Jean-Pierre, Baron de Bandt (born Antwerp, 23 January 1934) is a Belgian lawyer and former President of the Coudenberg group, a Belgian federalist think tank.
Jean-Pierre, Baron de Bandt (born Antwerp, 23 January 1934) is a Belgian lawyer and former President of the Coudenberg group, a Belgian federalist think tank.
From 1951 until 1953, he studied at the Facultés universitaires Notre-Dame de la Paix (FUNDP) after which he graduated as:
He started his career in 1961 as a member of the Antwerp Bar (1956) then joined the American law firm Frank Boas Law Office in 1961 in Brussels, to become a partner in 1966.
He was also a lecturer at the Hoger Instituut voor Bestuurswetenschappen (University of Antwerp) (1962 - 1972).
He started his own law firm "De Bandt Dilley" on 1 July 1969 with Charles Dilley and two collaborators. Ivo Van Bael and Walter Van Gerven became partners. On 1 January Jean-Pierre Lagae also became a named partner, making the law firm's name "De Bandt, Lagae & Van Bael". Through a merger with the law firm of Georges van Hecke, which included a.o. Jean-Marie Nelissen-Grade, the firm grew and the name changed to "De Bandt, van Hecke, Lagae & Van Bael". Around 1992 Ivo Van Bael and Jean François Bellis left the partnership, thus reducing the name of the law firm. [1]
For 20 years he was Chairman and Managing Partner of what became "De Bandt, van Hecke & Lagae". It was the first law firm in Belgium organized along the structure and lines of law partnerships in the United States and Great-Britain (partnership, full integration of revenues, clients are linked to the partnership not to a single partner, special status of associates moving to partnership, etc.). It was also one of the first to have lawyers that were not accredited in Belgium (in particular Japanese) joining and to have the day-to-day management of the office run by someone who was not an attorney. [2]
The firm collaborated with other firms abroad. Starting on 1 January 1990 this was formalised in "The Alliance of European Lawyers" as a European Economic Interest Grouping, [3] with a.o. an integrated office in Brussels ("Brussels Combined Office"). [4]
The firm merged in 1999 with the Luxemburg firm Loesch & Wolter to become De Bandt, van Hecke, Lagae & Loesch.
Since 1996 "The Alliance of European Lawyers" was looking to fit into the evolving market of internationally active law firms. On 22 July 1998 a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between 4 members of "The Alliance of European Lawyers" (incl. "De Bandt, van Hecke & Lagae") and the London city firm "Linklaters & Paines". After an expedited integration, and one Alliance Partner (De Brauw in the Netherlands) and some partners of De Bandt, van Hecke, Lagae leaving, on 1 January 2001 "De Bandt, van Hecke, Lagae & Loesch" merged into "Linklaters De Bandt". De Bandt became senior counsel of the merged firm, Jean-Pierre Blumberg its managing partner. [5]
At the time of the merger with Linklaters, De Bandt, van Hecke & Lagae was the largest firm of solicitors ("avocats-advocaten") in Belgium, with more than 200 full-time lawyers.
After having reached the age cap (for partners of Linklaters) he left the partnership and practices law as an independent lawyer.
Pierre de Bandt focuses on Belgian and European regulatory law (e.g. competition, free movement and regulated sectors) and Belgian commercial law. He is a member of the bar of Brussels. [6]
De Bandt was director of several commercial companies and was chairman of the Board of Wang Europe SA, Robert Bosch Belgium SA, Océ interservices SA, Telenorma SA, Guylian NV, Alcopa NV.
He was the founder and chairman of a large civic society "The Coudenberg Group" and the "Interuniversity Center for the study of Federalism" (1984-1998), both centered on the institutional future of Belgium.
He was chairman of two foundations at the University of Namur:
Further he was:
He is a director of the Poelaert Foundation which aims at promoting a full renovation of the Palace of Justice in Brussels, called Poelaert by the name of its architect, which at the time of its inauguration (1886) was considered as the largest building in the world and is one of the architectural masterpieces of the late 19th century.
In addition to many legal articles on business law and constitutional law, he published a series of books:
Princess Lilian of Belgium, Princess of Réthy was the second wife of King Leopold III of Belgium. Born in the United Kingdom and raised in Belgium, she became a volunteer as a car driver that transported wounded Belgian and French to the hospital in Bruges during World War II. Lilian married King Leopold III in 1941 and became consort of the Belgian monarch. The couple produced three children. She was also a stepmother to Leopold III's children from Queen Astrid and became the "first lady" of Belgium during the first nine years of her stepson King Baudouin's reign. Her charity work revolved around medicine and cardiology.
The Université libre de Bruxelles is a French-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. ULB is one of the two institutions, which trace their origins to the Free University of Brussels, founded in 1834 by Belgian lawyer Pierre-Théodore Verhaegen.
Linklaters LLP is a multinational law firm, headquartered in London, England. Founded in 1838, it is a member of the "Magic Circle" of elite London-headquartered law firms. It currently employs over 2,800 lawyers across 30 offices in 20 countries.
The University of Antwerp is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is UA, but UAntwerpen is more recently used. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third largest university in Flanders. The University of Antwerp is characterised by its high standards in education, internationally competitive research and entrepreneurial approach. It was founded in 2003 after the merger of three smaller universities.
Brother Dr. René P. E. Stockman, F.C. is the Superior General of the Congregation of the Brothers of Charity since 2000. He is a Belgian specialist in psychiatric caregiving.
Matthias Edward Storme is a Belgian lawyer, academic and conservative philosopher.
The Cercle de Lorraine or Club van Lotharingen is a Belgian business club, located in Brussels, Belgium. The club was founded in 1998, and it wants to bring together, distinguished and representative personalities from the Belgian financial community, French speaking as well as Dutch speaking, who are united within an honorary committee.
Axel Miller is a Belgian businessman. From January 2006 to September 2008, he was chief executive officer and chairman of the Management Board of Dexia S.A. Since 2009, he is partner of Petercam, a Belgian financial group, active in private banking, institutional asset management and corporate finance.
Charles, Count Woeste, was a Belgian Roman Catholic politician of German descent.
The Coudenberg group was a Belgian federalist think-tank, it was named after the place where the members met, the Coudenberg, one of the seven hillocks on which the centre of Brussels has been built. President of the organization was the lawyer Jean-Pierre De Bandt.
Jean–François Tielemans was a Belgian lawyer and liberal politician. He was interim governor of the province of Antwerp from 7 April 1831 until 14 June 1831 and governor of Liège Province from 4 June 1831 until 4 October 1832.
Jules Lagae was a Belgian sculptor and medallist, born in Roeselare.
The mass media in Belgium is characterized by its diversity due to the linguistic divide in the country.
The Poelaert Foundation is a Belgian association of public interest, incorporated by the Bar of Brussels. The Foundation bears the name of the architect Joseph Poelaert.
Rudy Aernoudt is a Belgian professor, writer, politician, economist and philosopher, born in Torhout. He was many times Chief of staff of the Ministers of economy and innovation both in Flanders and in Wallonia, of the Belgian Minister of economics and scientific policy and of the President of the European Economic and Social Committee, Henri Malosse. He is the only person to serve as Head of Cabinet at the European, Belgian, Walloon and Flemish levels. He is professor of corporate finance at the Universities of Ghent and Nancy.
Walter, Baron Van Gerven was a Belgian lawyer and law professor. He served as Advocate General on the European Court of Justice between 1988 and 1994. He was professor of European law at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
Jan Vanriet, real name Jan Louis Lucien Vanriet, is a Belgian (Flemish) painter and poet.
Events in the year 1891 in Belgium.
Josse-Émile van Dievoet was a Flemish politician and lawyer. He served as Belgian Minister of Justice.
In 2019, the top 50 Dutch law firms had around 4,476 attorneys and the top 30 law firms had around 183 notaries and 527 candidate notaries. According to the Chambers and Partners legal directory, the top five law firms in the Netherlands are Allen & Overy Netherlands, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Houthoff, Loyens & Loeff and Stibbe. Every year advocatie.nl publishes a list of the 50 biggest law firms in headcount.