Quinz > Vilvoorde, Belgium > Firm Profile

Diversity

PRO BONO WORK

Every year Quinz provides hours of legal support by handling a maximal number of pro bono cases. Most of these are intended to contribute to the modernisation of our current law and therefore have a profound social significance.

BAEF

Quinz provides pro bono legal support on a regular basis to the Belgian American Educational Foundation (BAEF). BAEF is a non-profit dedicated to fostering the advanced study or research of deserving Belgian and American university students, scientists and scholars through its exchange fellowship program. Quinz has been involved in setting up a new fund which will generate a steady stream of low-risk revenue to the BAEF.

RECODIFICATION OF THE LAW OF EVIDENCE

Quinz litigation partner Benoît Allemeersch has been appointed by the Belgian Minister of Justice, Koen Geens, as expert member of the commission charged with the drafting of a proposal for a thorough reform of the Belgian law of (civil) evidence. The commission was put in place by the Belgian Government with the particular aim of adapting the centuries-old law of evidence to the reality of modern society, including recent technological developments.
For instance, the existing legislation on this subject needed to be brought in line with the EU Regulation No 910/2014 on electronic identification and trust services for electronic transactions in the internal market and repealing Directive 1999/93/EC. Benoît Allemeersch, who is partim professor of procedural and evidence law at the university of Leuven (Belgium), took part in the drafting of the new rules and appeared as the Government’s expert
at the parliamentary hearings. The proposed rules have now been incorporated in Book 8 of the new Belgian Civil Code, which replaced the then current Civil Code enacted in 1804, and came into force on 1 November 2020 (with a few exceptions).

SUSTAINABILITY COMMITMENT

Climate change is undeniable today. It is of great importance that we try to mitigate its negative effects. That is why
we, in our day-to-day activities, strive to a more sustainable environment. Quinz has implemented different
measures with the aim of reducing our environmental footprint. Quinz has, for example, invested in a wellfunctioning work environment, which significantly reduces our paper usage. Finally, it is at least as important for us
that our external providers apply the same standards

International Capabilities

Quinz is well positioned in the triangle Vilvoorde (Brussels) – Mechelen – Leuven. Very close to Brussels, the capital of Europe and nearby the national airport in Zaventem. Our lawyers work from our offices or from those of our clients.  

OUR CLIENTS  

Quinz is a young and innovative law firm that combines robust sector knowledge and experience with high quality legal services at very competitive rates. We believe that this model is unmatched on the Belgian legal market. Because of this Quinz has already worked with a diverse range of clients including: 

• • • Various sovereign states 
    • The European External Action Service
    • A South African mining company
    • An international leather split group
    • An international management consulting firm

OUR TEAM 

Quinz is made up of a diverse team of individuals with an international background having studied and worked in various countries, including:  

• • • USA 
    • UK
    • France
    • Australia
    • Switzerland
    • France
    • The Netherlands
    • Germany
    • Denmark
    • Spain

Together the Quinz team speaks a range of languages including Dutch, French, English, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese.  

OUR NETWORK  

Quinz is an independent law firm, which has opted not to form part of a formal international network. However, the vast bulk of our work and clients are international, and hence, we do maintain close “best friends” relationships with top law firms in most prominent jurisdictions in Europe and the rest of the world. It is important to note that Quinz takes the selection of its partnering firms abroad very seriously and we only team up with firms who we believe can offer the same quality, style and approach. 

Client Testimonials

CLIENT: Yves Ovelacq
COMPANY/FIRM: Addingvalue BVBA
TESTIMONIAL: Quinz is without any doubt a go-to firm for dispute resolution in Belgium. They have a rare combination of high-quality people with of course deep legal knowledge, but also highly talented to put the legal experience into concrete action with the complementary skills: communication, negotiation, creativity for alternative solutions and are very knowledgeable and very responsive, making always time when you need it. They put enormous amounts of care into preparing their cases. I have primarily been working with Benoît Allemeersch, who continuously shows superior legal and tactical skills. Benoît Allemeersch is an empathic but persistent lawyer, always quick on his feet and able to come up with pragmatic and commercial solutions to complex legal issues. Finally it is also pleasant to work with them.

CLIENT: Peter Verplancke
COMPANY/FIRM: UCB
TESTIMONIAL: As an associate general counsel at the pharma multinational UCB, I often appeal on the excellent legal services of Quinz’ life sciences department. Like all law firms that we work with, Quinz offers high-quality and punctual legal support. What really makes Quinz’ life sciences department stand out however is its very personalized approach. You can clearly notice how much effort all its team members make to understand our needs and profile and provide their services accordingly, how much care they put in ensuring that their assistance meets our expectations, how focused they are on improving their support.
I generally work with partners Olivier Van Obberghen and Pieter Wyckmans. They manage their team with great care and distinction, and are -most notably- very agreeable to work with.

CLIENT: Hendrik Winkelmans
COMPANY/FIRM: Freshmen Fund
TESTIMONIAL: As CEO/founder of an investment fund in the B2C space we have had excellent experiences with Quinz. We work with them on various aspects of our legal business with an emphasis on corporate & M&A work. Besides their triple-A legal skills, the team excels in its pragmatic, commercial approach as well as in responsiveness.
We have been working mainly with the team under responsibility of Bart Lintermans. We have come to appreciate their boutique approach to servicing their clients. For us as a client that approach comes with benefits such as very hands-on issue handling with high partner involvement. Quinz has also proven to be able to access a very strong and responsive network of law firms. This has allowed us to leverage Quinz for international deals as well as for legal challenges in the tax & labor law area.

CLIENT: Wim Souverijns
COMPANY/FIRM: ObsEva SA
TESTIMONIAL: The Quinz team that supported our launch preparation perfectly managed to provide high quality, to the point and practical legal advice while recognizing the resource constraints of a biotech startup.
They integrated so well in the team that they nearly became part of us without losing their role as external advisor. Never felt like we were working with ‘lawyers’!

CLIENT: Jan Froyman
TESTIMONIAL: After many years of experience with different top tier law firms in Belgium, we settled on working exclusively with Quinz for the past couple of years now. Not only do we find the blended fee rates more competitive compared to other top tier law firms, we appreciate the hands-on no nonsense approach from juniors all the way up to senior partners, combined with the quality of work being on par with Magic Circle firms. Whereas many law firms will engage in endless theoretical negotiations with their counterparts, driving up the bill for their clients and sometimes compromising transactions, Quinz knows exactly the red flags for Green Park and will negotiate accordingly and thus efficiently.
For all our M&A contractual agreements, we work predominantly with Klaas Thibaut and Wout Hooyberghs, who are both extremely professional and available whenever last minute advice is needed.

CLIENT: Birger Jespers
COMPANY/FIRM: Emmaus Group
TESTIMONIAL: The reactivity of the lawyers of Quinz is exceptionally fast. They are able to rapidly analyse a case and propose a realistic procedural strategy. There is no limit to their commitment and dedication to the business and the way in which they handle business creates a tremendous confidence with the clients.

Partner Vincent Van Obberghen is our key contact in litigation matters. During court hearings and expert sessions, one can feel that he is held in very high regard by the court and his opponents. There is also no doubt that he has a very large control over the procedure. He has a very strong understanding of the needs and expectations of his client.

CLIENT: Justine Verbeke
COMPANY/FIRM: AG Insurance
TESTIMONIAL: We appreciate Wim De Meester’s pragmatic and business-oriented approach as well as his very high level of involvement in the file.