Areas of expertise

Energy law

moov.law has developed a real expertise in the energy industry. 

Our services in the field of energy law are particularly focused on the support of renewable energy projects. We assist numerous clients active in Belgium and throughout the world in wind power, photovoltaic, hydroelectric and biomass sectors, etc. We advise on all relevant issues, such as development agreements or shareholder agreements, land rights, PPAs, EPC contracts, financing, etc.

Network issues, particularly within the European Union, are well covered by our firm.

Some clients are also active in the carbon offset market. 

We support our clients at the heart of their operations and teams. As such, several members of the firm are frequently seconded to long-term clients, in order to guarantee them a high level of availability and optimal service on a daily basis. 

We are aware that the energy industry will continue to develop to meet the growing needs of our society. We actively follow technical and legislative developments and attach particular importance to the constant development of our expertise in this field. These developments bring with them a series of technical and legal challenges that we follow closely in order to advise our clients effectively.

Business law

moov.law is active in the field of business/commercial law and aims to offer a service tailored to companies and the self-employed by providing a legal framework adapted to each specific situation. We assist the client in the drafting of contractual documents (general conditions, contracts with suppliers, clients, consumers, employees, etc.), as well as in the execution of these documents (interpretation and application of contractual clauses, compliance with legal and conventional obligations, preservation, and execution of the client’s rights, etc.).

We assist clients in all their projects and at every stage of the project, both in contractual negotiations and in the conclusion and execution of contracts. We also assist the client in disputes with the various parties involved (breach of contract by the co-contractor, recovery of unpaid bills, etc. – see the “litigation” tab).

We are fully conversant with all the specific legislation in this area, especially the most complex ones, such as those relating to commercial agency. Aspects of commercial life and/or the relationship between companies and consumers are subject to European regulations transposed into Belgian law, most of which are mandatory. It is therefore essential to receive adequate legal advice beforehand to avoid situations that may prove particularly disabling for your company. We have all the legal expertise to assist and advise you in a pragmatic way by offering you a tailor-made service.

Corporate law

Our team has extensive expertise and experience in matters relevant to the life of companies, including:

• Assisting shareholders in their relations with each other or with the company (e.g. drafting and negotiating shareholders’ agreements, managing equity funding, mergers or acquisitions of companies);
• Supporting managers in their management, whether for pure corporate management issues (life of the corporate bodies, competences, terms and conditions, UBOs, publications, etc.) or more strategic issues (financing of the company, contracts with partners, etc.).

Our DNA makes us the ‘go to’ partner of choice for operations involving SMEs, but we also participate in international operations in collaboration with other firms.

Insolvency

Insolvency law is constantly evolving, as legislation must adapt to practice (the legislative developments related to the sanitary crisis are the best example). The subject matter is enshrined in Book XX of the Belgian Code of Economic Law, titled “insolvabilité des entreprises“, which came into force on 1 May 2018. Pragmatism is omnipresent in the practice of this matter.

You have certainly already heard of judicial reorganisation procedures (“PRJ”) and bankruptcies, but are you aware of the usefulness and consequences of such so-called insolvency procedures? 

The first pillar of insolvency law is the PRJ, and its purpose is to try to preserve companies (entreprises) whose continuity is threatened. There are three types of PRJ:

• By mutual agreement (accord amiable);
• By collective agreement (accord collectif);
• By transfer of business (transfert d’entreprise). 

However, when a company is no longer able to pay its debts and is in a state of suspension of payments, this can lead to the second pillar of insolvency law: bankruptcy, or the “death” of the legal person. 

Other mechanisms are also linked to or form an integral part of insolvency law: corporate mediation (médiation d’entreprise), provisional administration (administration provisoire), judicial or voluntary dissolution or liquidation, etc.

All of the above mechanisms have their own particularities. They can be applied separately or in a complementary manner, depending on the specific case. It is up to the insolvency law specialist to find the appropriate mechanism(s) to achieve the objectives set by the company (preservation of the profitable business or branch of activity, liquidation of assets, bankruptcy of the company, negotiation with certain creditors, etc.). 

In-depth expertise in this area is essential to enable us to assist our clients whose continuity is threatened and to enable them to take creative and appropriate decisions to preserve the continuity of their business and/or to ensure the protection of their personal interests.

Of course, we also advise other stakeholders of the company (i.e. creditors, shareholders, directors, etc.), whose interests may be strongly affected by insolvency proceedings.

A member of the firm is also registered on the list of curators of the French-speaking Enterprise Court of Brussels and is frequently appointed to manage bankruptcy operations.

1 « Entreprise » au sens du Code de droit économique, c’est-à-dire tout personne physique qui exerce une activité professionnelle à titre indépendant, toute personne morale (société, ASBL ou fondation), ou tout autre organisation sans personnalité juridique (ex : une société de droit commun).

Employment law

Our team assists private sector companies and employees in all aspects of employment and social security law.
moov.law assists its clients in particular by answering daily legal questions (remuneration, working hours, dismissal, etc.) and by drafting documents necessary for the good HR management of companies (employment contracts, work regulations, special clauses, internal policies, etc.).
moov.law advises its clients in case of employer/employee conflicts and also assists self-employed workers. In conflict situations, the emphasis is placed on attempts to settle the dispute amicably through negotiation. If these attempts are unsuccessful, moov.law manages the conflict in the first line, from the formal notice to the end of the legal proceedings.
Our team is particularly attentive to recent legislative and jurisprudential developments in order to adequately advise its clients in this area, which closely follows societal changes (telecommuting, flexibility, burn-out, right to disconnect, non-discrimination, etc.).
moov.law’s expertise in labor law is also closely linked to its experience in corporate law; this approach allows for a holistic accompaniment that goes beyond the classical divisions.

Insurance and liability law

We advise both companies and individuals in matters related to insurance and liability law.

We have specific expertise in cases relating to insurance (application and interpretation of policies, nullity, fraud, etc.), civil liability (contractual disputes, professional liability, construction law, etc.), road traffic law and personal injury. We also advise and assist our clients in criminal proceedings (traffic offences, assault and battery, fraud, etc.).

Legal defense is at the heart of our practice. We have a thorough knowledge of the courts, their actors and their jurisprudence.

We make sure that we are constantly informed of legislative, regulatory and jurisprudential changes that may impact the practice.

IP/IT

It is important to value and protect your intellectual property rights. These rights exist to help you recover the fruits of your research and development efforts or to exploit your creations. 

We specialise in these matters and try in our own way to make the law evolve on these issues which we are passionate about. Our IP/IT specialist has pursued an LLM in these matters, is a member of the Intellectual Property Association and contributes to research on these issues by publishing detailed reports on intellectual property issues each year with other experts. These reports contribute to a better understanding of IP issues and help to improve legislation, both at Belgian and international level. 

We also assist our clients in the management of their trademark portfolio and in the fight against counterfeiting. We also draft for them all types of useful agreements involved in the management of Intellectual Property rights (assignment agreement, licences, collaboration agreement, etc.). 

Data Protection

Your data is money in the bank for your business – help us protect it and you.

Our team has in-depth, accurate and pragmatic knowledge of data protection compliance in a number of key sectors, such as the insurance, medical and general commercial sectors. 

We have assisted a number of clients in their compliance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). We also assist our clients in the valuation and management of their data and in their direct marketing issues.  We also have privileged links with data regulators and professional associations in the health, advertising and marketing sectors, with whom we are in regular contact.

Our data protection expert also holds an additional Master’s degree in data protection and intellectual property rights from the KULeuven. She has had the opportunity to assist our clients on several occasions such as: 

• Assisting several insurance groups to comply with the GDPR rules 
• Drafting privacy policies and policies on the use of cookies for (i) e-commerce companies, (ii) companies active in the insurance sector, (iii) photo contest platforms, (iv) etc;
• Assisting companies in responding to requests from data subjects exercising their rights;
• Assisting clients in notifying data breaches to data subjects and to the Data Protection Authority;
• Assisting with specific data protection issues;
• Organising internal seminars for companies to raise awareness of data protection issues;

Based on our experience, our firm has developed a unique process to assist our clients in ensuring compliance with data protection rules and best practices. This process of support and compliance is generally divided into 5 steps:

1. Initial audit of the measures in place and the personal data processing carried out by the client;
2. Detailed list of activities and processing carried out + impact on data protection and establishment of a register identifying all processing carried out and their purposes and basis;
3. Gap analysis: analysis that details all the measures to be implemented to ensure compliance with the GDPR and advice on best practices to be implemented + advice on security;
4. Drafting of legal documents useful to ensure compliance and necessary to support evidence of compliance with data protection rules and best practices;
5. Reviewing and drafting where necessary all company contractual documents with data protection implications.

Start-ups

Our firm has also developed expertise in the legal and contractual issues that start-ups inevitably encounter during the creation phase and during their development (intellectual property, legal form, drafting of articles of association, relations between founders and shareholders, equity raising, etc.). We are regularly called upon to provide training and legal advice to Brussels-based business incubators.

We ensure that we immediately offer a sound legal framework, which will undoubtedly allow them to secure their development, reassure their stakeholders, and facilitate the search for new equity partners.

Fully aware of the financial constraints linked to these new structures and when the context justifies it, moov.law offers assistance at a perfectly controlled cost, by delaying and, if necessary, conditioning the payment of part of its fees on the achievement of an event (equity raising, subsidy, etc.). – For more information on this subject, see the tab “Our formulas > start-up program”).

Litigation

Regularly involved in litigations and dispute cases, our firm assists you whether in the context of an amicable negotiation, mediation, arbitration, expert appraisal, or legal proceedings. 

We are familiar with the provisions of the legal code (code judiciaire) and will be perfectly able to assist you so that your case finds the most favourable outcome.