CONCILIATEURS

Our conciliators are appointed for renewable terms of 3 years. They are independent and all have expertise in consumer litigation. Requests for conciliation are assigned to the conciliators according to their working languages, their availability and according to a rotation system. The conciliator systematically declares his or her competence, independence and impartiality before accepting a case.

LAURIE CAUCHETEUX

Laurie Caucheteux graduated from the Catholic University of Louvain in 2009 with great distinction. She developed substantial knowledge of intellectual property law and European competition law by successfully completing a complementary bilingual master's degree (French/English) at the University of Liège and then going through an internship at the European Commission within Directorate General Competition.

Since 2011, Laurie is member of the Brussels Bar. Her daily practice covers commercial law, market practices, consumer and intellectual property law. In addition to her qualifications as a lawyer, Laurie has completed several training programs in mediation and conciliation, recognized by the OBFG (Order of French-speaking & German-speaking Bar Associations).

Laurie is convinced that amicable dispute resolution processes are cost efficient and lead to longer term solutions. Therefore she focuses the parties on their interests and facilitates the research for multual acceptable solutions.

STEVE GRIESS

Steve Griess has been a lawyer at the Brussels Bar since 2006. He holds a law degree from ULB (Brussels) in 2005 and a degree in European law from the European Studies Institute in 2006, and graduated with first class Honours both times. Steve has worked in several major law firms based in Brussels, as a member and then as the head of their litigation/arbitration department. He is currently at the head of a law partnership specialising in dispute prevention and settlement.

His practice focuses on negotiation, on the one hand, and commercial and private law litigation, on the other. Steve is regularly involved in proceedings involving alternative conflict resolution methods, such as arbitration, mediation and conciliation. Steve has also been working as junior lecturer in charge of practical work at the Free University of Brussels (ULB) since 2007.

SEBASTIAAN HOLSLAG

Sebastiaan Holslag practises civil law, commercial law and alternative conflict resolution methods. Sebastiaan obtained his law degree at the Catholic University of Leuven (KUL) and joined the Bar in 2012. His experience includes litigation before law courts and arbitration, counselling and drafting of contracts, both in national and international contexts.

Sebastiaan is the author of several publications about arbitration and mediation law (especially in the Young Arbitration Review).

FRÉDÉRIQUE MATHY

Frédérique Mathy is the holder of a law degree obtained at the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) and has been a lawyer at the Brussels Bar since 1998. She practises civil law (family law, civil liability, rent and lease law, neighbourhood disturbances, building law, etc.), commercial law (bankruptcy law and companies in difficulty) and consumer law.

In 2013, persuaded that mediation is the conflict resolution method of the future, she has been training in family, civil and commercial and social mediation. She has been accredited in these four areas by the Federal Mediation Commission since 2016. Trained in the various communication skills, she helps the parties in conflict to resume dialogue and reach a peaceful and lasting solution by themselves. Since 1 October 2016, she has also been working within the Ombudsman’s Department set up by the French-speaking and German-speaking Bar Associations.

GUDRUN VAN CALBERGH

For 20 years, Gudrun Van Calbergh has been a lawyer at the Brussels Bar (NL). As a lawyer, Gudrun has acquired a wealth of experience before the courts and tribunals. Drawing strength from this experience, she considers that alternative dispute resolution methods (ADR/ODR) may represent a valid alternative making it possible for the parties to resolve their differences without being faced with the costs, duration, worries and frustration to which legal proceedings may give rise. Gudrun is attending mediation training at the Universities of Antwerp and Ghent (CBR/Gandius). As soon as training is completed (June 2017), Gudrun will register with the Federal Mediation Commission. Gudrun obtained her Master’s degree in Law (LLM) at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. She works in Dutch, in French as well as in English and has a very good knowledge of German.

MARC VAN GRIMBERGEN

Marc Van Grimbergen is a lawyer at the Brussels Bar. In recent years, he has acquired sound experience in the field of ethical legislation and rules regarding information and promotion in relation with medicines and medical devices. Before that, he worked for several years in the field of tax law.

In practice, M. Van Grimbergen always endeavours to give every chance of success to out-of-court schemes for settling disputes. And with good reason: when a solution is found that has the support of all the parties involved rather than a solution imposed by a third party, everyone comes out a winner. Since 2012, he has been an accredited mediator for civil and commercial mediation.