Our people

I launched a Luxembourg desk for a US firm out of their Brussels office and later joined an investment firm as senior legal counsel, until I was approached by Clifford Chance to return after leaving some years before. I accepted the challenge and was quickly promoted to become one of the youngest partners in the firm at 31.

I am Belgian by origin but now have double Belgian and Luxembourgish nationality.

I speak Dutch (well Flemish, not Hollands) with my family – as well as with some members of the team. Mostly French and English in the office, with a little bit of Luxembourgish and understanding of German. I used to speak Italian too, but a lack of using it has brought my level down to touristy.

Why I joined

I joined because of the pace. I had the opportunity to first experience the firm as a summer intern for two months. I immediately enjoyed the fast-paced environment, where great minds come together to find a pragmatic solution to any issue, typically on a contracted timetable. While there is no denial that it is a challenging environment, it is very rewarding too, pushing every individual upwards to perform to the best of their abilities.

As a side note, the pace of the job is part of my fondness for speed outside of the job.

What keeps me engaged

There are not many places where you can find the same mix of talented people, all striving to deliver their best, as a team, day-in, day-out. So why change? Also, the firm encourages an entrepreneurial spirit, which you can witness constantly being tapped into in new regions and areas, new technologies being utilised and new ideas being brought to life. We are continuously in a mode of development, so it never gets boring.

What makes Clifford Chance different

The collaborative culture. I did experience the intense US law firm culture earlier in my career, but was never able to come to peace with it. It is just not the model that brings the best out of people and certainly not the model that most benefits clients.

At Clifford Chance, it is all about collaborating, bringing together the best team of partners and associates to deal with any situation. The enthusiasm shown by colleagues is truly inspiring and often a convincing reason for clients to engage us.