The Legal 500

Within Competition, tier 6

Claudio Mereu heads Field Fisher Waterhouse’s practice, which provides behavioural and transactional advice to chemicals companies. Clients include THOR, Dow AgroSciences and United Phosphorus.

Within Corporate and M&A, tier 5

Field Fisher Waterhouse’s ‘excellent, business-minded’ team has ‘very good negotiation skills. Practice head Marie Evrard is ‘focused’ and ‘responsive’, and the ‘client-devoted’ Jacques Meunier is also recommended.

Within Dispute resolution, tier 4

Eric Cusas heads Field Fisher Waterhouse’s practice, which acts for clients in contentious matters across a range of sectors and has particular expertise in real estate and town planning disputes.

Within Chemicals (REACH), Field Fisher Waterhouse is a first tier firm,

Field Fisher Waterhouse’s ‘dedicated’ and ‘consistently very good’ group has ‘deep expertise’ and ‘long experience’ in REACH regulation, cosmetics, pesticides and biocides. Its ‘extraordinary network’ of contacts is ‘extremely helpful’. The ‘very aware’ Claudio Mereu has a good record in consortium and specific uses cases.

Within Environment (including WEEE and RoHS), Field Fisher Waterhouse is a first tier firm,

Field Fisher Waterhouse’s ‘very good’ team is ‘a standout’ for environmental advice: response times and knowledge are good and its ‘extraordinary network’ is a major asset to clients. Koen Van Maldegem advises on the use of biocides and other chemicals, and the team recently acted for a Spanish client to obtain a derogation to use a pesticide.

Within Fraud and white-collar crime, Field Fisher Waterhouse is a second tier firm,

Field Fisher Waterhouse’s experienced partner Emmanuel Roger France represents clients in contentious matters, and also advises several Belgian and foreign companies on white-collar fraud prevention schemes. Recent work includes acting for a fast food chain during a criminal investigation.

Within Information technology, Field Fisher Waterhouse is a third tier firm,

Field Fisher Waterhouse’s ‘dedicated’ and ‘efficient’ practice represents ‘very good value for money’. Olivier Ellul has ‘remarkable knowledge of IT matters’, and senior associate Tim Van Canneyt couples ‘dedication and efficiency’ with ‘skills in IT and data privacy’. Emmanuel Roger France heads the practice.

Within Intellectual property, Field Fisher Waterhouse is a third tier firm,

Field Fisher Waterhouse is ‘excellent’ and provides ‘top-quality assistance’. The ‘very accessible’ Stijn Debaene is highly experienced, particularly in the life sciences and media sectors, and Hakim Haouideg has ‘exceptional analytical skills’. The pair succesfully defended Telenet against a patent infringement claim concerning the electronic programming guide employed in its digital TV services.

Within Labour and employment, Field Fisher Waterhouse is a third tier firm,

The ‘pragmatic and client-oriented’ Stefan Nerinckx is the key figure in Field Fisher Waterhouse’s team. Former department co-head Olivier Rijckaert left the firm to launch a new employment and pension law boutique.

Within Media and entertainment, Field Fisher Waterhouse is a second tier firm,

Field Fisher Waterhouse provides ‘sound, pragmatic and prompt advice’ to clients such as Mobistar, Telenet and uMedia. Stijn Debaene is praised for his ‘no-nonsense and to-the-point attitude’, and senior associate Hakim Haouideg is also recommended.

Within Tax, tier 4

Field Fisher Waterhouse is praised for its ‘competence and flexibility’, and is developing particular expertise in IP tax matters. Recent work includes assisting uMedia Group with co-production and film finance schemes using the Belgian tax shelter mechanism. The ‘professional’ Pierre Philippe Hendrickx is the key tax partner.