The Legal 500

Clients hail Allen & Overy LLP’s market-leading practice, and in particular, Filip Van Elsen and Geert Glas, saying it ‘did an excellent job, with timely and accurate results’. The departure of Thierry van Innis to Field Fisher Waterhouse was supplemented with Peter Van Dyck’s promotion into the senior associate ranks. Notable transactional work included advising De Vijver on a joint venture with Sanoma, resulting in a 25% participation in De Vijver’s subsidiary Woestijnvis (a television and film production company), and De Vijver taking a 49% stake in a weekly magazine.

Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP represents some of the biggest media industry names on key antitrust and EU regulatory issues; clients include UIP, Sony, Walt Disney and Google. Dirk Vandermeersch’s ‘excellent professional skill and knowledge’ makes him a key figure here. The team’s particular selling point is deep experience in Europe’s pay-television market, across all aspects of pay-television operations, including EU regulatory work with Sky Italia and News Corp. Maurits Dolmans is ‘a brilliant lawyer with an amazing work ethic’.

François Tulkens’ practice at NautaDutilh combines key litigious, regulatory and commercial aspects; he is also active in key media industry bodies. In an election year, he ran several constitutional cases regarding prohibitions against political parties making TV and radio commercials. Philippe Péters is also recommended. Clients praise the twelve member team’s work, whose ‘legal opinions are very practical and concise, but still exhaustive’. Clients include TVI, Bertelsmann, RTBF and RTL.

Bird & Bird LLP’s reputation in acting for collective collecting societies can be seen through multiple mandates for Belgian, Swedish, British and EU clients. Benoît Van Asbroeck’s experience also extends to handling IP and tax work within this area: the team works with Bozar, Brussels’ main museum and concert hall on all its copyright and IT matters, plus Vlaamse Dagbladers, the Flemish association of daily newspapers, on IP-related tax issues.

DLA Piper’s two key advisors remain Patrick Van Eecke and Louis Puts, whose regulatory-focused work has remained closely followed in 2010, in advising clients such as Amazon. The team’s online ecommerce work is growing, plus expanding social media client Netlog is a client. Other new clients include Discovery Channel, Kinepolis and Lucasfilms.

Koan Legal Strategies is praised for a ‘broad sectoral knowledge, contacts, and a wide range of expertise’ covering contractual negotiations, regulatory bodies, litigation and EU law. Agnès Maqua is recommended for her advice to clients across a variety of media channels; clients say she takes ‘a strategic and pro-active view on files, giving strong advice, thanks to her expertise’. Jan Decorte is ‘goal-orientated, highly competent and professional’.

Marx, Van Ranst, Vermeersch & Partners continues to advise household name Belgian entertainment/music industry clients, whilst also working with publishers Samona. In the motion picture industry, the firm advised on the financing and coproduction of a €20m European feature film. Herman Croux and Peter Marx are recommended.

Crowell & Moring’s Thomas De Meese and Filip Petillion have a high-level sports law practice, particularly for clients including Eddy Merckx Cycles. They are equally well fêted for experience in online gaming and betting services, on a domestic and European level. The team represented singer Helmut Lotti in litigation following the unauthorized reproduction of his wife’s artistic nude portrait in Belgium’s biggest newspaper, against copyright.

Field Fisher Waterhouse is praised for its ‘ability to point us to relevant legal issues and to attack them in a structured way’; Stijn Debaene and associate Hakim Haouideg are ‘sharp guys and business-minded, they form a great duo’. The team also win plaudits for ‘a service of unmatched quality’.

Howrey LLP has a good media litigation practice, with extensive constitutional experience. Highlights included representing SEMU before the Supreme Court in a successful challenge to the Copyright Act over music scores. On-line gambling company clients also benefited in a challenge over image rights, in Liège’s Court of Appeal. Four partners left Howrey LLP in November 2010 to form the Belgian office of Hoyng Monegier LLP.

Laurius Advocaten’s Christiaan Lesaffer is recommended for his work involving a large Flemish media group, including libel litigation, as well as representing a Flemish soap actress in a dispute with the editor of her biography.

Sidley Austin LLP is recommended for media law crossover with competition law capabilities; its main claim to fame in 2010 was acting for the FIA, the owner and regulator of Formula One, in a busy year for motor sport and F1 in particular. Ken Daly is the best-known figure.

Stibbe acts for an enviable number of web companies, such as Google, YouTube and Dedica on privacy issues connected with the internet, including litigation on the anonymity of bloggers. Entertainment clients include cinema owner, Kinepolis and Belgacom. Erik Valgaeren is recommended.