Commercial Law

We provide our clients with pragmatic legal solutions covering virtually all aspects of their business, ranging from the selection of the appropriate strategy to the drafting of commercial contracts or the assistance in dispute resolution. We help our clients to negotiate, evaluate, manage, perform and/or terminate contracts. Our lawyers have substantive experience in a wide variety of contract types. More specifically, we are dealing on a daily basis with distribution agreements, such as franchise contracts, agency agreements, exclusive and selective distributorship contracts, license agreements, etc.. We also handle (commercial) lease agreements, management agreements, commercial cooperation agreements, etc.

We frequently act in litigation resulting from the execution (or failure to execute), performance or termination of commercial agreements.

Supreme Court

In civil matters, before you can lodge a Supreme court appeal, you must seek the advice of a Supreme Court attorney. Only if such advice is positive will you be able to appeal. In that case, you can count on our assistance during the entire procedure up to and including the ruling of the Supreme Court.

LMBD has a specialized team of attorneys, headed by Bruno Maes, attorney-at-law admitted at the Supreme Court since 2000 and former president of the Supreme Court Bar.

Competition Law

We offer the full services of a competition law boutique: merger control and hard-core cartel defense before the EU Commission, the EU Courts, the Belgian Competition Authorities and the Brussels Court of Appeal. We also deliver industry-specific advice regarding possible dominance and State aid issues.

Our experience include assignments in the energy, railways, pharmaceutical and TV-broadcasting sectors.

Corporate law

LMBD is reputed to excel in all areas of Corporate Law / M&A and Corporate Finance.The firm boasts extensive experience in assisting clients in the setting-up of new ventures and their corporate financial structure, as well as in the drafting and negotiation of shareholders and joint venture agreements, the preparation of day-to-day corporate paperwork (including general and board meetings and reports), and the implementation of all kinds of Belgian and cross-border corporate transactions (including acquisitions and divestitures by way of shares or assets deals, mergers, spin-offs and splittings, etc.).

Furthermore, we assist clients in order to structure the end-of-life transactions of corporate entities, by unwinding ventures, liquidating and cleaning up companies and assisting clients in all kinds of insolvency proceedings and restructuring processes.

Our firm also advises on corporate governance issues and directors’, shareholders’ and founders’ liability matters.

We regularly handle sophisticated operations related to corporate financing (share buy-backs, management buy-outs, equity capital restructurings, complex profit distribution issues, LBOs, etc.). We also serve as counsel in initial and secondary public offerings, takeover bids, delistings and public or private offerings.

Our practice includes corporate law litigation and dispute resolution, both before the ordinary Belgian Courts and before arbitration panels (including ICC, CEPINA-CEPANI and ad hoc panels in Belgium and abroad), in matters including shareholdersí disputes, shareholdersí withdrawal or exclusion proceedings, disputes relating to aborted M&A transactions, claims in connection with acquisitions and divestitures, directors’ and shareholders’ liability matters, etc.

In these areas, LMBD advises a wide range of clients, including banks, financial intermediaries, high net worth individuals, industrial players, several Fortune 500 corporations, private equity funds, VC funds and other operators.

In addition, we serve and advise clients on all corporate aspects of non-profit organizations (including various reputed international non-profit entities).

Criminal Financial Law

Commercial law faces a growing criminalization trend that confronts managers and their companies with increased risks. LMBD advises and assists its clients, both natural persons (company directors and managers) and legal persons (private as well as public entities), when they are the victim of or when they may be involved in a criminal case related to commercial matters (money laundering, private and public corruption, falsification of documents and use of forged documents, fraud, misuse of company property, infringements related to bankruptcy law, specific criminal offenses related to corporate law, etc.). The firm assists its clients through the entire procedure, from the preliminary inquiry and the referral till the pleadings before the competent courts.

LMBD broad experience with these issues facilitates its intervention in any procedure at any given time in order to limit the exposure of its clients to the risks of criminal prosecution that could result from certain business transactions. Therefore the firm emphasizes the importance of criminal due diligences and sets up preventive measures (delegation of powers, code of good conduct, compliance programs, etc.).

Distribution Law & Logistics

The firm’s attorneys have been active in the field of distribution law and logistics for years.

In these areas, they are assisting both Belgian and foreign clients in transactional and litigious matters relating to exclusive distributorship agreements, commercial agency agreements, sui generis distribution agreements, etc. Assistance included i.a. ICC Arbitration and representation of clients before the Belgian Courts.

In addition, the firm has been active in various fields of law relating to logistics, in particular in the railway sector.

Dispute Resolution, Litigation & Arbitration

The attorneys of LMBD are all litigators, familiar with the intricacies and peculiarities of various types of dispute resolution.

Our experience includes all kinds of litigation :

Belgian and international arbitration (including ICC, CEPANI-CEPINA and ad hoc arbitration)
Ordinary Belgian Courts litigation (including appeals)
State Council annulment proceedings (“Conseil d’Etat” / “Raad van State”)
Belgian Competition Council and European Commission (DG COMP) procedures – including appeals
Summary proceedings (“kort geding” / “référé”), i.a. in corporate and regulated network matters
Appeal of sector regulators’ decisions before the Brussels Court of Appeal, including sophisticated tariffs litigation
Court of Justice of the EU

We represent clients in Dutch, French and English. We have experience both on the defendant’s side and on the plaintiff’s.

Energy & Regulated Network Industries

The EU legislature’s decision to unbundle the natural gas, electricity and railway sectors has generated a whole new field of sector-specific regulation and business relations between the new market players. We are widely recognized for being familiar with the legal specifics for every actor and every relationship within this “new normal” legal paradigm: network users, network managers, producers, traders, power exchanges, etc.

We have extensive experience in dealing with the regulators, including handling appeals of their decisions before the specialized courts.

As to government affairs, we have wide experience in dealing at EU-level trade organizations and preparing draft statutes and decrees for implementing EU directives into Belgian law.

We have been advising clients regarding public support to the renewable energy sector – including on- and off-shore windmills. We are assisting clients in transactions involving other renewable energy sources, such as biogas.

Finance

Our firm has a longstanding experience in assisting both listed and private corporate clients to arrange, draft and negotiate all types of finance documents, including (syndicated) loan and credit facility agreements (including LMA credit agreements), intra-group finance agreements and publicly or privately issued bonds, as well as all related security and other ancillary documentation.

In addition, we are familiar with commercial finance agreements, such as commercial factoring agreements, all types of assignment agreements, etc., and related documentation (including legal opinions).

Life Sciences

LMBD has developed a broad expertise in the field of life sciences. The firm’s life sciences practice includes representation of various companies in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, medical devices and health care services.We regularly advise life sciences companies on both public and private equity and debt financings, technology licensing contracts as well as day-to-day corporate and commercial contract matters in the life science field (manufacturing agreements, promotion and co-promotion agreements, supply agreements, distribution and agency agreements, etc.).

LMBD also runs a dedicated healthcare regulatory law practice to help life sciences clients successfully navigate complex regulatory issues and comply with regulatory laws.

Finally, we assist our life science clients in all regulatory, contractual and corporate litigitation and dispute resolution, both before the ordinary Belgian Courts and before arbitration panels (including ICC, CEPINA-CEPANI and ad hoc panels in Belgium and abroad).

Intellectual Property

Intellectual property rights are among a company’s most important immaterial assets and as such show a significant intrinsic value. Putting these assets to a correct and efficient use and enforcing them where necessary is key not only to ensuring the proper functioning of a company’s commercial activities, but also to safeguarding both its own repute and position on the market as well as that of the products and services it offers. LMBD’ intellectual property department offers full-range legal assistance in the field of trademarks, copyright, designs, utility models, patents, geographical indications and designations of origin, both in contentious as well as non-contentious matters. In addition to managing IP rights, our attorneys have a strong expertise in IP enforcement matters including anti-piracy and counterfeiting, customs border measures, parallel import and cross-border injunctions. We have excellent working relationships with customs and law enforcement officers, whom we deal with on a regular basis.

Our lawyers have significant in-depth knowledge and a sound commercial understanding of a business’ needs and the specificities of the industry they work in. Clients represented range from leading global corporations to mid-sized companies and start-ups in any business or technological sector.

Real Estates & Construction

LMBD has established experience in all areas of real estate law. LMBD assists national and international clients (institutional investors, banks, developers and a range of stakeholders such as architects, contractors, engineers, etc.) in structuring, negotiating and drafting all kinds of real estate contracts, including development contracts, construction contracts, architecture contracts, sales contracts, lease contracts, long terms lease contracts, building right contracts, financial leasing contracts, etc.LMBD has a special expertise in complex real estate M&A (asset and share deals) and is involved on a regular basis in real estate due diligence and real estate project finance.

LMBD also defends buyers, sellers, lenders, borrowers, landlords and tenants in all their real estate and real estate related litigation and arbitration matters.

Sports Law

LMBD has developed a broad experience in assisting important players in the world of sport (not only sportspeople, but also clubs, federations, commercial management companies, broadcasters) and in helping them tackling the growing number of legal issues.In particular LMBD advises and assists clients in the follow-up of their sport activities (cooperation and sponsorship contracts, contractual liability, image rights, setting up commercial companies etc.).

The firm’s attorneys represent clients before the ordinary Belgian Courts (both criminal and civil law) and have experience with various types of dispute resolution before specialized sports courts.

LMBD has a special expertise in football (soccer) and in golf.

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