Brussels

Our European clients use our Brussels office as a gateway into the United States to access Foley’s extensive array of legal services. Foley attorneys based in Brussels, or who work in the office on a regular basis, are readily available for consultations on a wide variety of U.S. legal matters ranging from business, regulatory, litigation, intellectual property, and antitrust law, among others. Whether our European clients need assistance with preparation of contracts, patent applications, or negotiations, our Brussels office provides these legal services effectively and efficiently. We have extensive experience coordinating business and intellectual property litigation as well as assisting with mergers and acquisitions in the United States and Europe for a broad range of companies in a variety of industries, including food and beverage, life sciences, nanotechnology, and mechanical and electromechanical.

Our Brussels office provides assistance with numerous issues concerning European Union (EU) law and the European Economic Area Agreement (EEAA). We carefully monitor legal developments, including the European case law, in the areas of intellectual property, international trade, antitrust, regulatory, internal market, information society, environmental, social, and health care law — interpreting these developments from the European perspective, including competition matters and regulatory and trade law work.

In addition, we offer comprehensive legal services on national business law issues to U.S. companies based in Europe. Specifically, our EU regulatory law work concentrates on the process by which EU policies and legislation are developed and enacted and their implementation at the national level. We also advise on a full range of trade law issues affecting the free movement of goods and services within, out of, and into the international market, including numerous customs matters (from import and export duties to preferential treatment and tariff suspension, including binding tariff information (BTI) as well as the remission or recovery of duties, and trade defense measures like anti-dumping, countervailing duty, and trade barriers regulation (TBR) actions.

With particular strength in the fields of European antitrust, trade, product licensing, data privacy, internal market issues, and the environment (including REACH), our Brussels office advises clients on the impact of existing and forthcoming European law on their existing and proposed business activities. Additionally, Foley attorneys assist clients in the negotiations with and hearings before institutions such as the European Commission, European Parliament, and national competition authorities. Foley attorneys also represent clients in litigations before the General Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union, the EFTA Court, and national courts. Our contacts with various European institutions are ongoing, and we proactively track initiatives and activities of the European Union that may affect your interests. We understand that up-to-date and accurate information is essential to helping you anticipate and successfully manage the likely impact of proposed developments on your businesses.