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Between law, finance and management: the career path of Anne-Laure Bardou (SKEMA 2009)
Having studied on the Lille campus and graduated from the double degree programme combining SKEMA’s Master in Management (PGE) and a Master’s in Business Law from Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale, before completing her training at the École de formation des barreaux de Paris, Anne-Laure Bardou (SKEMA 2009) has built a career spanning corporate law, finance and governance. After several years in international law firms and at the Autorité des Marchés Financiers, she is now Legal Director at Thales, where she advises the group on corporate governance, financing and capital markets law. Named among the “40 shaping the future of law” by the Institut Choiseul, she looks back on a career shaped by legal expertise, financial culture and collective leadership.
“A good leader and manager must understand the law”
Why did you choose the SKEMA-ULCO double degree at a time when the programme was still new?
“At the time, I was hesitating between a traditional HEC preparatory course and a more humanities-oriented path with law. To me, a good leader and manager must understand the law. When Diane de Saint-Affrique launched this programme, joining it felt obvious. I even gave up an Erasmus opportunity in Canada to enrol in this double degree. It was a real choice.”
A career between law firms, financial regulation and corporate governance
What did this dual expertise bring you?
“It gave me a much broader understanding of organisations and how companies operate. Law develops critical thinking, analytical and synthesis skills, as well as rigour, which are essential in complex environments. At the same time, SKEMA’s business and finance courses proved extremely useful later in my career, especially when working on financial transactions. Looking back, this dual background enabled me to move between several worlds: law firms, financial regulation and then the corporate environment.”
After SKEMA, Anne-Laure Bardou joined leading Paris-based law firms specialising in mergers and acquisitions, often working on complex international transactions.
“It was extremely formative. I worked on sophisticated M&A operations with a strong international dimension. I should also stress how much SKEMA’s English-language curriculum helped me in that environment. Law firms are demanding places: you learn a huge amount, very quickly, including through a few sleepless nights.” She later decided to leave private practice to join theAutorité des Marchés Financiers. “I wanted to build a different kind of expertise. Capital markets law is highly specialised and I wanted a deeper understanding of how markets and listed companies operate. At the AMF, I worked on strategic market operations and on the financial communication of listed companies, particularly within the Issuers Directorate.”
“I believe we are stronger together”
Her career then evolved towards management responsibilities. Today, at Thales, Anne-Laure Bardou leads a team made up of senior legal counsels, paralegals and trainees.
“We work on governance, capital markets, financing and corporate law issues, especially for the group’s French subsidiaries. We also support major international subsidiaries on strategic governance matters. I strongly believe in teamwork. Even in law firms, I quickly started supervising and mentoring interns and junior profiles. Over time, I realised I genuinely enjoyed it.”
How would she define her management style?
“I would describe it as participative and coaching-oriented management. I believe in collective momentum: teamwork, trust and knowledge-sharing matter a great deal to me. At SKEMA, we had many group projects and presentations. At the time, you do not always see their value, but they develop a real ability to work collectively.”
“Law is freedom”
Looking back, what still appeals to her about legal careers?
“Their diversity. People do not always realise it, but law is freedom. You can move across environments, specialisations and industries. Your day-to-day work can become completely different over the course of a career. That is also what I enjoy about the corporate world: you can evolve, change scope and discover new topics. That flexibility is less common in law firms.”
On artificial intelligence, she sees both opportunities and challenges for the legal profession.
“At Thales’ Legal Department, we already use internal generative AI tools for certain administrative or translation tasks, and they save a great deal of time. However, caution remains necessary because hallucinations and errors are still possible. It also raises real questions regarding the training of younger generations of lawyers and trainees.”
Despite a demanding career, Anne-Laure Bardou has remained closely connected to SKEMA and still keeps in touch with friends she met on the Lille campus.
“I have very fond memories of student life and the Lille campus. They were very good years — apart, perhaps, from classes starting at 7.45am…”
