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CCCA_V4No4_Privilege-FIN.qxd:CCCA_V1No1_DriversSeat-FIN.qxd 10/28/10 11:35 AM Page 39 Feature the company’s London office in the U.K. where in-house coun- preted against them, issues will not come to the fore.” sel have limited privilege; members of his in-house team work Anything which goes against that, Rondeau says, “is socially in France, Germany and Italy, member states where in-house regressive and not in the better interests of our society of pro- counsel do not have that same privilege. “In-house lawyers are moting the rule of law worldwide.” seen as employees of a company and, without bar membership, not independent professionals.Therefore, arguably, no privilege Bev Cline is a business and history writer based inToronto. can attach to their opinions.” Similarly,Jasmine Karimi,senior cor- porate counsel at Braiform (Spotless Group), notes that legal professional privilege is recognized and accorded to in-house lawyers in Australia, Indonesia, Philippines andThailand but not in Japan andVietnam. A And “in some jurisdictions, it Tradition remains unclear whether [legal profes- sional privilege] extends to in-house of lawyers, as is the case in Malaysia. Business Singapore seems to extend LPP to lawyers with a current practising cer- tificate, whether in private practice or Whether conducting business in-house. China’s laws and regulations in Canada or across the globe, do not address the issue of LPP at all Aird & Berlis LLP understands and Taiwan’s is vague as to whether it the realities of your work. extends in in-house counsel.” Our clients benefit from the firm’s This patchwork of differences poses solid relationships with major a major challenge to Hong Kong institutions, government authorities lawyers, says Karimi, who is also presi- and renowned national and dent of the Hong Kong Corporate international law firm affiliates. Counsel Association, because they We combine the depth and strength tend to be employed by multinational of Canada’s largest firms with the corporations that cover the Asia- creativity and effectiveness of Pacific region. smaller firms. Though different countries address Count on us for legal counsel from privilege in different ways, Rondeau, a business perspective. ® who was also co-chair of the CCCA World Summit,calls the Akzo decision shortsighted. “Basing the decision on Eldon Bennett Managing Partner whether in-house counsel have the ebennett@airdberlis.com same level of independence as external 416.865.7704 counsel misses an essential point,” he says.“Internal counsel must exercise a leadership role to drive an ethics and Partnership. Results. Success. ® compliance culture. Doing that on a global basis is even more challenging. To hope to achieve that, corporations need to have open communications Brookfield Place, 181 Bay Street between employees and in-house Suite 1800, Box 754, Toronto, ON M5J 2T9 counsel. If employees are concerned www.airdberlis.com that their questions could be misinter- HIVER 2010 CCCA Canadian Corporate Counsel Association 39