Post by ECLA - European Company Lawyers Association

Two days in Brussels. One message: The tide has turned. This week, ECLA met with Member of the European Parliament Adrián Vázquez Lázara, representatives of DG COMP of the European Commission, the Director of the Legal Service of the European Commission, and the Secretary General of CCBE. On the agenda: Legal Professional Privilege (LPP) for in-house counsel and the evolution of our profession. And the case for change has never been stronger. 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐬. In 1982, AM&S Europe established that LPP would not apply for lawyers bound by employment. In 2010, Akzo Nobel reaffirmed that exclusion. That doctrine is now being overtaken by its own legal environment: Since Akzo, numerous legislative or jurisprudential reforms have moved towards recognition. At least ten reforms in a single decade. Sixteen countries now recognize some form of in-house privilege. The CJEU's own case-law has shifted. In Orde van Vlaamse Balies (2022), the Court protected legal advice as a fundamental right under Article 7 of the Charter – without distinguishing between modes of legal practice. In Halmer (2024), the Court confirmed that independence is a functional, not a formal criterion: it does not depend on the absence of an employment contract. The 2025 Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Profession of Lawyer goes further, defining "lawyer" to include those engaged under employment contracts, and requiring confidentiality of communications regardless of contractual form. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝. There are now more than 165,000 in-house lawyers in Europe – a 165% increase over 20 years. In many countries they represent more than 20% of the entire legal profession and are the fastest growing among the legal professions. A doctrine built for the professional landscape of the late 1970s cannot continue to govern this reality. The paradox is that a regime designed to facilitate enforcement ends up weakening the very compliance it depends on. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐮𝐩… This series of institutional meetings over the last two days was joined by our member associations Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid, IBJ-IJE (Instituut voor bedrijfsjuristen - Institut des juristes d'entreprise), Bundesverband der Unternehmensjuristinnen und Unternehmensjuristen e.V. (BUJ), Arbeitsgemeinschaft Syndikusanwälte. For the perfect organization and strong participation, we would like to thank: Teresa Minguez Diaz, Stephanie Fougou, Marcus M. Schmitt, Alexis Kendall Aranda, Simon Vander Putten, Julie Dutordoir, Dr. Timo Hermesmeier, Dorothee Wildt, Jan Bremer. #ECLA #LegalProfessionalPrivilege #InHouseCounsel #LegalProfession #RuleOfLaw #CorporateCompliance