AKZO: CFI Denies In-House Counsel Legal Privilege, But Clarifies Procedure and Recognizes Privilege for Certain Compliance Audits

On September 20, 2007, the Brussels office authored an Alert entitled, “AKZO: CFI Denies In-House Counsel Legal Privilege, But Clarifies Procedure and Recognizes Privilege for Certain Compliance Audits.” On September 17, the European Court of First Instance issued judgment in AKZO v. Commission. The case concerned the question whether legal professional privilege (“LPP”) attaches to communications from in-house legal counsel providing legal advice, or client communications with in-house counsel requesting such advice.