Our
Expertise

The members of the department advise and assist private and public companies operating in various sectors of the economy as well as merchants and private individuals. 

They act in matters such as the creation of commercial partnerships, the transfer of participations or businesses, and the restructuring, transformation or operations of groups of companies. They advise during the negotiation and drawing up of commercial contracts and handle questions relating to their interpretation or execution. 

The members of the department defend the interests of commercial partnerships, retailers or private individuals in commercial or corporate legal disputes brought before national and international ordinary jurisdictions or in arbitration. 

Questions relating to the responsibility of commercial companies' managers are also addressed, in the form of advice and recommendations as well as in order to ensure their defence before civil and penal jurisdictions.

The department assists its clients in particular on:

• The creation, acquisition and transfer of commercial partnerships, foundations or associations, and the drawing up of agreements between shareholders
• The transfer of participations or goodwill and the transformation and restructuring of companies, such as mergers, demergers or the abandonment of business lines
• Questions relating to the responsibility of commercial companies' managers, also addressed in the form of advice and recommendations, and the defence of managers in such cases
• Resolving conflicts between shareholders or groups of shareholders
• Disputes about commercial practices
• Questions and procedures in matters of national and European competition
• The negotiation and drawing up of commercial contracts (leases, service provision contracts, sub-contracts, concessions, agencies, franchises, sale contracts, transport, etc.) and the examination of questions linked to their interpretation, execution and termination
• The creation of conventional securities, notably securities on financial instruments, contracts of guarantee or other securities issued from practice
• Resolving disputes, preferably by out-of-court agreements, or when this is not possible through legal or arbitration proceedings, nationally as well as internationally (some lawyers of the department regularly act as arbitrators)
• Penal defence of legal persons and corporate managers

The lawyers of the department have recently acted in matters such as:

• The organisation of strategies and selective distribution networks in the automobile and luxury industry sectors
• The resolution of disputes relating to the execution or termination of international agency contracts and open-ended Belgian exclusive sales concessions (sales objectives, non-competition clause, advanced notice, clientele compensation, etc.)
• The drawing up of shareholder pacts aimed at preventing conflicts between shareholders, namely companies in IT, insurance, civil engineering, public-private service and graphic arts
• The legal resolution of conflicts between shareholders (exclusion or forced repurchasing of shares) in companies active in food commodities production and textile distribution
• The merger of companies in the travel sector
• The legal resolution of conflicts linked to the non-execution of national or international sales contracts
• The drawing up of agreements relating to the disposal of companies, including carrying out due diligence
• The contractual framework for service business management
• Helping companies with their expansion strategy in Central Europe and Canada
• Helping foreign investors in Belgium
• Helping organise general meetings and board meetings, particularly in SMEs (including drawing up social documents)
• Legal actions in termination and responsibility regarding acts contrary to fair trading in commercial matters, notably in matters of false advertising, boycotting a company, firing, abusive use of confidential files, etc.
• Resolving disputes between airlines and their customers
• Helping companies in trouble, notably during legal liquidation procedures, composition or bankruptcy
• The execution of legal mandates entrusted by the Courts and Tribunals (bankruptcy guardianship, provisional administration of companies, seizure, etc.)
• Examining questions linked to state aid judged incompatible with European law on competition
• Submission and follow-up of complaints before the Competition Council