On June 24, 2022, the 45th General Assembly of the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA) was held in Milan. The Ukrainian Bar Association participated in it for the first time. The UBA was represented by Olga Vorozhbyt, a member of the UBA Board, a partner at Kinstellar.

ECLA was founded in 1983. It is an umbrella organization that includes 22 national associations of corporate lawyers. For over 38 years, ECLA has remained committed to the legal profession. The organization currently has around 68,000 members and represents more than 150,000 corporate lawyers across Europe.

The event in Milan marked the beginning of cooperation between the UBA and ECLA, which will be aimed at meeting the needs and development of the in-house sector of Ukraine. The UBA received observer status in ECLA, which will allow the systematic and consistent development of cooperation between Ukrainian and European corporate lawyers.

Among other things, the UBA together with ECLA will work in the following areas:

• improvement of legislation in member countries regarding the status of corporate lawyers, their rights, duties, and guarantees of independence, ethics, disciplinary responsibility, and other issues;
• discussion of issues related to the activity of corporate lawyers and are relevant for other member countries;
• professional development of in-house lawyers, exchange of practices, coordination and cooperation of corporate lawyers and associations among themselves;
• support of corporate lawyers of Ukraine given the challenges caused by the war.

We remind you that a survey recently conducted by the UBA together with LegalTalents.Report testified that during the war, each in-house lawyer personally needs, first of all, the following support:

• assistance in updating current knowledge, in professional development and education abroad;
• assistance with employment and job search;
• networking (exchange of knowledge, experience, communication with colleagues, help in establishing connections and finding new contacts, in particular abroad).

We invite corporate lawyers to get involved in the UBA activity.

You may support the UBA efforts by making a financial donation using the link. This will help us continue our advocacy, awareness-raising, and legal aid activities.