Member Profiles

Alain Strowel is a member of the Brussels Bar Association since 1988 and a Senior Partner, member of the Intellectual Property & IT law department, at Pierstone Brussels. He is also a Professor at University Saint-Louis – Brussels since 1993 and at UCLouvain since 2013. Alain is a native French speaker and is fluent in English, German and Dutch. Professional experience: As avocat at the Brussels bar since 1988, Alain provides legal advice, drafts contracts and litigates in intellectual property, technology and media law matters. From 2001 to 2014, he was of Counsel with a U.S. leading firm, Covington & Burling LLP. During his years at Covington, he closely followed the European legal developments in IP/IT law and advised several major clients in the tech and software industry on law reforms throughout Europe. Prior to Covington, Alain worked as counsel in the IP department of NautaDutilh (1996-2001). As sole practitioner (2014-2020), he focused on legal advice and worked jointly with other law firms for litigation matters. In 2020, he joined Pierstone Brussels as Senior Partner. His practice focuses on digital copyright and tech law. Academic experience: Alain is professor at UCLouvain and at University Saint-Louis – Brussels, where he teaches several courses in intellectual property, tech and media law. He also gives courses in two advanced masters in IP and IT law at the KULeuven and at the Munich IP Law Center. Since the 1990s, he has conducted several studies for the European institutions in the field of intellectual property and the digital economy. He is an arbiter for the domain names dispute resolution system run by the WIPO and the CEPANI. He has been appointed as a trustee of the European Law Academy (ERA, Trier, 2012-2019) and was elected to the Academia Europaea in 2012. Since 2019, he chairs the Intellectual Property working group of All European Academies (ALLEA) to which he contributed since 2012. Today his research focuses on the regulation and governance of data, artificial intelligence and online platforms. Education: Alain graduated in law, economics and philosophy at the UCLouvain and the University of Amsterdam. He holds a PhD in Law from UCLouvain. Publications: He has authored more than 250 articles and a few books including : Droit des médias et de la communication (with F. Jongen & E. Cruysmans, Larcier, 2017, 896 p.) ;Quand Google défie le droit (De Boeck-Larcier, 2011, 238 p.) ;Droit d’auteur et copyright, Convergences et divergences (Bruylant and L.G.D.J., 1993). He has directed several collections of essays including: Des voitures autonomes à l’intelligence artificielle. Entre droit, politique et éthique (with C. Lazaro), 2020, 258 p ;Les droits intellectuels, entre autres droits. Intersections, interactions et interrogations (with Cabay), Larcier, 2019, 304 p. ;Net Neutrality in Europe – La neutralité de l’Internet en Europe, Bruylant, 2013, 178 p.;Peer-to-Peer File Sharing and Secondary Liability in Copyright Law, Edward Elgar, 2009;Of Authors and Origins (with B. Sherman), Cambridge UP, 1991.

Chris Van Olmen is co-founder of the law firm Van Olmen & Wynant and head of the employment law practice. He is also co-founder and managing partner of L&E Global, an integrated alliance of premier employment law boutique firms. Chris covers all aspects of employment and industrial relations, including employment-related issues connected to reorganisation and restructuring processes, collective dismissals and closures and individual and collective employment disputes, including litigation for the Belgian Labour Courts. His clients include national and international companies and top executives. Chris is a reguar speaker or moderator at national and international seminars and conferences. His recent publications include: "International Labour and Employment Compliance Handbook" (Wolters Kluwer 2023);  the Belgian Chapter in "Employment Law Review” (Law Business Research 2023);  “The On Demand Economy”, Report of the IBA Global Employment Institute, 2019;  "Le lien de subordination à l’épreuve de l’ubérisation de l’économie ?", Wolters Kluwer / Chr. D.S. – Soc. Kron., 2016, 07. Chris is listed as a leading individual in The Legal 500 (2023), in Chambers Europe (2023) and named as "Employment Lawyer of the Year, Belgium" in Best Lawyers (2023). The Legal 500 includes Chris in its “Hall of Fame” (2023). Who's Who Legal mentions Chris as one of the 3 "Global Elite Thought Leader" of Belgium in their WWL Thought Leaders Labour & Employment (2023). Since 1999 he has been lecturing on social law in the traineeship programme organised by the Brussels Bar. He also served as a member of the Brussels Bar Council and is Board Member of the “Association for Social Law”. Chris Van Olmen is past Chair of the Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee and past Chair of the Global Employment Institute of the IBA (International Bar Association). He currently is a member of the Advisory Board of the IBA GEI.  Chris is also a member of EELA (European Employment Lawyers Association) and of the American Bar Association (Labour and Employment Law Section).

Dirk HUYGENS (°1967) is a sworn Belgian lawyer, registered at the Antwerp bar, and founding partner of the Antwerp based business law firm CORBUS. Dirk mainly works in national and international business law, focusing on corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, restructuring and insolvency. He is also active in IP/ICT law. As certified mediator in civil and commercial matters and member of VOBA (www.voba.be) and the Brussels-based mediation centre b-Mediation, Dirk has acquired considerable experience as a commercial mediator. Dirk is regularly appointed as arbitrator in national and international arbitration cases, and he is a member of Cepina and arbitrator at the Arbitration Institute (www.euro-arbitration.org).

Specialized in personal injury, traffic law, occupational accidents, medical liability law, civil liability law and insurance.

KEGELS & Co - Advocaten is a Belgian law firm near by the port of Antwerp with decades of experience in commercial law and more specific in the niche of international trade, maritime and transport law. The practice areas of the office include (not limited) maritime law, transport law, (international) commercial law, customs law and banking and insurance law. Our lawyers write and speak Dutch, French, English and German. Our lawyers are members of several international organizations such as the International Bar Association (IBA), the Comité Maritime International (CMI) and the International Association of the Rhine Ships register (IVR). Younger members of the office are member of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) and the Young CMI.