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Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP

SQUARE DE MEEÛS 38-40, 1000 BRUSSELS
Tel:
Work +32 2 792 20 11
Fax:
Fax +32 2 792 22 22
Web:
www.blplaw.com
Email:
Singapore, Paris, Moscow, London, Brussels, Abu Dhabi

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

Banking, finance and capital markets

Within Banking, finance and capital markets, tier 5

The Brussels office of Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP, and recommended partner Harold Wouters, have developed a niche practice in the biomass field, specifically around joint venture and asset-backed financing issues. It advised a large European financial institution on a sale and leaseback transaction. Additional clients include a specialist insurer active in commercial inter-company credit risk.

Competition

Within Competition, tier 5

Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP advised McAfee on the international (non-US) merger control aspects of its $465m take-over of Secure Computing. Partner David Anderson is recommended as having ‘the judgement and experience to provide clients with sound practical advice’, and he has increased the practice’s US referral work. The team’s state aid practice has also won a number of UK public sector clients; and associate Chris Bryant is developing a useful litigation practice in the courts.

Corporate and M&A

EU regulatory Environment (including WEEE and RoHS)

Within EU regulatory Environment (including WEEE and RoHS), Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP is a first tier firm,

Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP offers Michael Renouf as their lead regulatory specialist, alongside associate Chris Bryant. Renouf has years of experience of Montreal Protocol issues at EU level, with a strong climate change focus. He advised clients in the air conditioning industry in relation to proposed new regulations on ozone depleting substances.

What we say worldwide

Please choose another Berwin Leighton Paisner 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.

Belgium

Offices in Brussels

Foreign Firms

Ghana

India

London

Offices in London

Nigeria

UK Overview

Russia

Offices in Moscow

Singapore

Offices in Singapore

Search News and Articles

Legal Developments by:
Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP

  • New Commission

    On Friday 27 November 2009 the new European Commission, which will begin its mandate early in 2010, was announced by Commission President José Barroso. This announcement followed a week after the appointment of Herman Van Rompuy and Catherine Ashton as the President of the European Council and the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy respectively, the two new roles created by the Lisbon Treaty, which entered into force on 1 December 2009.
    - Berwin Leighton Paisner LLP

Legal Developments in Belgium

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

  • ALTIUS reinforces Real Estate & Regulatory team with new Partner

    ALTIUS is proud to announce that Lieven Peeters joined the firm as a Partner on 15 February 2010. Lieven joins ALTIUS from Linklaters where he started his career 13 years ago. He will considerably strengthen ALTIUS’ Real Estate & Regulatory department and the firm’s overall position on the Belgian market.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • ALTIUS REINFORCES REAL ESTATE PRACTICE WITH NEW PARTNER

    A significant hire from an international firm positions Brussels based ALTIUS as one of the leading independent real estate practices in Belgium.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • Plant variety rights in the distribution chain

    Under the system of plant breeders rights, also known as plant variety rights, the breeder of a new variety can obtain an exclusive right to perform certain acts with respect to material [1] of his protected variety. This exclusive right comes in the form of a certificate which is granted by a body mandated to do so,[2] provided that the variety meets the grant criteria laid down in the law. Upon grant of the certificate, and sometimes ever even before, only the breeder of the protected variety[3] is entitled to (re)produce material from the variety, condition it for the purpose of propagation, offer it for sale, sell it or otherwise put it to market, export it, import it, or stock it for any of these purposes. Subject to a number of exceptions and unless authorization from the breeder is obtained, these acts are thus reserved for the breeder of the protected variety. They are referred to as the ‘reserved acts’.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • Le contentieux de la propriété intellectuelle, nouvelle mouture: un premier bilan

    La transposition en droit belge, courant 2007, de la Directive européenne 2004/48 sur la mise en œuvre des droits de propriété intellectuelle offrit l'occasion au législateur de revoir et d'harmoniser les procédures relatives au contentieux de la propriété intellectuelle. Deux ans après son entée en vigueur, il est possible de dresser un premier bilan de la réforme. Assurément positif.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • Social security agreement between India and Belgium

    On 1 September 2009, the long-anticipated Social Security Agreement between the Kingdom of Belgium and the Republic of India (the “SSA”) entered into force. The SSA was signed in New Delhi on 3 November 2006 and is considered as a landmark agreement as it was the first treaty of its kind to be signed by the Indian authorities. Therefore it is likely to serve as a benchmark for similar agreements between India and other countries.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • Five pitfalls to avoid in your Belgian contracting agreements

    In Belgium, contracting agreements are subject to the Belgian Civil Code (‘BCC’) plus several other regulations. In this article, we briefly discuss five rules which foreign investors or principals may be surprised apply to Belgian contracting agreements. Make sure you avoid these pitfalls!
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • ECJ holds that a single award procedure is sufficient for IPPPs

    The Acoset judgment of the ECJ dated 15 October 2009 (C-196/08) was related to a dispute about an institutionalised public-private partnership (IPPP). A local authority wanted to grant a concession to a newly-created semi-public company, whose minority shareholder would be a private company selected by an open tender procedure. The minority shareholder would be responsible for the operations of the semi-public company.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • Belgian Procurement Law becomes more compliant

    On 23 April 2009, the ECJ held that Belgium did not properly transpose Procurement Directive 2004/18 into national law (case C-292/07). In fact, Belgium already has new procurement Acts (dating from 15 and 16 June 2006) but they have not entered into force, because the new Royal Decrees implementing these Acts have not been adopted. Therefore, Belgium decided to modify the old Royal Decrees (from 1996). This article will analyse two topics: the negotiated procedure and the procedure for handling abnormally low offers.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • The ECJ Sea Judgement: Some further guidance on the “in house” exemption

    In its Sea Judgement of 10 September 2009 (C-573/07), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) further clarifies its “in-house” jurisprudence. More specifically, it goes more deeply into the notion of control. Indeed, following the landmark judgement in the Teckal case, contracting authorities granting a public contract do not have to apply the public procurement rules if the contractor, which is a distinct legal entity, is subject to the same control by the contracting authority as the departments of the contracting authority and if the contractor carries out the essential part of its activities with the controlling local authority or authorities.
    - ALTIUS (in cooperation with Tiberghien)

  • When does a continuous fault become a serious cause justifying dismissal?

    The Belgian Supreme Court recently annulled a judgment of the Labour Law Court of Bergen because a judgment it had handed down denied the right of the employer (in this case: an administrator of a hospital) to determine himself when a continuous misconduct makes the professional cooperation immediately and definitively impossible – and consequently justifies a dismissal for serious cause.
    - Claeys & Engels, member of Ius Laboris
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