Category: Association

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ECLA General Manager Han Kooy met with the International Fiscal Association (IFA) to discuss mutual areas of interest. Han Kooy presented the Book: Company Lawyers: Independent by Design to the resigning president Prof. Han Kogels and General Manager Cécile Riphagen, while the latter presented Kooy with interesting material concerning the IFA. It was once again emphasized that the IFA is the only non-governmental and non-sectoral international organization dealing with fiscal matters.

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Let’s meet today Giovanni Cerutti, who represents the Italian Association, AIGI (Associazione Italiana Giuristi di Impresa). “AIGI, established in 1976, is one of the founding members of ECLA and we proudly celebrate this year, 2016, the 40th anniversary”- says Giovanni.

He smiles and adds: “AIGI Members are  aware of   ECLA especially now that the current President is Italian…! Moreover,  we do  have a dedicated section on AIGI website with interviews and articles on ECLA”.

“Eligibility criteria to be admitted to AIGI –  Giovanni explains  – include inter alia the Law Degree plus evidence of at least 2-year practice period as a lawyer. In-house lawyer mission is defined in AIGI By-Laws with the following terms:  providing legal advice and support to the Employer company, in the private or public sector, and contributing to the management strategies by combining legal knowledge with managerial skills. Last but not least, AIGI members must comply with the Professional Deontology Rules set forth in AIGI Ethics Code”.

Regarding the association’s activities: AIGI has coordinated and promoted the drafting of various Books and Papers on key legal topics. Moreover, AIGI regularly organizes seminars and conferences, either independently or in cooperation with universities, law firms, public entities. “We are however very careful in evaluating and selecting  events to make sure that AIGI remains independent and that an adequate level of quality is ensured”, underlines Giovanni.

Giovanni adds: “AIGI regrets that the In-House lawyer profession is not officially recognized by the legal system in Italy. Qualified In-House lawyers are not even entitled to enroll in the Bar (with some limited exceptions for In-House lawyers employed by Public Sector Organizations). AIGI is therefore very keen on affirming In-House role and position in Italy, as such role and position is already recognized by some other European Legal systems. AIGI therefore strongly objects to obsolete dogma that employment status of In-House lawyers automatically leads to their lack of professional independence in providing legal advice to the Client-Employer. This dogma looks disproportionate and unreasonable today, as proven by the comparative analysis with other professionally recognized employees (e.g. physicians)”,  is Giovanni’s conclusion.

On 2013, after a multi-year long appraisal and selective process, the Italian Ministry of Justice officially inserted AIGI among nationwide leading associations of unregulated professions pursuant to Italian Law implementing Directive 2005/36/UE.  “Yet, this is regrettably far away from affirming in-House lawyers role and from recognizing AIGI as an official Professional Body”, affirms Giovanni.

Giovanni finally underlines an important success story: “I am very proud because AIGI established 12 years ago the Scuola Nazionale di Specializzazione per Giuristi di Impresa (National School of Specialization for In-house lawyers) and this initiative has been growing with great success ever since. It is not a generic post-degree course among others, but it is a training path conducive to the profession, leveraging on practical cases, addressed by senior In-house lawyers acting as teachers and mentors. That aspect is very important not only for the educational program itself but also for the job opportunities generated through contacts and relations.”

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Meet with Cecilie Kjelland, until recently ECLA representative of the Norwegian Company Lawyers Association (Norges Juristforbund – Bedriftsjuristene), and now appointed as a member of the Executive Board at the last General Assembly on April 22 in Vilnius.

The Company Lawyers Association was established in 2010, but before that, the parent organization, Norges Juristforbund (Norwegian Lawyers Association), Private section, was in charge also of the company lawyers. Today, the Company Lawyers Association is a official   sub-group of the Norges Juristforbund (Norwegian Lawyers Association), Private section. NJB’s members are therefore legal professionals who work as in-house counsels in private and public companies and organizations.

However, she confirms us with pleasure: “Norwegian company lawyers keep their title as Advokat on the same conditions as lawyers generally do, and our  aim is of course that our European colleagues can get the same rights as external lawyers soon”.

The Association is primarily focused  on educational programs such as courses, classes and seminars on actual legal topics, as well as on networking. Cecilie, recently discussing with her Association’s members, can say – “People I have spoken to, express interest in participating in seminars covering legal issues of cross border interest, such as relevant EU legislation,  as the Safe Harbor decision, as corporate governance and similar topics”.

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We met in Copenhagen with Vilius Nikitinas, the president of B.I.T.A. (Bendrovių ir institucijų teisininkų asociacija) in Lithuania. Vilius is very proud to talk about his young Association, established in 2013, which joined ECLA in May 2014 during the ECLA General Assembly in Tallinn and host of the upcoming one on April 22.

B.I.T.A. counts at the moment 200 company lawyers and the association is growing slowly but constantly. From the president we understand B.I.T.A. is also very active in organizing events not only for their own members but also for external lawyers.

In order to improve the position of the company lawyers’ in his country, B.I.T.A   made some legislative suggestions to the Lithuanian government on how to better regulate  the profession of the company lawyer.

“Our association- explains Vilius – is a member of LVK, which is a ICC representative in Lithuania. This makes it possible for  B.I.T.A. to get news from this old organization and through LVK make suggestions. We also cooperate with the academic community, especially with the Law Faculty of the Vilnius University. The Vilnius University is highly respected and valued for its historical roots and academics.

Vilius has a doctoral degree in social science, works as a lecturer at the Vilniaus University Law Faculty and he published a book named “Transport law”.  In his business life Vilius works as a company lawyer for the “Lithuanian railways”. Vilius Nikitinas is a highly regarded Lithuanian railway representative in the European Union in Brussels.

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