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Who’s Who Legal recognizes six HVDB lawyers for their arbitration expertise
In its 2019 analysis on arbitration, Who’s Who Legal (WWL) recognized partners Bernard Hanotiau, Albert Jan van den Berg, Niuscha Bassiri, Pascal Hollander and Paul Lefebvre as leading arbitration lawyers who come highly recommended for their expertise in resolving complex international disputes. Counsel Maarten Draye is listed as a “future leader” in arbitration. With six individual nominations, Hanotiau & van den Berg emerges as one of the most highly praised law firms by clients, peers and market sources in WWL’s 2019 research.
Bernard Hanotiau is recognized as “an exceptionally well-organized and efficient arbitrator with a phenomenal practice”. Peers describe him as “a very big name in international arbitration” and hold him in high esteem as “a clear leader in the field”.
Albert Jan van den Berg receives praise as a “world-class” arbitrator and “excellent strategic lawyer” who is in high demand for some of the most significant arbitrations worldwide.
Pascal Hollander is identified as “a very good counsel and arbitrator” who is “very well regarded” for his expertise in arbitration disputes across a range of sectors. He is recommended as a “major player” in matters relating to franchising and distribution.
Paul Lefebvre is labelled “an excellent advocate” who is known for his strong experience handling both institutional and ad hoc arbitration proceedings.
Niuscha Bassiri is recognized for her exceptional practice and is praised by peers as an “excellent arbitrator with a great client manner”.
Finally, Maarten Draye stands out as “one of the go-to people in Belgium for international commercial arbitration”. He wins praise as “a professional and true arbitration leader to watch”.
Hanotiau & van den Berg expands and promotes in Brussels
It is with great pleasure that HVDB announces that Iuliana Iancu has been promoted to Counsel and Emily Hay has been promoted to Senior Associate. Ms. Iancu, a Romanian national, has been with the firm since 2012. Ms. Hay, a dual Australian-Belgian national, joined HVDB in 2014.
Ms. Iancu and Ms. Hay have worked on many high-stakes, complex international investment and commercial arbitrations, both ad hoc and under a variety of arbitration rules, spanning various industry sectors. These promotions reflect the firm’s belief that they are both exceptional lawyers with bright futures ahead.
Senior partners Albert Jan van den Berg and Bernard Hanotiau concur that both Ms. Iancu and Ms. Hay have shown tremendous commitment to their high standard of work performance, responsibilities and ethics.
Niuscha Bassiri, partner, describes Ms. Iancu and Ms. Hay as “exceptional stellar arbitration specialists who we can be lucky to call our colleagues”. Arbitration specialists from around the world have already taken note of Ms. Iancu’s and Ms. Hay’s immense capacities, which further adds to HVDB placing itself amongst the top arbitration and litigation law firms worldwide, whose lawyers are much sought after.
Ms. Iancu regularly speaks on arbitration-related topics, including most recently, at the AIA Conference “The Future of Investment Arbitration in Europe” (1 June 2018, Brussels) and the 3rd EFILA Conference (5 February 2018), London. She is actively involved in international arbitration groups, including by co-organizing a Young ICCA workshop in Brussels and as a founding member of the Club Español del Arbitraje, Romania. Prior to joining Hanotiau & van den Berg, Ms. Iancu worked at a boutique dispute resolution firm in Bucharest, where she focused on representing clients in contractual, property and competition disputes before international commercial arbitral tribunals and domestic courts.
Ms. Hay’s speaking engagements include the ICC Institute Training for Tribunal Secretaries in Singapore, in 2017. She publishes regularly on arbitration issues, most recently being selected to contribute to a volume entitled 40 under 40: International Arbitration (edited by Carlos González-Bueno, 2018), drawing together articles from 40 promising young practitioners worldwide. Previously, Ms. Hay worked in an international firm in Brussels, advising on issues of public international law, data protection and privacy.
These promotions follow a slate of new hires at Hanotiau & van den Berg, as the firm expands the teams in its Brussels office. To meet the demands of an increasing caseload, five new associates have joined the firm in the past twelve months: Tarunima Vijra (India), Iris Raynaud (France), Juan Camilo Jiménez Valencia (Colombia), Ludmilla de Potter d’Indoye (Belgium), and Albert Jan Junior van den Berg (Belgium/Netherlands).
Who’s Who Legal Recognizes HVDB as Leading Law Firm in Arbitration
In its 2018 edition, Who’s Who Legal (WWL) recognized HVDB as one of the top European arbitration law firms. Based on the number of practitioners receiving the most nominations in its research, HVDB is ranked fifth, listing it among some of the world’s largest international law firms.
WWL’s research recognized five of HVDB’s partners – Bernard Hanotiau, Albert Jan van den Berg, Niuscha Bassiri, Pascal Hollander and Paul Lefebvre – for their excellent work in the arbitration field. Counsel Maarten Draye is further recognized as a “future leader” in arbitration.
In addition, Bernard Hanotiau and Albert Jan van den Berg received individual accolades. Both feature in a list of twelve “thought leaders” for Europe, which list the individuals who received the highest numbers of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other sources in WWL’s research.
Who’s Who Legal recognizes HVDB as Leading Firm in Franchise
In its latest Franchise edition, Who’s Who Legal (WWL) ranked HVDB as the only Belgian firm among the Leading Firms in Europe in the area of international franchising, noting that “Boutique disputes firm HANOTIAU & VAN DEN BERG is home to two highly regarded lawyers in the franchise space”.
Pascal Hollander was described by a peer as “the best franchise lawyer in Belgium”.
Pierre Vermeire is “highlighted for his intricate knowledge of the law of commercial agency”, with one client describing him as “very pragmatic and flexible to the needs of our business”.
Who’s Who Legal recognizes six HVDB lawyers for their expertise in Arbitration and Litigation
In October 2017, Who’s Who Legal (WWL) released its comprehensive guide of experts in the Arbitration (2018) and Litigation (2017) markets. Several of HVDB’s Partners and lawyers have been recognised by WWL in the latest editions of this guide.
Bernard Hanotiau was listed in WWL Arbitration and described as “world-famous” and “one of the very best in the space”. Sources noted that “he’s incredibly active in the field and there is a reason for that – the quality of his work is exceptionally impressive”. Professor Hanotiau was in addition praised as a Thought Leader.
Albert Jan van den Berg was listed in WWL Arbitration and described as “a top arbitration specialist” and “highly respected for his brilliant work across a range of sectors including IT, pharmaceuticals and mining”. Professor van den Berg was similarly recognized as a Thought Leader.
Pascal Hollander was listed in both WWL Arbitration and Litigation and described as “well known for his work as both counsel and arbitrator and highly recommended for his work in the field”. Sources note that Mr. Hollander has “a well-established arbitration practice and draws praise for his expert handling of high-stakes disputes”. Mr. Hollander was nominated as a Thought Leader in Arbitration.
Paul Lefebvre was listed in both WWL Arbitration and Litigation and described as “among the very best arbitrators in the region” and “highly sought after by clients for his long-standing expertise in both institutional and ad hoc proceedings”.
Niuscha Bassiri was listed in WWL Arbitration and described as “a star in the international commercial and investment arbitration space” and “the best in Belgium”. Ms. Bassiri is “strongly recommended for her impressive work on commercial and investment arbitrations as both counsel and arbitrator”. Ms. Bassiri was also recognized as a Thought Leader in Arbitration.
Maarten Draye was nominated in WWL’s Arbitration as a Future Leader (non-partners).
Pascal Hollander continues as Vice-Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee
During its annual gathering in Sydney in October 2017, the International Bar Association (IBA) Arbitration Committee announced its slate of officers for 2018. Pascal Hollander will continue to serve as vice-chair. The IBA Arbitration Committee focuses on laws, practice and procedures relating to the arbitration of transnational disputes through conferences, publications and projects. Previously, in 2015-2016, Pascal Hollander chaired the IBA Sub-Committee on Recognition and Enforcement of Arbitral Awards where he led a comparative study on ‘public policy‘ (2015) and a comparative study on ‘non-arbitrability’ (2016) as defenses to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards under the New York Convention.
In the October/November 2017 issue of the IBA’s E-magazine Global Insight , Pascal Hollander is one of the specialists interviewed for the article “International arbitration: a time of change”.
HVDB wins Global Dispute of the Year Award
During a ceremony in the Edison Ballroom in New York City on 25 September 2017, Hanotiau & van den Berg (HVDB), Houthoff Buruma and White & Case were honoured with the award for “Global Dispute of the Year: Investment Arbitration” by The American Lawyer for their work in the case of Yukos v. Russia. In this case, a team of law firms led by Prof. van den Berg successfully challenged a set of arbitral awards ordering the Russian Federation to pay approximately USD 50 billion to the former shareholders of former Russian oil giant Yukos Oil Company under the European Charter Treaty. In its judgment of 20 April 2016, the District Court of The Hague (The Netherlands) ruled that the arbitral tribunal did not have jurisdiction, and accordingly, annulled the arbitral awards in their entirety.
The annual American Lawyer Global Legal Awards recognize and honour the best cross-border legal work worldwide. The category of Global Disputes honours the most significant results in international arbitration, litigation and investigations.
HVDB Lawyers Nominated in Who’s Who Legal
Several of HVDB’s Partners and lawyers have been recognised by Who’s Who Legal (WWL) in their 2017 editions of Arbitration, Litigation and Franchise, Thought Leaders and Future Leaders.
Bernard Hanotiau was listed in WWL’s Arbitration 2017 and described as “an absolute star, clearly one of the best and most in-demand arbitrators in the world”. Mr. Hanotiau was similarly named WWL’s 2017 Thought Leader.
Albert Jan van den Berg was listed in WWL’s Arbitration 2017 and described as “simply the best arbitrator in the world; focused, sharp, with a sound analysis of both facts and law”. Professor van den Berg was similarly named WWL’s 2017 Thought Leader.
Pascal Hollander was listed in WWL’s Arbitration, Litigation and Franchise 2017 and is “strongly recommended for the success with which ‘he transposes his expertise and wealth of experience handling distribution into the world of international arbitration’”.
Paul Lefebvre was listed in WWL’s Arbitration and Litigation 2017 and described as “an ‘absolutely first-class arbitrator and one of the finest chairs I have encountered’”.
Niuscha Bassiri was listed in WWL’s Arbitration 2017 and described as “‘a personable, responsive and innovative arbitration specialist’ who is praised for her ‘clever and sophisticated advocacy’”. In addition, WWL nominated Ms. Bassiri as a Future Leader, ranking her as one the 20 Most Highly Regarded Individuals by her clients and peers.
Maarten Draye was nominated in WWL’s Arbitration 2017 as a Future Leader. WWL recognised that Mr. Draye “‘has done a lot of good work’ and has ‘broad experience on both sides of the bench, as counsel, sole arbitrator and as secretary sitting with the greats of his firm’.”
Who’s Who Legal – Thought Leaders 2017
Bernard Hanotiau and Albert Jan van den Berg have been named 2017 Thought Leaders by Who’s Who Legal.
Who’s Who Legal: Thought Leaders’ edition features lawyers who obtained the highest number of nominations from peers, corporate counsel and other market resources in their most recent research cycle. Through interviews with practitioners, the Thought Leaders guide aims to shine a light on what makes these lawyers the apogee of the profession.
The interview with Bernard Hanotiau can be found at: http://whoswholegal.com/profiles/21764/0/hanotiau/bernard-hanotiau/ .
The interview with Albert Jan van den Berg can be found at: http://whoswholegal.com/profiles/26248/0/van-den-berg/albert-jan-van-den-berg/
Pierre Vermeire has become a Partner, Maarten Draye is promoted to Counsel, and Magali Servais, Iuliana Iancu and Panagiotis Chalkias are promoted to Senior Associates
It is with great pleasure that HVDB announces that Pierre Vermeire has become a Partner within the firm. Throughout his 12 year-long presence in the firm, Vermeire has shown dedication to top quality work and ability to efficiently serve important clients. His remarkable skills as a commercial litigator both in French and Dutch are an important asset for a firm that was set up as and still remains an ‘International Arbitration & Litigation Boutique’.
It is with as much pleasure that HVDB announces that Maarten Draye is promoted to Counsel, and Magali Servais, Iuliana Iancu and Panagiotis Chalkias are promoted to Senior Associates. Their promotion reflects the trust that HVDB places in them, their ability to handle complex assignments and above all the top quality of their work.
More information with regard to these promotions can also be found on: http://globalarbitrationreview.com/article/1142051/hanotiau-van-den-berg-promotes-in-brussels