ABN AMRO initially as legal counsel in 1984, a role that she held for 17 years. In 2002 she assumed the additional role of head...

Hans Sevenants

Head of legal France and Benelux | Société des Pétroles Shell

Hans Sevenants possesses strong experience in a multi-jurisdictional and multicultural environment. As the head of France and Benelux for Société des Pétroles Shell, Sevenants supports the legal division with eight...

Helen Hayes

Legal director - Northern and Eastern Europe | Uber

Helen Hayes joined Uber in the UK in March 2016 as a litigation and regulatory counsel, after spending 12 years at DLA Piper. Hayes became the legal director for Uber...

Igor Makedonsky

Director group legal, general counsel | Proximus

Igor Makedonsky has served as a lawyer active in the telecommunications sector since 1990. After an initial experience as a legal counsel and European law specialist in the legal department...

Ilse De Loof

Group general counsel | LBC Tank Terminals Group

LBC Tank Terminals Group, headquartered in Belgium, is an independent operator of midstream and downstream bulk liquid storage facilities for chemicals, oils and refined petroleum products. It owns and operate...

Ingrid Baeke

Head of legal department | Colruyt

Ingrid Baeke has been with Belgian family owned retail corporation Colruyt Group for the last 28 years, in various legal positions. Baeke joined Colruyt in 1991, mainly supporting the Dolmen...

Ingrid Baeten

General counsel, continental Europe and Great Britain | McCain

Ingrid Baeten started her career as legal counsel for international group Puratos in 1985, a company dedicated to bakers, pastry chefs and chocolatiers. She left Puratos in 1992 to join...

Isabelle Deschamps

General counsel and member of the executive committee | AkzoNobel

Isabelle Deschamps joined Dutch multinationalAkzoNobel in August 2018 as group general counsel, overseeing all legal, compliance and intellectual property matters. Prior to joining AkzoNobel, Deschamps worked at Unilever where she...

James Joy

General counsel and company secretary | Kiadis Pharma

Healthcare

James Joy has over 20 years of experience as an international corporate lawyer advising multinational businesses in a variety of industries. Joy joined biopharmaceutical company Kiadis Pharma in July 2018,...

Jasper Teulings

General counsel | Greenpeace International

Serving as Greenpeace International’s chief legal officer and the head of the legal unit for the last 15 years, Jasper Teulings is responsible for advising on all legal aspects of...

Jean Cattaruzza

Head legal department | ING Belgium

Longstanding ING lawyer Jean Cattaruzza initially joined ING Belgium in 1986 as a corporate lawyer. In 2002 he was promoted to co-head legal department. From January 2007 to December 2008...

Jeff Bullwinkel

Associate general counsel and director of corporate, external and legal affairs Europe | Microsoft

Longstanding Microsoft lawyer Jeff Bullwinkel is not only an outstanding in-house counsel, but also an avid contributor to public policy debates shaping the future of technology with his strong experience...

Jeremy C.R. Entwisle

General counsel EMEA | Hoya Corporation

Jeremy C.R. Entwisle started his legal career working at a white-shoe New York firm in their Tokyo, Hong Kong and London offices. He was then recruited to join JPMorgan’s in-house...

Johan De Bruycker

General counsel | Ageas

Johan De Bruycker has served as group general counsel for multinational insurance company Ageas since October 2016. He comes from a financial services background, having worked as a banking and...

John Purvis

Chief legal officer | SES

SES Satellites has established itself as a world-leading satellite operator and the first to deliver a differentiated and scalable GEO-MEO to clients worldwide, with over 50 satellites in Geostationary Earth...

Jonathan Gimblett

Senior vice president, general counsel Europe | Prologis

Jonathan Gimblett is a UK qualified lawyer and joined Prologis in 2005 from Linklaters, where he specialised in international real estate transactions working in the UK, Russia and Central and...

Joyce Winnubst

General counsel and head of group governance | TMF Group

Joyce Winnubst joined professional services firm TMF Group 12 years ago and over the years has assumed additional responsibility to a core legal role. She has become a key part...

Katherine Roseveare

General counsel - global functions, emerging markets and global legal solutions | adidas

Katherine Roseveare started her journey with adidas in 2005 as a European counsel for Reebok, purchased by the adidas Group that year. In 2007 she was promoted to general counsel...

Kevin Wilson

General counsel | OSY Technologies

Kevin Wilson has served as the general counsel of OSY Technologies in Luxembourg for the last three years. Prior to this role he was chief counsel for British multinational defence,...

Kirk Crowder

Vice president international general counsel, chief compliance officer | Bloomin' Brands

Internationally trained lawyer Kirk Crowder has demonstrated legal experience as a senior legal advisor in multiple industries. Crowder has first-hand experience in leading and managing diverse international organisations globally, including...

Kristof Callebaut

Legal director | SAP Belgium

Kristof Callebaut is an experienced legal director with demonstrated history of working in the computer software industry for large multinational companies. Callebaut has a strong expertise in the areas of...

Lara Barrett

Vice president senior counsel | Marriott Hotel

Since May 2017 and the merger between Marriott and Starwood, Lara Y. Barrett has served as the lead counsel responsible for Marriott’s new development and renewals of legacy hotels transactions...

Leendert Eijgenraam

General counsel | Royal FloraHolland

Leendert Eijgenraam joined Dutch conglomerate of florists, Royal FloraHolland, as manager of the legal department in 1990. In 2010 he was promoted to general counsel, a role he’s held for...

Leticia Lizardo

Group general counsel and chief compliance officer | CQLT SaarGummi Technologies

Leticia G. Lizardo started her career as a public defender in criminal cases in Honduras, continuing as a human rights lawyer in Washington DC, then as a trade lawyer in...

Loreta Reguera

Head legal affairs International BU. head group data protection team | Akka Technologies

Loreto Reguera is a highly respected business legal advisor and a trusted IP policy expert with extensive experience in intellectual property policy and licensing, compliance, data protection, commercial negotiations and...

Maarten Cleppe

Head of legal | AXA Bank

Financials

Maarten Cleppe has served as the head of legal of AXA Bank since January 2016. Prior to joining AXA Bank he served as a senior legal counsel at ING Bank...

Magali Declercq

Head of legal | Jan De Nul Group

Magali Declercq joined family-owned company Jan De Nul Group in 2005 as legal counsel, where she was responsible for supporting the legal activities of the company in the areas of...

Marc Vandemeulebroeke

General counsel | PwC Luxembourg

Serving as the general counsel at PwC Luxembourg for over 11 years, Marc Vandemeulebroeke is responsible for general legal support for relationships with suppliers and clients, especially in the financial...

Maria Rocha Barros

Vice president and corporate affairs Europe (general counsel Europe) | Anheuser-Busch InBev

Maria Rocha Barros is qualified to practice in the US (New York), UK and Brazil with significant work experience in the US, Latin America, Europe and Asia. ‘It is my...

Marius van Haaren

General counsel Benelux and public affairs director | L'Oréal

Marius van Haaren is an expert in the field of marketing and advertising law, intellectual property, contracts, drafting, reviewing and negotiating of distribution, licensing, marketing services, IT, turn-key machinery, procurement...

Mark Collins

General counsel Europe | Mexichem

Mark Collins has been the general counsel for Mexichem Netherlands since October 2017. Collins possesses a broad range of skills in the area of data privacy, contract management, negotiation and...

Marnix van Ginneken

Executive vice president and chief legal officer | Philips

Marnix van Ginneken joined Philips’ legal department in 2007 and became head of group legal in 2010. He is responsible for the various group legal departments including corporate and financial...

Marten Bezemer

Head legal affairs | Van Oers United

Van Oers United is an internationally operating supplier and producer of fresh vegetables, with the business goals of strengthening its development with its chain partners and reinforcing availability, quality and...

Martine Meulemans

Head of legal | AG Insurance

Insurance

AG Insurance is a Belgian insurance company providing life insurance and non-life insurance as well as supplementary pensions. Martine Meulemans journey with AG Insurance started 35 years ago when she...

Mathilde Fabre

Legal director global privacy, privacy and compliance | PVH Corp - PVH Europe (Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein)

After a few years as a legal associate at Canon Europa, Mathilde Fabre decided it was time to broaden her horizons and took on the role of in-house legal counsel...

Matthew Wilson

Associate general counsel, EMEA | Uber

Matthew Wilson joined Uber in 2015, initially in London with responsibility for Northern Europe and now leads the legal team in EMEA, having done so since May 2017. Wilson has...

Michael Coates

Associate general counsel - upstream | Shell International

Michael Coates started his current role in April 2017, relocating to Shell’s global headquarters in the Netherlands from London, where he served as Shell’s UK head of legal and associate...

Michael Koenig

Associate general counsel digital media/Kindle/devices EU | Amazon Europe Core

Michael Koenig joined Amazon Luxembourg in September 2012, in the role of associate general counsel digital media Europe, and over the years has assumed additional responsibilities within several areas of...

Michael Riha

General counsel, head of group legal and compliance | Eurofins Scientific Group

Michael Riha started his position as general counsel, head of group legal and compliance at Eurofins Scientific Group two years ago, where he is responsible for providing round the clock...

Michel Nielsen

Associate general counsel | Teekay Shipping

Teekay Shipping is considered one of the major project developers in the marine energy space sector and since being founded in 1971 has developed from a regional shipping company into...

Michiel Prinsze

General counsel and managing director | Robeco Institutional Asset Management

Michiel Prinsze joined Dutch asset management firm, Robeco Alternative Investments in 1998. Since joning as a corporate legal counsel over the years he has assumed a variety of roles within...

Milica Antic

Head of legal Netherlands | Google

Information technology

An accomplished lawyer with over 15 years of experience in-house and at private firms, Milica Antic is a strong technology-orientated lawyer, specialising in privacy, data protection, copyright, ecommerce and platform...

Natalia Gulyaeva

Group DPO, general counsel and corporate secretary | Evraz Group

Since joining Evraz Group in 2015, Natalia Gulyaeva has provided legal advice on all matters of the Luxembourg Evraz Group company. Prior to this she was at EvrazHolding Russia as...

Nathalie Delaere

Legal and tax director | Belfius Bank

Financials

After nine years in Tier 1 law firms, Nathalie Delaere joined the Belfius Group in 2004, first as a tax expert and as of 2009 as a tax director and...

Nicolas Pourbaix

Senior counsel, legal director | Amgen

Nicolas Pourbaix’s role as senior counsel, legal director for multinational biopharmaceutical company Amgen, is a hybrid between a specialised anti-trust counsel, involving him advising the business on all areas of...

Olga Prokopovych

Legal director, Eurasia | VEON

Olga Prokopovych has a strong proven track record of diverse and extensive work in the areas of IT, telecommunications, law, privacy, M&A, corporate, commercial, competition, antitrust and intellectual property. Encompassing...

Patrice de Hemptinne

General counsel and company secretary | TCR

Patrice de Hemptinne is a general counsel with an accomplished international business expertise of more than 15 years with major top-ranked in-house and law firm experience. De Hemptinne is currently...

Paul Van Straaten

Chief legal officer | Lebara

Paul Van Straaten is a business minded general counsel with extensive international experience in telecommunications and IT, IP, compliance, government relations, and anti-money laundering. He currently serves as chief legal...

Pein van Noort

Legal director privacy - EMEA | Uber

Highly experienced privacy lawyer, Pein van Noort has served as legal director for privacy for Uber’s EMEA operations since January 2016. Prior to joining Uber he served as legal counsel...

Philip Eyskens

Senior vice president legal, IT, M&A; group general counsel | Bekaert

Philip Eyskens has amassed a lengthy career with Belgian-based steel wire transformation and coating business, Bekaert, a company that employs almost 30,000 staff worldwide and operates in 120 countries. Joining...

Pieter-Jan Vandevelde

Group legal counsel and M&A manager | Bekaert

After two and a half years as a corporate lawyer, Pieter-Jan Vandevelde felt ready for a new challenge in business law, transferring to an in-house role in a big international...

Quitterie de Pelleport

Group general counsel - head of legal and compliance - head of M&A | Solvay

Since Quitterie de Pelleport joined Solvay, the company has been through a large number of M&A transactions (55 in the past six years) and she has had the opportunity to...

Samia Guessabi-Colombijn

General counsel Benelux | AccorHotels

Samia Guessabi-Colombijn has practiced in multinational environments, having both worked and studied in England and Italy and eventually settling in the Netherlands. She currently serves as the general counsel for...

Sarah Woodhouse

General counsel Europe and global general counsel food and refreshment | Unilver

An internationally proficient lawyer, Sarah Woodhouse has been with Unilever for over 15 years and moved to the Netherlands to take on her current position in July 2018. Prior to...

Scott Dresser

Group general counsel | Veon

Highly recognised for his contribution to the media, technology and telecoms sectors, Scott Dresser has gained an unparalleled reputation for leadership in complex corporate transformations. Dresser, who oversees VEON’s 300-strong...

Serge Debrye

General counsel | M7 Group

With extensive experience providing legal support and advice in Europe, including Russia and CIS countries, Serge Debrye has gained a reputation for being a business orientated and result driven team...

Sheila Jassies

General counsel EMEA | COFCO International

Distinguished lawyer Sheila Jassies is a highly experienced in-house counsel based in Rotterdam. She has experience in corporate governance, international contracting and serving as a board of directors management and...

Simone Pelkmans

General counsel Benelux | Unilever

Simone Pelkmans started her career in 1995 at the Dutch law firm NautaDutilh where she worked for a little over four years in the firm’s IP and corporate law department....

Susanne (Grib) Marston

Vice president and general counsel | APM Terminals

Susanne Marston is an experienced legal counsel who fully understands the business, partnering with executive leaders to accelerate global business goals and how to build a strong team with a...

Thibaut Gregoire

General counsel Europe | Mastercard

Experienced in the technology and payments industry and as the general counsel for Mastercard’s operations in Europe, Thibaut Gregoire leads the legal, compliance, regulatory and public policy functions across 55...

Thomas Oremus

Director of legal affairs and integrity | ASR Nederland

Thomas Oremus has served as the director of legal affairs and integrity at major Dutch insurance group, ASR Nederland since May 2015. He previously served as head of corporate law...

Thomas Hartnett

Chief legal officer and company secretary | Nostrum Oil & Gas

Thomas Hartnett has over 25 years of multi-jurisdictional experience in Europe, the US, the former Soviet Union and Asia. Over the years he has accumulated extensive experience in oil and...

Tom Alexander Mulder

Executive vice president legal | Malvern Panalytical

Tom Alexander Mulder has received numerous glittering nominations with peers describing him as ‘an innovative general counsel who has integrated the legal function with the business’, and ‘a real strategic...

Tom Ford

Vice president legal international operations | Syniverse

Tom Ford started his career training and then qualifying in the corporate department of what is now Norton Rose Fulbright, working in London and Singapore. After a few years in...

Tulay Sonmez

General counsel | Dragone

Tulay Sonmez joined Belgian creative company Dragone – which specialises in the creation of large-scale theatre shows – in May 2015. She previously took on private practice roles, serving as...

Vanessa Carpano-Chauvin

EMEA general counsel | Align Technology

Vanessa Carpano-Chauvin has practiced law for over 25 years in Paris and Amsterdam, professionally thriving in a global multicultural innovative companies with a focus on the healthcare sector. Over the...

Vitaly Bondar

Legal director | Apla Blockchain

Throughout his career, Vitaly Bondar has been engaged in the legal advisory work both as an in-house and private practice lawyer. 10 months ago, Bondar took up the role as...

Volker Weisshaar

General counsel and member of management board - EMEA | Sonos

Volker Weisshaar has over 20 years of experience in international legal and compliance functions, at both global enterprise organisations and at start-ups, including experience regualting IPO’s. Weisshaar has a strong...

Yu Lian de Bakker

Vice president legal affairs and general counsel Tommy Hilfiger | PVH Europe

Yu Lian de Bakker started her career in 1995 at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, one of the leading law firms in the Netherlands, predominantly focusing on corporate law, banking and...

Zoran Milovanovic

Head of legal department | Société Générale

Zoran Milovanovic is responsible for two teams within the Société Générale Bank & Trust legal department, supervising the structured finance activities in a wide range of areas. Having served as...

Formed by the political and economic union of three neighbouring states in Western Europe: Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, the Benelux region is a strong economic force, integrated by a customs union formed in 1944 and solidified in 1958 with the signing of the Treaty of the Benelux Economic Union. Benelux has since benefitted from becoming the first completely free international labour market as well as facilitating free movement of capital and services – qualities that have broadened and deepened economic cooperation. With 28 million inhabitants and occupying a significant geographical scope, today Benelux generates approximately 8% of Europe’s total GDP.

With the new Benelux Treaty signed in June 2008, the focus of this cooperation has shifted to the three key themes of internal market and economic union, sustainable development and justice and home affairs. These areas are substantively assisted by the Benelux in-house legal community, which works in tandem with business colleagues and other stakeholders to ensure regulatory and legal processes are followed through ethically, sustainably, and in alignment with strategic goals.

General counsel in the region are also noticeably exhibiting a shared interest in building and developing the future generation of young in-house lawyers, providing and encouraging dynamic training opportunities and building diverse and highly-talented teams. Such initiatives and the plethora of corporate legal talent across the three countries mean the region is in good stead regarding its immediate and more long-term future.

In this inaugural GC Powerlist: Benelux we are pleased to highlight some of the region’s leading corporate counsel. To put together the list, we canvassed opinions from both law firms’ partners and in-house counsel in Benelux. We identified lawyers who are not only technically gifted and highly trained, but have also utilised their legal knowledge strategically alongside keen business insight to make a positive impact towards their organisation’s success.

Sara Mageit
Senior research analyst, GC Powerlist series

Arendt

Arendt logo

Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke are proud to be sponsoring this inaugural GC Powerlist: Benelux which recognises the crucial role of the legal team, and specifically the contribution of general counsels (GCs) and heads of legal in leading these teams to successfully support the ambitions of the companies they represent.

Businesses always have to adapt to change, be this increased regulation, stiffer competition, improving corporate, environmental and social responsibility, managing risks and balancing board diversity. The role of the GC has become pivotal in helping organisations navigate these changes, rise to the challenges and adapt their business models quickly and securely. Often managing legal teams across multiple geographical locations and understanding jurisdictional legal and regulatory nuances, the GC has a broad remit to ensure that cross-border activities can thrive. It is not only core legal skills that are required for the successful GC, but managing the internal department, external counsel, budgets and profitability are all key areas of the role. Now, as the legal sector embraces the rise in artificial intelligence, new challenges and opportunities emerge that will impact both people and the way legal services are delivered within an organisation.

The GC role is more commercially focused than ever. Directors are in the spotlight and are increasingly aware of individual and collective risks that can have a direct impact on themselves and their businesses. High-profile governance and compliance failures make the headlines and companies rely on their GC’s for strategic as well as legal advice. This puts many into a board role position which is both a logical and desirable step.

Equally, the role of outside counsel in helping GC’s achieve their aims has evolved and the goal of Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke is to work with GC’s seamlessly across the EU and beyond, providing together market leading legal and regulatory insight on subjects that matter to their business. The Benelux region is our home, and clients work with our three firms due to the genuine insight and experience our lawyers and advisors have within this region. Of course our advice goes beyond the EU and together we have over 800 lawyers in 18 countries dedicated to supporting our clients’ ambitions.

Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke are the exclusive members of the Lex Mundi network for Benelux. This means that our lawyers have worked together successfully on thousands of matters, providing in-depth understanding of local cultures, economies, laws, governments, trends and business climates in order to anticipate and react quickly to changes in the market. We are ready to take the next steps with you, wherever your projects take you and whatever challenges you face.

Houthoff

Houthoff logo

Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke are proud to be sponsoring this inaugural GC Powerlist: Benelux which recognises the crucial role of the legal team, and specifically the contribution of general counsels (GCs) and heads of legal in leading these teams to successfully support the ambitions of the companies they represent.

Businesses always have to adapt to change, be this increased regulation, stiffer competition, improving corporate, environmental and social responsibility, managing risks and balancing board diversity. The role of the GC has become pivotal in helping organisations navigate these changes, rise to the challenges and adapt their business models quickly and securely. Often managing legal teams across multiple geographical locations and understanding jurisdictional legal and regulatory nuances, the GC has a broad remit to ensure that cross-border activities can thrive. It is not only core legal skills that are required for the successful GC, but managing the internal department, external counsel, budgets and profitability are all key areas of the role. Now, as the legal sector embraces the rise in artificial intelligence, new challenges and opportunities emerge that will impact both people and the way legal services are delivered within an organisation.

The GC role is more commercially focused than ever. Directors are in the spotlight and are increasingly aware of individual and collective risks that can have a direct impact on themselves and their businesses. High-profile governance and compliance failures make the headlines and companies rely on their GC’s for strategic as well as legal advice. This puts many into a board role position which is both a logical and desirable step.

Equally, the role of outside counsel in helping GC’s achieve their aims has evolved and the goal of Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke is to work with GC’s seamlessly across the EU and beyond, providing together market leading legal and regulatory insight on subjects that matter to their business. The Benelux region is our home, and clients work with our three firms due to the genuine insight and experience our lawyers and advisors have within this region. Of course our advice goes beyond the EU and together we have over 800 lawyers in 18 countries dedicated to supporting our clients’ ambitions.

Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke are the exclusive members of the Lex Mundi network for Benelux. This means that our lawyers have worked together successfully on thousands of matters, providing in-depth understanding of local cultures, economies, laws, governments, trends and business climates in order to anticipate and react quickly to changes in the market. We are ready to take the next steps with you, wherever your projects take you and whatever challenges you face.

Liedekerke

Liedekerke logo

Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke are proud to be sponsoring this inaugural GC Powerlist: Benelux which recognises the crucial role of the legal team, and specifically the contribution of general counsels (GCs) and heads of legal in leading these teams to successfully support the ambitions of the companies they represent.

Businesses always have to adapt to change, be this increased regulation, stiffer competition, improving corporate, environmental and social responsibility, managing risks and balancing board diversity. The role of the GC has become pivotal in helping organisations navigate these changes, rise to the challenges and adapt their business models quickly and securely. Often managing legal teams across multiple geographical locations and understanding jurisdictional legal and regulatory nuances, the GC has a broad remit to ensure that cross-border activities can thrive. It is not only core legal skills that are required for the successful GC, but managing the internal department, external counsel, budgets and profitability are all key areas of the role. Now, as the legal sector embraces the rise in artificial intelligence, new challenges and opportunities emerge that will impact both people and the way legal services are delivered within an organisation.

The GC role is more commercially focused than ever. Directors are in the spotlight and are increasingly aware of individual and collective risks that can have a direct impact on themselves and their businesses. High-profile governance and compliance failures make the headlines and companies rely on their GC’s for strategic as well as legal advice. This puts many into a board role position which is both a logical and desirable step.

Equally, the role of outside counsel in helping GC’s achieve their aims has evolved and the goal of Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke is to work with GC’s seamlessly across the EU and beyond, providing together market leading legal and regulatory insight on subjects that matter to their business. The Benelux region is our home, and clients work with our three firms due to the genuine insight and experience our lawyers and advisors have within this region. Of course our advice goes beyond the EU and together we have over 800 lawyers in 18 countries dedicated to supporting our clients’ ambitions.

Arendt, Houthoff and Liedekerke are the exclusive members of the Lex Mundi network for Benelux. This means that our lawyers have worked together successfully on thousands of matters, providing in-depth understanding of local cultures, economies, laws, governments, trends and business climates in order to anticipate and react quickly to changes in the market. We are ready to take the next steps with you, wherever your projects take you and whatever challenges you face.

GC Summit Austria 2024

In Vienna’s historic cultural centre within shouting distance of the famed opera house, The Legal 500 gathered 150 of the country’s top in-house lawyers for the second GC Summit Austria. Alongside them was an experienced cohort of private practice experts from our event partners – petsche pollak, Baker McKenzie, CERHA HEMPEL, Taylor Wessing and Wolf Theiss – who were on hand to dispense their wisdom via our six sessions covering a multitude of relevant topic areas.

Expertly kicking the summit off was a speaker who always gives an excellent showing, Stefan Wochinz of Vaillant. In his hugely well-received keynote speech, Wochinz spoke about building a rewarding and successful career as a general counsel, and outlined some key themes to be explored in later sessions.

Our first panel discussion followed. In this expansive discussion, Alina Alavi Kia and Roman Heidinger of CERHA HEMPEL provided the audience with a thorough overview of brand protection requirements in Austria and gave a roadmap for successfully shepherding a brand through new technological developments. Among other issues, best practice benchmarks for trademarks, anti-counterfeiting, and licensing in an increasingly digitalised world were discussed in detail.

Next on stage were Simone Petsche-Demmel and Andreas Pollak of petsche pollak Amanda Neil ofHead Group, Nicole Bäck-Knapp of Ecker & Partner and Alice Fremuth-of Nivalion. Featuring a speaker lineup boasting extremely diverse experience and a topic that opened up multiple avenues of conversation, this panel teased out a number of issues that were at the forefront of those in the audience. As new supply chain due diligence requirements began to take hold in Austria across Europe, strategies for ensuring business-as-usual were outlined.

The next session was a particularly enlightening one organised in partnership with Taylor Wessing. Their partners, Andreas Schütz and Axel von dem Bussche were joined by Alexander Sammer of The National Anti-Doping Agency, Dr. Peter Lohberger of Wiener Wohnen Hausbetreuung and Prof. Dr. Clemens Heitzinger, co-director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (CAIML) at TU Wien. With Schütz and von dem Bussche opening by outlining the legal framework, Sammer and Lohberger then provided the perspectives of government and corporate entities respectively. As one of the foremost experts on large language models and machine learning in the country, Heitzinger’s contributions to the discussion were particularly well-received by the audience. As well as giving a background into how GPT and other models work, he gave practical advice on how to utilise them responsibly and to their best effect in an in-house legal department.

Baker McKenzie then brought their expertise to bear on a topic that is growing in importance worldwide: carve-out transactions. Given that carve-outs tendto be more challenging than an acquisition of stand-alone businesses, the panel discussed the key structuring considerations as well as practical and legal issues that must be overcome. Those on stage (Philipp Stanek and Sophie Schubert of Baker McKenzie, Dr Franz Fazekas, of ams OSRAM of Hoerbiger Group of Companies and Klemens Keferboeck of Magna International) also focused on the planning, due diligence, and documentation of carve-out transactions and touched upon selected issues regarding effective integration.

Andrea Gritsch and Florian Kusznier of Wolf Theiss were joined on stage by Victoria Corley of Enery and Dr. Alexander Schall of Unicredit Bank for our final panel session, which took a broad look at M&A issues, focusing on the key challenges which clients and their advisers faced executing deals in the current climate. Both Corley and Dr. Schall provided insights into transactions they have been a part of in their prior careers, giving the audience an exclusive insight into how deals are handled by the in-house side at the strategic level.

Our final session was a wide-ranging presentation on white-collar crime by two of the best in the business: Simone Petsche-Demmel and Andreas Pollak. Based on their extensive experience, they rounded out the summit by outlining some of the cases they have been a part of, and brought attention to some potential pitfalls that in-house counsel should be mindful of.