Legal Privilege or Legal Inconvenience? Some Reflections on the Last Judgment of the ECJ in Relation to the Akzo Case

This article analyzes the concept of Legal Professional Privilege (“LPP”) in EU through the lenses of the Akzo case. It underlines what the recent ECJ Judgment clarified and what, instead, left the door open to further discussion. It concludes that the Court has unduly limited the scope of the LPP by refusing to extend LLP to in-house lawyers. The ECJ Judgment creates real inconvenience for in-house lawyers who, fearing the use the Commission could make of their documented advice, are prevented from freely and fully advising companies.