Campaigners fighting to extend rights of legal privilege in the European Union to in-house lawyers have called in top US firm Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton to fight their case in the European courts.
Clearys Brussels-based partner Maurits Dolmans has thrown his weight behind the campaign, which was launched on 22 June by the European Company Lawyers' Association (ECLA), by taking the case on a pro bono basis.
Campaigners are hoping to challenge the position of the European Commission, which is maintaining that advice from lawyers to their employing companies in competition matters is outside the normal legal privilege extended to private practice lawyers.
The Clearys team, which includes partner Robbert Snelders and associate Kristina Nordlander, hopes to challenge the bar to in-house privilege under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which concerns the right to a fair hearing.
The challenge was launched in the wake of a response from the Commission in June that rejected in-house calls for concessions on privilege, despite proposals from the European Parliament to protect in house lawyers' advice.