Leo Lou

Leo Lou joined Accountability Counsel in August 2024 as a Policy Associate.

She advocates for international development finance institutions to be accountable for environmental and human rights harms caused by their investments and provide remedy to affected communities through independent, fair, transparent, accessible, and effective accountability mechanisms.

Prior to joining Accountability Counsel, Leo was a litigation and arbitration lawyer at Clifford Chance LLP in London for more than 5 years and has extensive experience representing international energy companies in disputes and advising international development finance institutions. She has legal advocacy experience in front of First-Tier and Upper Tribunals in the UK, and has advised Protimos, a UK legal charity, since 2020. Her legal research on public international law, international humanitarian law and freedom of expression has benefited organisations like Human Rights Watch, UNHCR and Index on Censorship.

Prior to her legal career, Leo also worked for non profit organisations in Massachusetts, Islamabad, Jerusalem and Ramallah on conflict resolution, peacebuilding and corporate accountability. She graduated from Duke University with a B.A. in Public Policy, and holds the Graduate Diploma in Law (GDL) and Master of Law Legal Practice Course (LLM LPC) from the UK.

Leo is based in London and is a qualified solicitor in England and Wales. She is a native Mandarin speaker and studies Arabic and French.