Fields of expertise
The partners of De Meulemeester & De Brabandere have served as arbitrators in disputes on diverse fields of law, i.a. Mergers & Acquisitions, Contract law, Aviation law, Construction law, Financial law, Insurance law, Distribution law, Energy, Oil & Gas, Agency law, Entertainment sector Royalties, European law. They have previously defended cases as counsel in investment law in application of Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty.
International Commercial Arbitration
The Partners of De Meulemeester & De Brabandere dealt with a high number of commercial arbitration in a very broad range of fields. The Partners served both as arbitrators and as counsel in international commercial disputes, allowing them to have a wide perspective of the conduct of the proceedings and of the appropriate legal strategies.
Dirk De Meulemeester and Eric Brabandere have worked in institutional and ad hoc arbitration proceedings, under the major rules of commercial arbitration and the major institutions. The Partners have conducted arbitration proceedings under applicable laws from a wide range of countries, and in different languages. This experience offered them a comprehensive understanding of the field of international commercial arbitration.
International Investment Arbitration
The practice of De Meulemeester & De Brabandere focuses on serving as arbitrator. DMDB has previously acted as counsel in international investment arbitrations under the ICSID Convention and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, in investor-State disputes involving European, African and Middle-Eastern States.
Both partners are familiar with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), its staff, case-managers and Rules. Moreover, Dirk De Meulemeester, as Honorary President of the Belgian Centre for Arbitration is familiar with all major institutions around the world.
Negotiations
De Meulemeester & De Brabandere is aware of the business reality its clients daily deal with, and thus knows that arbitration is not always in the interests of clients. Hence, De Meulemeester & De Brabandere offers its services to negotiate on behalf of its clients. The partners are familiar with carrying out negotiations and have acquired through time the necessary qualities and skills to perform successful negotiations, such as patience, discretion and attention to the clients’ expectations and needs in terms i.a. of consequences for future relationship with the opposite party or third parties.
The partner Dirk De Meulemeester is expert in this field on a practical point of view, but also on the theoretical level. He has been teaching a course on negotiations and mediation for several years at the University of Ghent and Leiden University.