ACC Europe

Advocate General of EU Court of Justice Issues Opinion Against In-house Privilege in AKZO

Posted: Apr 29, 2010

Advocate General Juliane Kokott of the Court of Justice of the European Union issued an opinion that Court in the case of Akzo Nobel Chemicals Ltd v. EU (Case-550/907) should hold that legal professional privilege does not apply to communications with in-house lawyers.


ACC and its European chapter, as interveners in the Akzo case, find this holding to be extremely disappointing, reflecting fundamental misunderstanding of both the role and responsibilities of in-house counsel, and the impact of financial remuneration on any lawyer retained by a client to represent the client's legal interests.

For more discussion of the opinion and ACC analysis, visit In-houseACCess.

Read the Opinion, AG Press Release and Recent stories:

For more information, visit the ACC resources on Akzo.

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