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Paul Alain Foriers

Paul-Alain Foriers is a lawyer at the Supreme Court and, since September 1, 2024, Dean of its Bar. He combines an active practice of litigation and of advisory work. He handles complex disputes in civil, commercial, corporate and financial laws, before all jurisdictions. He provides advice on complex questions of civil law. Paul-Alain Foriers was one of the four experts appointed by the Minister of Justice to work on the reform of the Companies Code, which entered into force in May 2019. Today he is an ordinary professor emeritus at the Université Libre de Bruxelles where he taught until 2017, in particular the law of contracts and obligations and until September 2022 the in-depth company law course. Since 2021, he is co-chairman of the commission charged by the Minister of Justice with the reform of special contracts (book 7 of the (new) Civil Code). Paul-Alain is the author of numerous contributions and publications in the fields of contracts, company law and financial law (takeover bids, market abuses, shareholding transparency, etc.). He is the author of a thesis: « La caducité des obligations contractuelles par disparition d’un élément essentiel à leur formation » (Bruylant, 1998). He is a regular speaker at leading law seminars in Belgium and a member of the editing committee of the “Revue Critique de Jurisprudence Belge” and of the “Répertoire Pratique de Droit Belge”. He is ranked as a Senior Statesman in Dispute Resolution by Chambers & Partners, where sources praise him as a “clever, top-level lawyer”. He is also considered a Global Leader in Corporate Governance in Who’s Who Legal. Finally, Paul-Alain is recommended as a Key Lawyer in Corporate M&A and Dispute Resolution by The Legal 500. Paul-Alain Foriers was the Dean of the Law Faculty of the Univeristé Libre de Bruxelles from 2004 to 2009 and held the “Francqui Chair” of the Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven (KUL) in 2004-2005. · Simont Braun

BelgiumLitigation, Corporate / M&AFrench, English

About

Belgian lawyer practising litigation and advisory work across civil, commercial, corporate and financial law. Professor emeritus at Université Libre de Bruxelles, he has played a leading role in company- and contract-law reform and chairs the commission on reform of special contracts (since 2021).

Practice areas

LitigationCorporate / M&ABanking & FinanceCivilContracts

Office

Belgium

Simont Braun · Paul-Alain Foriers is a lawyer at the Supreme Court and, since September 1, 2024, Dean of its Bar. He combines an active practice of litigation and of advisory work. He handles complex disputes in civil, commercial, corporate and financial laws, before all jurisdictions. He provides advice on complex questions of civil law. Paul-Alain Foriers was one of the four experts appointed by the Minister of Justice to work on the reform of the Companies Code, which entered into force in May 2019. Today he is an ordinary professor emeritus at the Université Libre de Bruxelles where he taught until 2017, in particular the law of contracts and obligations and until September 2022 the in-depth company law course. Since 2021, he is co-chairman of the commission charged by the Minister of Justice with the reform of special contracts (book 7 of the (new) Civil Code). Paul-Alain is the author of numerous contributions and publications in the fields of contracts, company law and financial law (takeover bids, market abuses, shareholding transparency, etc.). He is the author of a thesis: « La caducité des obligations contractuelles par disparition d’un élément essentiel à leur formation » (Bruylant, 1998). He is a regular speaker at leading law seminars in Belgium and a member of the editing committee of the “Revue Critique de Jurisprudence Belge” and of the “Répertoire Pratique de Droit Belge”. He is ranked as a Senior Statesman in Dispute Resolution by Chambers & Partners, where sources praise him as a “clever, top-level lawyer”. He is also considered a Global Leader in Corporate Governance in Who’s Who Legal. Finally, Paul-Alain is recommended as a Key Lawyer in Corporate M&A and Dispute Resolution by The Legal 500. Paul-Alain Foriers was the Dean of the Law Faculty of the Univeristé Libre de Bruxelles from 2004 to 2009 and held the “Francqui Chair” of the Katholieke Universiteit van Leuven (KUL) in 2004-2005.

Belgium

Expertise

Company law reformContractsCorporate GovernanceTakeover bids and M&AMarket abuse and securities regulationShareholding transparencyCivil and commercial dispute resolutionFinancial law

Education

  • Université Libre de Bruxelles — Law (1974)
  • Université Libre de Bruxelles — Economic Law (1975)
  • Université Libre de Bruxelles — Doctor of Law (1996)

Admissions

  • Lawyer at the Supreme Court (Belgium)

Languages

FrenchEnglish