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Valérie Lefever

Senior Associate

Sample Lawyer

Overview

Valérie Lefever is a senior associate in the Brussels office of Van Bael & Bellis.

Valérie practices European and Belgian law, with a focus on competition, regulatory and commercial law. She has particular expertise in life sciences, telecommunications, media and energy. She also has extensive experience with fast moving consumer goods.

Valérie regularly advises clients on abuse of dominance, anti-competitive agreements and concerted practices, and public procurement matters. She has significant experience in distribution networks and vertical restraints. She represents clients both before the competition authorities and before the courts.

Before joining Van Bael & Bellis, Valérie worked for three years in the competition law department of a magic circle firm. She was also an assistant at the University of Namur in the fields of European law, competition law and electronic communications law. Additionally, Valérie did a traineeship in the Directorate-General for Competition of the European Commission (Unit E2 - antitrust - consumer goods, basic industries, agriculture and manufacturing sectors).

Languages

French, English, Dutch

Education

  • King’s College, London, LL.M. in European Law, 2008
  • University of Brussels (ULB), Postgraduate Master of Economic Law, 2007
  • University of Louvain, Master of Laws, 2006
  • University of Namur, Bachelor of Law, 2003

Secondment 

In the summer of 2019, Valérie was a secondee to Coca-Cola European Partners in Brussels.

Recommendations 

  • Legal 500 for Competition Law (Belgium)

Publications

Valérie Lefever regularly publishes articles on Belgian and European competition law issues. Most recently:

  • Valérie is a co-author of Van Bael & Bellis’ book “Competition Law of the European Union” (6th edition), published in 2021.
  • In 2020, Valérie authored the guide to the Belgian merger control rules published by LexisNexis (Practice Notes on Multi-jurisdictional mergers - local guides).
  • In 2019, Valérie co-authored the chapter on Belgian competition law in the book of Rowley and Baker: International Mergers – The Antitrust Process.
  • Valérie co-authors every year since 2016 a column on European merger control for the Journal de Droit Européen.
  • Valérie authors each year the Belgian competition law elements of the Annual Review of Antitrust Law Developments (ALD) published by the Antitrust section of the American Bar Association.
  • Valérie co-authored and regularly updates the chapter on Belgian competition law of the book “European Competition Laws”.
  • Valérie co-authored during several years analyses of European and Belgian case law in the competition law field for the Concurrences review and for Lexgo.
  • Valérie regularly contributes to the monthly newsletters of Van Bael & Bellis, “VBB on Competition Law” and “VBB on Belgian Business Law”.

Bar Admission

Brussels

Expertise

Publications and insights

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    • 27/10/2023
    • News

    In Belgium’s first hybrid cartel case Van Bael & Bellis assists CERP in obtaining a significantly more favourable outcome than that offered to the settling parties

    In Belgium’s first hybrid cartel case, involving both settling and non-settling parties, Van Bael & Bellis assisted CERP, one of the three pharmaceutical wholesalers on the Belgian market, in obtaining a significantly more favourable outcome than that offered to the settling parties in the settlement procedure that ended in February 2022 with the imposition of a relatively high fine on one of the settling wholesalers

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    • 07/04/2022
    • News

    Van Bael & Bellis lawyers win 2022 Antitrust Writing Award

    • 27/01/2022
    • News

    Van Bael & Bellis lawyers’ contribution nominated for the 2022 Antitrust Writing Awards

    The article “The EU Commission publishes the draft revised Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and draft revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints,” co-authored by VBB partners Andrzej Kmiecik and Andreas Reindl and associates Valérie Lefever and Margot Vogels, has been nominated for the 2022 Antitrust Writing Awards. VBB’s article has been nominated in the Best Business Article category, under “Concerted Practices”. The article sets out how the draft Vertical Block Exemption Regulation and draft revised Guidelines on Vertical Restraints would bring about a number of important changes to how the EU competition rules apply to a wide range of vertical agreements, affecting not only distribution systems for branded products but more broadly any form of vertical agreement in all sectors of the economy. The article provides a detailed analysis of the most important changes and their potential impact on market participants. You can vote for VBB’s article by clicking on this link. The winners will be announced in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, 5 April 2022.

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