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European Company Lawyers Association

ECLA

ECLA's primary goals are: To enhance the acceptance and demand for an active role of company lawyers To identify, seize and exploit regulatory opportunities suitable to enhance the position of in-house lawyers To identify and eliminate regulatory threats to the position or practice of company lawyers

Lobbying Activity

Meeting with Daniele Calisti (Head of Unit Competition), Sophie Moonen (Head of Unit Competition)

16 Oct 2025 · Introductory meeting

Meeting with Daniel Calleja Crespo (Director-General Legal Service)

12 Jul 2022 · Submission re status of the company lawyer profession in the EU

Meeting with Daniel Calleja Crespo (Director-General Legal Service)

24 Nov 2021 · Professional secrecy of lawyers across Europe

Response to 2021 EU Justice Scoreboard

8 Apr 2021

In this joint submission, ECLA and ACC welcome the European Commission’s consultation on the 2021 Justice Scoreboard, and its broadened scope to support the achievements of the European Semester and the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. Given the role of in-house lawyers as providers of legal services, both our associations believe that including them as a distinct category of justice stakeholders will provide a more accurate picture of the state of the rule of law, as well as useful data points for implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Facility. The work of in-house lawyers generally aims to foster legal compliance, avoid future litigation and resolve disputes in a commercially reasonable manner without recourse to the court system, in all legal fields (commercial, civil, administrative and others). This in turn advances the efficiency and quality of justice, by conserving judicial resources and speeding the delivery of justice to other stakeholders -- the timeliness of judicial relief being an important element in the quality of justice. The unique position of in-house counsel also constitutes a substantial factor that advances the rule of law within the European market and beyond. ECLA and ACC therefore propose that the European Commission add the research questions described below to the 2021 Justice Scoreboard survey to fully understand the ways in-house counsel contribute to the functioning of justice systems in the European Union. Because in-house counsel are mostly fully-qualified lawyers, their views are likely already included in that of some lawyers who contributed to previous scoreboards. However, in countries where in-house counsel are not considered full members of the bar, their role and input may not have been factored in. Thus, the special role of in-house counsel and their contribution to the justice systems of their respective countries have not been adequately considered in previous scoreboards. Moreover, national rules around the status of in-house counsel lead to different definitions and calculations of the overall number of lawyers in each country. We believe that this inconsistency has led to underestimating the real impact of in-house counsel on the justice system. In-house counsel are crucial to the efficient administration of a quality, independent justice system, and they play a unique role at the junction of the business and legal realms as ambassadors of the rule of law in their respective companies. As trusted advisors to their organizations, they provide a bridge between public policy and business interests. And as officers of the court, in-house counsel promote a culture of compliance within their organizations. Moreover, management teams of companies and organizations often include legal advisors in their ranks, with direct impact on strategic decisions, values and effectiveness of controls and compliance. ECLA and ACC strongly recommend that the European Justice Scoreboard assemble data on the role of in-house counsel in the justice system, and how the profession can contribute to the efficiency, quality, and independence of justice. We propose that questions focus on the following topics: a) the role of in-house counsel in promoting a culture of compliance within their companies; b) the role of in-house counsel as officers of the court in the administration of justice, independence of in-house counsel, and their relationship with legal privilege; and c) the contribution in-house counsel to the efficiency of justice by resolving issues cooperatively and effectively before they reach litigation, thus reducing pressure on the judicial system. d) Collect data on the number of in-house counsel in each country of the European Union in order to measure capacity to comply and promote the rule of law in the private sector. Both our associations have a vast array of research tools and prior research material on these matters and stand ready for further discussion.
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