TODAY’S TOP STORIES

Attorneys must be “independent” to represent before courts in the EU
The General Court of the European Court of Justice recently clarified the definition of independence in the legal profession and demonstrated how the viewpoint has evolved since the AM&S and Akzo Nobel decisions.

The evolving roles and responsibilities of companies
Contrary to popular belief, the act of prioritising long-term goals and engaging with stakeholders returns higher profits than otherwise feasible for these companies.

Cour de cassation upholds lower court ruling, clarifies scope of legal professional privilege under French law
The case at hand concerned an investigation into potential cartel agreements between manufacturers, wholesalers, and major retailers in 2014.

Dedicated buttons on TV remotes – a challenge to cultural sovereignty?
“If there is a button for an American platform, there must be a button for a French platform.”

OECD competition law recommendations include legal privilege
The eight points of recommendation on competition law include a point on legal privilege, an element that ECLA sees as inherent to the functioning of European corporate lawyers.

WhatsApp fined €225 million, second-largest fine under the GDPR
The investigation had three major components: transparency in the context of non-users; transparency in the context of users; and transparency in the context of sharing of user personal data between WhatsApp and its sister companies.

Universal taxation at 15%, let’s talk ethics, justice, and equity
For the past decade or so, the GAFAMA group has been the target of accusations and ignominies of all kinds: tax evasion, abuse, scandal, tax havens, usurpation. All kinds of slanders, insults and reproaches have been hitting the fan in the mainstream press as well as the daily media, and on the benches of the National Assembly, in France.