Crowell & Moring LLP

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Managing Partner- Doha Office

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Emmanuel Plasschaert is head of our Labor & Employment practice and co-head of our Corporate and Commercial department. He focusses on individual and collective labor law, international employment issues and HR Privacy, and also regularly advises on corporate transactions. Emmanuel is recognized for his strategic assistance to clients dealing with complex restructurings of undertakings, including transfer of undertakings, closures and collective dismissals. In addition, he is a seasoned commercial litigator with more than 25 years of experience. Emmanuel frequently represents clients in complex disputes involving, for example, seizures and cross-border issues. He was one of the first to represent clients in class action proceedings in Belgium. Emmanuel also advises on white collar crime compliance issues (anti-bribery, money laundering, concealment, forgery, and fraud) where he helps clients minimize criminal liability exposure or to enforce their rights as plaintiffs in criminal investigations and procedures. Emmanuel advises clients both on a national (Belgian) and an international level.

Eric Montens is a senior counsel in the Brussels office of Crowell & Moring. His practice focuses mainly on general commercial & corporate, competition and product risk management matters. He assists national and international clients on a variety of issues concerning commercial distribution and related matters, such as franchise, selective distribution, agency, competition, licensing, and consumer protection. He regularly litigates distribution matters before national courts and arbitration panels. As part of Eric's product risk management practice, he advises corporations on the legislation applicable to their products when put on the EU market. He has represented manufacturers, suppliers and importers in product safety (including product recall) matters with the national (consumer) safety authorities of the EU member states involving, among others, tires, toys, children's products and other (consumer) goods. On international product risk management issues, he often works closely with the firm's U.S. offices, as well as lawyers in other parts of the world.

Evelien Jamaels is a counsel in Crowell & Moring's Brussels office and a member of the firm's Labor & Employment Group.Evelien advises clients from a broad range of sectors on all stages of the employment process, from hiring to termination (whether individual or collective). She assists both national and international companies with their complex employment issues. These concern, for example, restructuring, closure of companies, trade secret protection, diversity in the workplace, termination of employment agreements, drafting and reviewing of employment agreements, work regulations and policies, drafting and negotiating Collective Bargaining Agreements, and audits/due diligence for multinationals. Evelien has also gained particular experience in international employment and global mobility projects (including work permits).Evelien coaches law students from the Free University of Brussels and she is a member of the Social Law Department of this University. She also teaches as a visiting professor at the Brussels Erasmus Hogeschool and at the Regional training institute PIVO (Provinciaal Instituut voor Vorming en Opleiding van de provincie Vlaams-Brabant). She is a regular contributor to the Belgian website of FashionUnited, the international fashion industry network.

Frederik Van Remoortel is head of our Corporate and our Commercial department and also a renowned expert member of our Privacy and Cybersecurity department.Frederik regularly assists companies in setting up, operating, and restructuring their business in Belgium. He handles corporate transactional matters (such as acquisitions, mergers, joint ventures, and other collaborative arrangements), and provides general corporate counseling. Frederik drafts and negotiates a wide variety of commercial contracts for his clients, including shareholders agreements, asset transfer agreements, licensing and distribution agreements, agency agreements, co-operation agreements, software and cloud computing contracts, complex telecommunication agreements such as (Full) MVNO agreements, outsourcing, supply agreements, independent contractor agreements, various types of lease agreements, and terms and conditions. To complement his corporate practice, Frederik also advises clients with respect to individual and collective Belgian labor and employment law, in particular in the framework of restructurings. Frederik has more than 20 years’ experience advising clients with respect to Belgian and EU data protection and privacy legislation. He regularly performs global privacy audits for multinational clients, and he assists with the adoption and implementation of GDPR compliance programs and questions related to international data transfers. He is a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E).Frederik's experience includes both contentious and non-contentious work. He has extensive litigation experience before the Belgian Courts in corporate, commercial and labor & employment matters (shareholder disputes, termination of distribution agreements, employee termination cases, etc.).

Partner

Jan-Diederik is a partner and a versatile litigator with two decades of experience in defending his clients’ interests in ex parte, preliminary and permanent injunction proceedings, and in accelerated and standard proceedings on the merits. Issues dealt with relate to e.g., patents, trademarks, copyright, design, trade secrets, unfair competition. Although adversarial court proceedings are his forte, he is frequently consulted by clients in pre-trial matters (e.g., pre-trial discovery, trade secrets compliance and anti-counterfeiting strategy). He advises on non-contentious matters relating to licensing or transfer of IP, (re)structuring IP-portfolios, joint ventures and other creative/technological collaboration forms. Representing a wide range of clients active in sectors driven by technology, innovation and creativity (e.g., the pharmaceutical, biotechnological, advertising, media, entertainment, fashion industries), he focuses on complex and strategical legal advice with an immediate impact on his clients’ business. Thanks to his involvement in various international and cross-border matters, Jan-Diederik has an impressive global network and is often invited to act as lead attorney in multijurisdictional matters. His experience and large number of publications make him a popular speaker at international conferences.

Jurgen Figys is a counsel in Crowell & Moring's Brussels office and a member of the Intellectual Property Group. Jurgen is one of the few lawyers in Belgium also to be trained as a biomedical scientist. He is therefore able to combine his scientific reasoning with his legal knowledge, a considerable asset in the technology-driven IP field.Jurgen predominantly works with clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry, with a particular focus on complex patent litigation and regulatory advice. He has particular experience in patent litigation with regard to invalidity, third-party opposition proceedings against counterfeit seizure, and preliminary injunction proceedings. His pre-contentious experience includes freedom-to-operate patent analysis and drafting protective letters. Jurgen is also involved in a number of trademark cases, such as parallel import litigation.Within life sciences, Jurgen provides strategic regulatory advice to pharmaceutical and biotech companies as well as national and European industry associations. His experience covers a broad range of regulatory issues like data exclusivity, EU marketing authorizations, pricing and reimbursement of medicinal products, advertising, medical devices, clinical trials, and data. Digital transformation in the health sector is also one of his main focus areas.Thanks to his scientific background, Jurgen is also able to advise clients on other EU regulatory issues with a technical angle. For example, Jurgen has an impressive, substantive knowledge of REACH through his work for a wide range of U.S. and EU-based clients. He also regularly advises on CLP issues. In addition to providing legal and strategic advice on REACH/CLP compliance, Jurgen is able in particular to assist clients with their more science-driven submissions to the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) (preliminary risk assessments of potential chemicals of concern, etc.).

Karel Bourgeois is a partner in the Brussels office of Crowell & Moring and a member of the firm’s Antitrust & Competition Group. He is recognized for his experience in antitrust, state aid, and regulation. For over 15 years, he has represented a wide range of clients in merger control, abuse of dominance, and cartel cases before the European Commission, the Belgian Competition Authority, and other regulatory authorities. A considerable part of Karel’s practice also involves representing clients in strategic state aid cases. He regularly litigates in competition-related matters before the courts. In addition, he offers antitrust compliance support to his clients and advises on all aspects of EU law. His practice covers a broad range of industries including, TMT, energy, life sciences, chemicals, FMCG, digital platforms, and financial services. Karel helps his clients achieve regulatory approval for their M&A deals.

Karl Stas is a counsel in the Antitrust & Competition Group in the Brussels office of Crowell & Moring. He focuses on EU and Belgian competition law and the regulation of network industries (in particular telecommunications, postal, and energy). Prior to joining Crowell & Moring, Karl gained extensive advisory and litigation experience working in the competition and regulatory practice of an international law firm in Brussels. Karl assists international and Belgian clients in complex antitrust and regulatory matters, representing clients both before the European Commission and national antitrust and regulatory authorities. He also has experience litigating antitrust and regulatory cases before Belgian courts at all levels, as well as before the Court of Justice of the EU.

Kristof focuses on (IP) litigation. With more than 25 years’ experience, he is widely respected for his pragmatic, innovative approach to dispute resolution. He is a seasoned advisor and perseverant litigator in complex patent and SPC litigation and regulatory cases, parallel import matters and cross-border issues. He often litigates before the Belgian and European courts, regulatory bodies and in mediation/arbitration. Kristof is experienced in the interplay between antitrust and IP and is sought out for his thought leadership regarding commercial, civil and criminal disputes, and for his knowledge of (international) procedural law issues. Clients include industrial conglomerates and major players in the life sciences and TMT sectors. Kristof frequently speaks at professional and academic conferences and has published many articles on intellectual property and private international law.

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Maarten heads our Privacy & Cybersecurity department in Brussels. His practice focuses on GDPR and cross-border data transfers solutions, as well as on the legal and operational aspects of the digital ecosystem, including blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT) and smart technologies. His litigation experience covers both the Belgian data protection authority and the Market Court, the Belgian Court of Appeal for data protection-related matters. Characterized by his entrepreneurial spirit and drive to provide client-specific, business-focused, practical and pragmatic advice, Maarten has extensive experience advising a wide range of organizations on national and international privacy and data-protection-related matters. Clients include household names in the automotive, blockchain, entertainment, media, and online services sectors. Maarten teaches at the Data Protection Institute and Solvay Brussels School and is a frequently asked speaker at privacy and data protection events. He is Vice-Chair of the American Bar Association (ABA) Privacy and Computer Crime Committee (Science & Technology Law Section) and the former Co-Chair of the Brussels KnowledgeNet of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP), as well as a former member of its European Advisory Board. Maarten is also a part of the Beltug Digital Innovation task force and the Beltug Privacy Council.

Senior Counsel

Marieke Van Nieuwenborgh is a counsel at Crowell & Moring’s Brussels Office and a member of the firm’s Antitrust & Competition Group. Her practice involves the full range of EU and Belgian competition law including restrictive practices, merger control, and state aid. Marieke focuses in particular on antitrust damages recovery. She assists clients in proceedings relating to actions for damages for competition law infringements. Marieke also assists clients in the e-commerce sector with matters relating to online sales and presence. Marieke’s experience includes counseling national and international clients on cooperation, exclusivity and distribution agreements, across various industries, including the transport and telecom sector and the entertainment industry. In addition, she has represented clients before the Belgian competition authority and the EU Commission in merger proceedings and competition investigations.

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Thomas focuses on competition and antitrust law in Belgium and the EU. He is a skilled and experienced litigator before the Belgian courts and represents complainants and defendants in investigations before the Belgian Competition Authority and the European Commission. He represents clients in merger control matters and has developed pan-European antitrust compliance and training programs for multinational companies. He is involved in complex litigation affecting the TMT sector and advises on distribution issues, technology licensing, big data, joint bidding, standard setting, trade associations, pricing by dominant companies, etc. He assists clients on e-commerce and Internet-related issues and drafts and negotiates complex telecommunication agreements such as MVNO deals or interconnection agreements. He regularly represents one of Flanders' main players in the field of internet, telephony and interactive digital TV in contentious and non-contentious matters. Thomas has inter alia successfully represented online and land-based bookmakers in litigation against government-owned incumbent operators.

Vassilis is a partner in our Brussels office. He has been practicing in Brussels since 1991 and helps his clients to achieve and improve market access, maximize trade benefits, and be compliant with the complex web of global trade and EU laws, wherever they operate. He has more than 25 years' experience in the field of EU and WTO law, focusing on EU trade defense investigations (anti-dumping, anti-subsidy, and safeguards), customs matters, trade barriers/market access issues, trade sanctions/export controls, and EU anti-fraud investigations led by OLAF. He also advises on EU competition law, including State aid, and on EU internal market, regulatory, and public procurement matters. Vassilis advises European and Asian governments and companies located in the EU, in Asia, and in the U.S. He has worked for clients active in the steel sector, chemicals, high tech, transport, defense and aerospace, and agriculture/food. He represents clients in several jurisdictions, including primarily the EU, but also in trade defense investigations of the Eurasian Economic Union, Brazil, China, and Turkey.