On 7 November 2024 the Constitutional Court of Belgium handed down a judgment following the appeal for the annulment of the Belgian law on whistleblowers and referred questions regarding the status of in-house counsel’s legal professional privilege to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)
Legal professional privilege developments: Belgian legal challenges, French reforms, and US procedures on privileged materials
In the last 5 years, the EEA has seen a major shift towards extending legal privilege and confidentiality rules to in-house counsel in direct opposition put forth by cases such as Akzo Nobel.
The French Ministry of Justice starts work on the confidentiality of in-house lawyers’ advice
Jean-Philippe Gille, President of the French Association of Company Lawyers (AFJE), gave an overview of the ongoing developments in French, which has been translated here below.
CJEU Decision reinforces the value of LPP
The case concerned an amended Directive that introduced an obligation to report any potentially aggressive tax-planning cross-border tax arrangements to the competent authorities.
Legal privilege and the DPO role for in-house counsel – incompatible or unavoidable?
On 21 October 2022, the General Council of the Portuguese Bar Association, in conjunction with the IAEA (the Institute of Corporate Lawyers and Associations) and ECLA, held a conference on the Challenges of Corporate Law.
Swiss mulling on specifics of legal professional privilege for company lawyers
In Switzerland, after years of unsuccessful attempts, there is now a high likelihood that the revision of the upcoming Code of Civil Procedure will include passages on legal professional privilege for company lawyers.
Brexit and Legal Professional Privilege in cross-border situations
Cross-border legal correspondence between companies and individuals based in the UK and in the EU should understand when LPP applies and what regulates it.
Professional statute essential for Dutch in-house counsel, Supreme Court holds
For foreign company lawyers in the Netherlands to enjoy the same rights as Dutch company lawyers, the conditions for guaranteeing independence are identical.
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.
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.
