Van Bael & Bellis: top-tier rankings once again in Legal 500 2022
- 22/04/2022
- News
With six practice areas in tiers 1 and 2, Van Bael & Bellis demonstrates once again the constantly highly-rated services it offers to its clients worldwide, in the Legal 500 2022 rankings recently published online.
Whilst individual lawyers receive notable accolades, a particular strength of Van Bael & Bellis is its ability to forge bonds amongst lawyers who work well together, forming – for EU Competition – ‘[a] collaborative and responsive team, who grasp facts quickly and have excellent attention to detail’. Such compliments are repeated throughout the firm’s rankings in relation to the teams of each practice area.
Customs, Trade and Anti-dumping (Tier 1): ‘Van Bael & Bellis’ sizeable team enjoys a formidable market reputation on account of its prolific trade defence and WTO dispute settlement practice.’ One client’s praise: ‘High level connections, strong push to deliver, very professional.’
Healthcare and Life Sciences (Tier 1): ‘The market-leading life sciences practice at Van Bael & Bellis fields a strong and sizeable team able to advise on a host of contentious and non-contentious mandates across the sector. The team is highly regarded by public and private sector clients, ranging from multinational pharmaceutical giants to pan-European associations and sovereign states.’
Competition: EU and Global (Tier 2): ‘Top expertise on competition law and excellent understanding of client’s business needs makes a perfect match here. Pragmatic, solution oriented advice. Agreed timetables are always met.’
Competition: Belgian (Tier 2): ‘The team assisting us is composed of 2 lawyers, a senior partner and an associate level lawyer. Both make a perfect tandem and provide the right answers to our requests.’
Dispute Resolution (Tier 2): Acting for many of the firm’s high-profile clients, practice head Catherine Longeval ‘maintains an active dispute resolution practice that encompasses corporate litigation, distributorship disputes, damages litigation, and other public tender matters for a client base that includes a strong roster of blue-chip multinationals and pharmaceutical companies.’
WTO: Switzerland (Tier 2): Clients ‘highly recommend’ the unit ‘for the professionalism and expertise in the fields of international trade, dispute settlement, and WTO rules’.
Commercial, Corporate and M&A (Tier 3): Van Bael & Bellis continues to develop its profile within the transactional space with the team regularly advising on Belgian aspects of complex deals. Practice head Michel Bonne has a strong record across domestic and cross-border transactions in a variety of sectors and is praised for being a ‘very business oriented lawyer that is able to provide the necessary strategic advice to get a deal done’.
EU Regulatory: Privacy and Data Protection (Tier 3): ‘Van Bael & Bellis advises clients on compliance policies and broad data protection issues, as well as handling more complex issues relating to international data transfers and procedures before regulatory authorities.’
Intellectual Property (Tier 3): ‘Van Bael & Bellis’ IP department handles litigation, trademark applications, licensing agreements, and patent issues, most notably for clients in the pharmaceutical and life sciences arena.’
Employment (Tier 4): ‘Van Bael & Bellis handles a diverse range of employment law mandates, such as large-scale collective redundancies and mass contract terminations for retail and manufacturing clients’, with experienced litigator Catherine Longeval at the helm.
The lawyers recognized by Legal 500 across these ten practice areas are:
Michel Bonne, Jean-François Bellis, Sara Beutels, Michael Clancy, Gabriele Coppo, Philippe De Baere, Fabrizio Di Gianni, Thibaut D’hulst, Clotilde du Parc, Porter Elliott, Catherine Gordley, Andrzej Kmiecik, Catherine Longeval, Richard Luff, Hannelore Matthys, Peter L’Ecluse, Andreas Reindl, Benoît Servais, Koen T’Syen, Johan Van Acker, Isabelle Van Damme and Kris Van Hove.
Five lawyers are listed as ‘Leading individuals’: Jean-François Bellis, Andrzej Kmiecik and Porter Elliott for Competition – EU and global; Richard Luff for Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping and Catherine Longeval for Dispute Resolution.
Five lawyers are listed in the ‘Hall of Fame’: Jean-François Bellis, Philippe De Baere and Fabrizio Di Gianni for Customs, trade, WTO and anti-dumping and Peter L’Ecluse and Catherine Longeval for Healthcare and life sciences.
Four lawyers are listed as ‘Next generation partners’: Clotilde du Parc (WTO); Michael Clancy (Healthcare and life sciences); Johan Van Acker (Competition – EU and global); and Andreas Reindl (Competition – EU and global).
The full rankings can be accessed here.