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Clifford Chance

65 AVENUE LOUISE, BOX 2, 1050 BRUXELLES
Washington DC, Warsaw, Tokyo, Singapore, Shanghai, Sao Paulo , and 24 more

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

Banking, finance and capital markets

Within Banking, finance and capital markets, Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

Clients of the practice at Clifford Chance state that ‘the advice given was not only technically correct, but given in a sensible way, it facilitated business-driven decision making’. Yves Herinckx advised Recticel on a €230m syndicated loan facility and the team acted for Fortis on a €200m retail bond issue. The practice also acted for Carmeuse on its €850m acquisition of Oglebay Norton Company. Clients single out Philippe Hamer, for his availaibility and accessibility.

Competition

Within Competition, Clifford Chance is a second tier firm,

Leading partners at Clifford Chance have a strong personal following, and are recognised as heading ‘a tremendous workforce’. Thomas Vinje is ‘one of the most technically proficient, creative and thoughtful of competition counsel’, Tony Reeves is ‘assertive and effective’, and Simon Baxter is praised for ‘addressing issues in a balanced manner’, and being ‘solution-oriented’. Clients include GE, Oracle, Yahoo! and InBev. The team at Clifford Chance is ‘commercial’, ‘rigorous’ and skilled at delivering ‘advice summarising legal essentials, which you actually can read’. New hire, Michel Petite, former Director General of the EC’s Legal Service, divides his time between the Brussels and Paris offices. Notable work includes various cartel investigations, the pharmaceutical sector inquiry and advising InBev on merger control aspects of its acquisition of Anheuser-Busch.

Corporate and M&A

Within Corporate and M&A , Clifford Chance is a second tier firm,

Clifford Chance boasts a team with ‘a good mix of experience and enthusiasm’ that advised Eneco on the €151m acquisition of the shares of Air Energy, a Belgian listed company specialised in power generation from renewable sources. It acted for Hilton in the sale of nine hotels located across six European countries. Clients state that work delivered by recommended partners Philippe Hamer and Xavier Remy is of a ‘very high quality and always consistent’. Other notable transactions include acting for Publigas on its acquisition of a majority participation in Fluxys.

Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping

Within Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping, Clifford Chance is a third tier firm,

Clifford Chance has grown, drawing on the WTO expertise of Michel Petite, whose European Commission experience includes knowledge of anti-dumping regulations. Partner Tony Reeves also adds considerable commercial weight, having acted on two high profile EC anti-dumping cases, on energy saving light bulbs from China, and salmon from Norway. GE Lighting, V&S Group, Fujitsu and the Japan External Trade Organisation all benefit from the firm’s ‘very strong ability to analyse issues’.

Dispute resolution

Within Dispute resolution, Clifford Chance is a third tier firm,

Recent instructions for the ‘capable’ team at Clifford Chance include acting for Dexia Bank Belgium in civil and criminal procedures in relation to the Lernout & Hauspie bankruptcy. The practice boasts banking giant ING as a client. It has acted for Le Fond de l’Infrastructure Ferroviaire in proceedings relating to the ownership of building land in Antwerp. Sébastien Ryelandt is the recommended partner.

EU regulatory Information technology

Within EU regulatory Information technology , Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

Clifford Chance possesses Thomas Vinje’s skills in this area, which delivers related regulatory advice, given alongside competition law counsel. Clients include Yahoo!, Adobe, Oracle, and EMI.

Information technology

Within Information technology, Clifford Chance is a third tier firm,

Competition work is the key strength of the practice at Clifford Chance. Clients of the practice and partner Thomas Vinje include Norwegian web browser provider Opera, the Adobe Corporation and internet giant Yahoo!.

Intellectual property

Within Intellectual property, tier 4

Recent work for Clifford Chance includes advising Fujitsu on software patents and acting for leading pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim. Thomas Vinje is the name to note.

Legal market

Within Legal market,

Behavioural competition law, such as Article 81 and 82 infringement actions, cartels, sectoral enquiries, abuse of dominance, and private actions for damages, remain highly important. With the European Commission upping the pace on cartel enforcement, all firms remained busy, and those involved in the larger cartels especially so. Clifford Chance, Van Bael & Bellis, White & Case LLP Avocats Advocaten and Allen & Overy LLP, to name a few, remain involved in the most technically challenging of cases.

Real estate

Within Real estate, Clifford Chance is a first tier firm,

Clients assert a ‘high level of confidence’ in the team at Clifford Chance, praising its ‘quick responses and attention to detail’. It acted for Eurostation on the sale the Block II in front of the Brussels South Station to AXA, valued at €265m. Notable was the work done for the Carlyle Group on the sale of the Serclaes building for €31m. Henri d’Ursel is singled out for his ‘deep knowledge in real estate’. The practice continues to advise Morgan Stanley and GE Real Estate.

Tax

Within Tax, Clifford Chance is a second tier firm,

Clients endorse Clifford Chance by stating ‘I can think of no one I would rather want on my side for tax advice’. The ‘excellent’ Thierry Blockerye has advised key client Publigas on big-ticket tax issues, including advice on their acquisition of Distrigas. Publigas also has benefited from tax advice on the acquisition of its majority stake in Fluxys. The practice also boasts expertise on real estate transactions, continuing to advise clients such as Hilton and Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investment.

What we say worldwide

Please choose another Clifford Chance 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 Abu Dhabi and Dubai

Belgium

Offices in Brussels

Bahrain

China

Offices in Shanghai and Beijing

Czech Republic

Offices in Prague

Germany

Offices in Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, and Munich

Algeria

Spain

Offices in Madrid and Barcelona

France

Offices in Paris

Ghana

Hong Kong

Offices in Hong Kong

India

Italy

Offices in Rome and Milan

Japan

Offices in Tokyo

Jordan

Kuwait

Lebanon

London

Offices in London and London

Luxembourg

Offices in Luxembourg

Morocco

Netherlands

Offices in Amsterdam

Oman

UK Overview

Philippines

Poland

Offices in Warsaw

Qatar

Romania

Offices in Bucharest

Russia

Offices in Moscow

Singapore

Offices in Singapore

South Korea

Taiwan

Thailand

Offices in Bangkok

Tunisia

US

Offices in Washington DC, New York, and Menlo Park

Search News and Articles

Legal Developments by:
Clifford Chance

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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