Cecile Tchoujan ’24 Named 2024 Roux Institute Legal Fellow

09.04.24 — Northeastern University’s Roux Institute has named Cecile Tchoujan ’24 as its 2024 Roux Institute Legal Fellow. The fellowship is a collaboration between Northeastern University School of Law and the Roux Institute to support start-ups and entrepreneurs affiliated with the Roux Institute by providing guidance on a variety of business formation and related matters. Founded in 2020, the Portland-based Roux Institute is designed to spur innovation, build talent and drive economic growth in Portland, the state of Maine and northern New England. Drummond Woodsum one of Maine’s top law firms, has partnered with the Roux Institute to provide supervision and mentorship to Tchoujan.

A native of Baltimore, Maryland, Tchoujan holds two bachelor’s degrees from Howard University, one in economics and another in international affairs. As an undergraduate, she participated in domestic and international volunteer opportunities in Washington DC. New Orleans, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Prior to law school, she worked as a paralegal at Odelugo & Johnson, a law firm helping individuals with personal injury, immigration and family law-related matters. Tchoujan also worked as the lead legal researcher for the Institute for African Women in Law, where she helped to develop the institute’s first global network that aims to support women in various legal professions throughout the African Diaspora.

As a law student at Northeastern, Tchoujan completed co-ops at Morgan, Brown & Joy, a labor and employment law firm in Boston; Rower, a matrimonial law firm in New York City; and Higbee & Associates, an intellectual property law firm in Santa Ana, California. Upon graduation in 2024, she worked as a law clerk at Wong Fleming, a commercial litigation law firm in Princeton, New Jersey.

 “Working at Roux Institute as the 2024–2025 Legal Fellow gives me a unique opportunity to provide legal guidance and resources in order to assist companies with navigating the intricate legal landscape associated with the development of their innovative ventures,” said Tchoujan.

Now in its fourth year, the Roux Institute Legal Fellowship is open to recent Northeastern Law graduates committed to using their JD in an innovative, entrepreneurial and interdisciplinary environment. It is a one-year position with the opportunity to explore a second-year term either at the Roux Institute or with one of the institute’s partners. As part of the fellowship program, Tchoujan will collaborate with and receive mentorship from the directors of the law school’s Intellectual Property Law Clinic and Community Business Clinic.

“With Northeastern Law talent at its core, the legal fellow program — a vibrant partnership between Northeastern University and the Maine legal community — is a key differentiator for the Roux Institute and its portfolio companies,” said Rhonda Rittenberg, director of the law school’s Office of New Markets, who leads the fellowship program and also serves as a mentor to the fellow. “We are honored to play an integral role in the institute’s entrepreneurial mission to support a diverse and equitable tech based start-up ecosystem in Maine. Our program offerings include pro bono legal services from Drummond Woodsum, Bernstein Shur, Pierce Atwood, Eaton Peabody, the law school’s Intellectual Property Law Clinic and, most recently, Hamilton Brook Smith & Reynolds and, this past year, we deepened our community engagement by featuring in-house lawyers from IDEXX,L.L. Bean, MGH Brigham, Tilson Technologies and WEX in our legal workshop series. With Cecile joining the team, we look forward to another dynamic and successful year.”