Law Firm Overview

Foley has relocated its Brussels office to share a new space with Vlaemminck & Partners (V&P), an international boutique firm headquartered in Gent, Belgium. Our new working relationship with V&P provides Foley with enhanced opportunities to serve client needs on a wide range of European and U.S. legal issues and offers access to an expanded skill set to better serve our clients around the world.

Our new cooperation expands the global reach required by our international clients. The Brussels office now serves two increasingly important roles in this regard. Our European clients use our Brussels office as a gateway into the United States to access Foley's extensive array of legal services. Foley attorneys based in Brussels, or who work in the office on a regular basis, are readily available for consultations on a wide variety of U.S. legal matters ranging from business, regulatory, litigation, intellectual property, and antitrust law, among others. Whether our European clients need assistance with preparation of contracts, patent application, or negotiations, our Brussels office can provide these legal services effectively and efficiently. We have extensive experience coordinating business and intellectual property litigation as well as assisting with mergers and acquisitions in the United States and Europe for a broad range of companies in a variety of industries, including the food, life sciences, nanotechnology, and mechanical and electromechanical technologies industries.

In addition, together with the V&P attorneys, our Brussels office provides assistance with numerous issues concerning European Community law (EC),and the European Economic Area Agreement (EEAA). We carefully monitor legal developments, including the European case law in the areas of intellectual property, international trade, corporate, antitrust, regulatory, internal market, information society, tax and Value Added Tax (VAT), environmental, social, and health care law interpreting these developments from the European perspective, including competition matters and regulatory and trade law work. In addition, we offer comprehensive legal services on national business law issues (company law, labor, and tax law) to U.S. companies based in Europe. Specifically, our EU regulatory law work concentrates on the process by which EU policies and legislation are developed and enacted and their implementation at the national level. We also advise clients on a full range of trade law issues affecting the free movement of goods and services within, out of, and into the international market. This includes numerous customs matters (from import and export duties to preferential treatment and tariff suspension, including binding tariff information (BTI) as well as the remission or recovery of duties, and trade defense measures like anti-dumping, countervailing duty, and trade barriers regulation (TBR) actions.

With particular strength in the fields of European antitrust, trade, product licensing, data privacy, internal market issues, and the environment, the Brussels office advises clients on the impact of existing and forthcoming European law on their existing and proposed business activities. Additionally, both the V&P and Foley attorneys assist clients in the negotiations with and hearings before institutions such as the European Commission, European Parliament, and national competition authorities. V&P and Foley attorneys do also represent clients in litigations before the European Court of First Instance, European Court of Justice, EFTA Court, and national courts. Our contacts with various European institutions are ongoing, and we proactively track initiatives and activities of the European Union that may affect our clients' interests. Our attorneys understand that up-to-date and accurate information is essential to helping clients anticipate and successfully manage the likely impact of proposed developments on their businesses.

The Foley and V&P Brussels office attorneys are fluent in English, French, Dutch, and German. Whether a European company seeks assistance with legal matters in the United States or a U.S. company requires representation in Europe, we have the resources necessary to meet the challenges of an evolving worldwide marketplace.

Areas of Practice

• Industry Teams
• Business Law
• Government & Public Affairs
• Intellectual Property
• International
• Litigation