Legal500

Herbert Smith LLP

CENTRAL PLAZA, RUE DE LOXUM 25, 1000 BRUXELLES, BELGIUM

Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Paris, Moscow, Madrid , and 8 more

What we say about this firm…
What the firm says…

What we say about the firm's legal practice in Belgium

Competition

Within Competition, Herbert Smith LLP is a third tier firm,

Herbert Smith LLP’s team is ‘pleasant to deal with’, and is praised for its ‘accessibility and willingness to listen’. It acted on the £1.5bn Arriva/ Deutsche Bahn takeover; supplied representation in the car parts and car glass cartels; and acted on Monty Widenius’s challenge to the Oracle/Sun merger. Kyriakos Fountoukakos ‘understands economic and policy issues’; whilst long-serving head Craig Pouncey is ‘available at short notice’. Of counsel Adrian Brown’s EU advice ‘has a confidence and feel for the law’ with ‘risk analysis that precious few others match’. The team also includes the well respected Bo Vesterdorf, formerly President of the General Court, and liaises with alliance partners Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe.

Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping

Within Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping, Herbert Smith LLP is a second tier firm,

Herbert Smith LLP has ‘a feeling of substance and sanity’; its ‘services have always been of a high quality’, and lawyers are ‘knowledgeable’. Lode van der Hende is a recognised figure, whilst Craig Pouncey heads the team. Advice on market access sits alongside WTO counselling and litigation, where it advises governments on the impact of export controls in emerging markets; it continues to lobby hard for the Remote Gambling Association; and handled £100m-valued litigation for BSkyB, on the impact of customs duties, on set-top boxes with hard disks.

EU regulatory

Within EU regulatory: Energy, Herbert Smith LLP is a first tier firm,

Herbert Smith LLP has a significant practice in the energy sector, with extensive nuclear sector knowledge. New clients include Lithuanian-based Visagino Atomine Elektrine, on a large new energy project.

What we say worldwide

Please choose another Herbert Smith LLP office to view full details of what we say in that region, or choose from this list to view a specific editorial reference in context.

United Arab Emirates

Offices in Dubai and Abu Dhabi

Belgium

Offices in Brussels

China

Offices in Beijing and Shanghai

Algeria

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Spain

Offices in Madrid

France

Offices in Paris

Hong Kong

Offices in Hong Kong

Indonesia

Offices in Jakarta

India

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Japan

Offices in Tokyo

London

Offices in London

Libya

Legal market overview : Legal market overview

Morocco

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Russia

Offices in Moscow

Singapore

Offices in Singapore

Thailand

Offices in Bangkok

Tunisia

Foreign firms : Foreign firms

Search News and Articles

Legal Developments in Belgium

Legal Developments and updates from the leading lawyers in each jurisdiction. To contribute, send an email request to

Employment in more than one country - place where the employee habitually carries out his work

place of business through which the employee was engaged

- Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris
No social security contributions due on a 'premium for drinks'

A 'premium for drinks' that is paid by the employer to comply with its obligation to put the appropriate drinks at the disposal of its employees is not subjected to social security contributions.

- Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris
Gaming & Gambling Law Newsletter January 2012

Judgment in the Rank Group plc cases (C-259/10 and C-260/10): interpretation of the principle of fiscal neutrality applied to gambling

- ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)
FSMA MiFID Action Plan announced

Like in many of our neighboring countries, the Belgian Financial Services and Markets Authority (FSMA) is taking a more persistent approach in pursuing compliance with MiFID conduct of business. In that regard it has announced a “MiFID Action Plan”.

- Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick
International mobility - limited access to the Belgian labour market

Bulgarian and Romanian workers still need a work permit until 31 December 2013.

- Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris
Modification of the dismissal rules as from 1 January!

Claeys & Engels has updated the calculation modules on www.formuleclaeys.be. Higher level white-collar employees who enter into service after 1 January 2012 will, in the event they are dismissed, be entitled to a notice period, calculated on the basis of the IPA Act. The new notice period amounts to 30 days per started year in service, with a minimum of 91 days.

- Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris
Social elections 2012: Day X-35 (between 3 and 16 January)

On day X-35 at the latest, the employer must announce several decisions. The latter may be subject to appeal before the labour tribunal at the latest on day X-28.

- Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris
Enantiomers and race-mates: the same product?

On October 3 2011 the Brussels Commercial Court invalidated Lundbeck's supplementary protection certificate (SPC) for escitalopram, the 'S' enantiomer of its racemate citalopram. The court held that escitalopram is the same product as citalopram, and that the former's SPC did not comply with Articles 3(c) and (d) of EU Regulation 469/2009. The court held that it was in the interests of patients to declare the decision provisionally enforceable.

- ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)
Employment Law News Flash

Another year draws to its close. At the eleventh hour, a government was formed, a budget was agreed and political pledges were made to tackle the current adverse economic and financial climate. The year-end - traditionally a busy period with the issuing of hefty Programme Statutes - marks the beginning of intensified law-making under the reign of Di Rupo I.

- ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)
Towards a new dismissal regime

The new regime of dismissal compensation must be simple and should in no way lead to a cost increase for employers. Unnecessary procedures before the courts must be avoided. The purchasing power of the dismissed individuals must be maintained.

- Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris