Open letter to a skeptical mind convinced that a company lawyer cannot be really viewed as independent

“To Whom it may concern:

IF – like in the AM&S and the Akzo Nobel cases – you think that a company lawyer is not able to inherently provide advice with an independent mind

IF you think that a company lawyer can twist or forge his legal advice in order to preserve his or her job

IF you believe that the arm of a company lawyer is easier to twist than any other lawyer’s arm

IF you believe that a company lawyer is hired to close their eyes when they face a violation of the rules

IF you think that a company lawyer, abiding by the rules of its profession could be tempted to be less compliant with its rules of professional conduct and ethics because he works for a company and not a law firm

IF you can convince yourself that any responsible, accountable and serious company client would be willing to remunerate a company lawyer able to advise against his or her firmprofessional conviction

IF you believe that any lawyer’s code of ethics would allowa company lawyer to think dependently

IF you even have the impression that a company lawyer is not a fully-fledged lawyer and could range into a sub-lawyer category

IF you think that a company lawyer is a professional that can afford not to be independent by design and that independency is not a term of art for all lawyers on earth

IF you think that company lawyers’ output does not deserve legal privilege

IF you think that company lawyers are more independent in jurisdictions where they can be part of a bar association or equivalent than the ones working in countries (like France) where they are not allowed to be or remain admitted to the bar

IF you feel that being distant and remote from your client (i.e. in a law firms opposed to a law department) grants the lawyer a supplement of independence

IF you find it nuanced and not over simplistic to think that a law firm is more independent from his clients without whom it could not run a business than a company lawyer is from his only client

IF you really believe that a company lawyer can look at him or herself in the mirror while feeling they cannot advise the company he works for with an objective approach

THEN

Our best prognosis is that it does mean that you have not really been exposed to the reality of what a company lawyer does, it can also mean that you have barely encountered, come close or worked with a company lawyer, and in any event, the quality of the ones you will find within ECLA’s members community.

Download the Company Lawyers: Independent by Design here, to learn more on the Corporate Legal profession, particularly in Europe.