New Partners

Lawfort, the third largest law firm in Belgium, is expanding its team of experts with the arrival of Frank Burssens, a lawyer specialising in construction, real estate and commercial law, and Michel Maus, a professor and lawyer specialising in tax law. Both will operate from Ghent, in cooperation with the existing Lawfort team; the Ghent office will now be able to handle the majority of business legal issues.

Frank Burssens (39) joins Lawfort as partner. He is renowned for his experience in the field of construction, real estate and commercial law.

Frank Burssens obtained a law degree from the University of Ghent and an LL.M (International Business Law) from the School of Commerce, Queen Mary and Westfield College (University of London). His arrival is a significant boost for the existing real estate and environmental law team of François de Montpellier (Brussels), Ciska Servais (Antwerp). This team has been very recently nominated for the Real Estate sector at the 2006 Belgian Legal Awards. With Frank Burssens the Real Estate team will be able to deal with all legal aspects relevant to the sector, including real estate transactions, environment and town planning issues, and constructions matters. In addition to Lawfort clients, Frank Burssens will continue to serve his existing clients.

Michel Maus (35) will soon be joining Lawfort as well. He will take up the position of Counsel in Lawfort’s Ghent office. Michel Maus is an authority in the field of tax law specially in tax litigation matters and will strengthen the tax team of Ignaas Behaeghe. Michel Maus is a part-time professor at the tax law department of the University of Brussels (VUB). He obtained his law doctorate in March 2005. He is the author of several publications in his field, including his latest book “De fiscale controle”, published by Die Keure.

Regarding the recent appointments, Marc Vandemeulebroeke, Managing
Partner of Lawfort, said:

“ We are very pleased that we can strengthen our expertise in construction law thanks to the arrival of Frank Burssens. We now definitely belong to the top 3 in the real estate sector for legal matters. Following the recent appointment of Ignaas Behaeghe, we will also be strengthening our tax expertise with the arrival of Michel Maus. The arrival of those both excellent lawyers also means a significant expansion of our Ghent office.”

About Lawfort

“ Lawfort is a leading independent law firm, and figures among the top 3 law firms in Belgium. Lawfort comprises 115 lawyers distributed between 4 sites: Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent and Prague; furthermore, the firm has a correspondent firm in Liège (the law firm Henry & Mersch) as well as an alliance with the Turkish firm Pekin & Bayar. The lawyers at Lawfort offer the legal advice and legal proceedings services required by any modern company, with specialists in all domains of company law. They provide assistance for a national and international client base. Lawfort’s strategy is characterised by its solution-based, project-oriented and proactive approach, giving the client a central role. In 2004, Lawfort was awarded the “Trends Gazelle” prize for its strong growth. For more information, call (+32) (0)2 710 7811, send an e-mail to info@lawfort.be or go to the www.lawfort.be website.”

Contact / Information:

Marc Vandemeulebroeke, Managing Partner (Brussels)

Tel. : 32 - 2 – 710 78 19

E-mail : marc.vandemeulebroeke@lawfort.be

Katrin De Saedeleir, Partner (Ghent)

Tel. : 32 - 9 – 268 81 14

E-mail : katrin.de.saedeleir@lawfort.be

Lawfort