Like the late comedian Rodney Dangerfield, European in-house counsel don’t get much respect. Companies in the EU frequently neglect to give general counsel C-suite status, many member states ban in-house counsel from bar associations and, because of a 1980s court decision, in-house counsel don’t have attorney-client privilege.

Nevertheless, in-house counsel entered this year optimistically, thanks to a pending case many hoped would put them on equal footing with their outside counterparts.