As reported on LexGO last week, the Institute of Company Lawyers, together with the European Company Lawyers Association (ECLA) and the Federation of Enterprises in Belgium (VBO/FEB), organised the presentation to the Belgian press of the ECLA white paper “Company Lawyers: independent by design” by means of a (well-attended) round table. The event was moderated by Hugo De Maertelaere of LexGO.
"Company Lawyers: Independent by Design" is the first international and comparative work ever published on the important topic of the independence of the company lawyers profession. At the European level and sometimes at the local level, the independence of company lawyers is denied. This denial is problematic in many respects and especially for the company lawyer's client: the company. This White Paper explains what the concept of such independence is and why the recognition of such a characteristic is the cornerstone of the legal department and the company where the legal department operates. The White Paper is available for download.
The ECLA has also enacted the first "European Company Lawyers Code of Ethics". The supervision and set up of this Code of Ethics was lead and designed by Philippe Coen (Honorary President of ECLA) and Sergio Marini (in charge of the ECLA Code of Ethics working group).
This Code of Ethics, being a declaration of common ethical principles relating to the practice as company lawyers in Europe, voted and established by the General Assembly of ECLA in Tallinn, Estonia, on May 30th, 2014. The Code is made of 10 articles, essential for each of the ECLA association members and to any practioner. The Code can be downloaded here.
The video report of the event and interviews with the panel members are now available on Businesslawnet. You can click on the thumbnails below to directly access the videos.
