One cross-border legal practice
Peeters Law
Antwerp & Brussels
BE-2000 Antwerp
+32 3 377 83 53 Peeters Law Brussels Avenue des Arts 44
BE-1040 Brussels
+32 2 884 74 74
Karen-Anne Peeters
Founder of Peeters Law. Across the fields in which the firm practises, she combines legal analysis with a nuanced sensitivity to language, culture and strategic context, approaching each matter within the broader environment in which it arises and develops.
Academic Background and Professional Appointments
- Degree in Law (“Licentiaat in de Rechten”), corresponding to the general Master's degree in Law level under the Bologna framework, Universiteit Antwerpen (2006)
- Additional university training undertaken within the programme “Master in Spanish Law for Foreign Jurists”, Universidad de Alcalá (2010)
- Graduate Degree in Commercial Sciences and Business Administration, Thomas More Hogeschool (formerly KH Mechelen) (1997)
- French–Dutch Bilingualism Certificate, Chambre de Commerce et d’Industrie de Paris (1996)
- Belgian Attorney at Law, registered with the Orde van Vlaamse Balies and the Ordre français des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles
- Member of the Deutsch-Spanische Juristenvereinigung e.V.
- Officially recognised representative of Vlamingen in de Wereld for Tenerife, recognised by the Belgian Embassy in Madrid and operating in cooperation with Belgian diplomatic and consular authorities
Professional experience
Before founding Peeters Law, she developed her professional experience within French-speaking, Spanish and British law firms. These firms continue, to this day, to form valuable bridges in cross-border matters. The experience refined her familiarity with diverse legal cultures, working methods and legal traditions, and strengthened her ability to navigate the subtleties of international legal practice across different jurisdictions and professional environments.
Fields of Expertise
The firm's fields of practice form an interconnected architecture. Each domain is treated both as a distinct discipline and as a node within a broader, cross-border legal network. Select a field to read more.
Private international law, known in the Anglo-American tradition as the conflict of laws, does not constitute a separate substantive field of law, but rather an infrastructure of coordination. It cannot, however, be regarded as a merely facilitative framework: a substantial proportion of its rules apply on a mandatory basis, leaving only a circumscribed margin for party autonomy. Its function is to bring order to situations in which several legal systems intersect and in which distinct normative layers operate simultaneously. Where divergent jurisdictions and rules converge — whether between Belgium and Spain, between Germany and Portugal, between New York and Ontario, or between any State of the Union and a Member State of the European Union — private international law provides a structure that secures legal certainty while preserving space for strategic deliberation.
The Four Cardinal QuestionsThe systematic framework of private international law is determined by four cardinal questions. The first concerns jurisdiction, namely the identification of the authority competent to decide and the scope of the powers conferred upon it. The second concerns the applicable law, that is to say the normative framework which takes precedence in the legal assessment of the facts. The third concerns the recognition and enforcement of decisions, that is the manner in which a judgment transcends the territorial boundary of its origin. The fourth concerns the interpretation of foreign law, namely the manner in which external norms are translated and embedded within the receiving legal order — extending to the deeper task of conceptual translation between legal traditions which do not share a common vocabulary, and in which apparently equivalent terms — trust and fiducie, domicile and woonplaats, property and propriété — frequently denote materially different institutions.
Private international law is more than a body of conflict rules: it is a structuring mechanism by which disputes are prevented from disintegrating into fragmentation. It operates as the invisible architecture of interlegality: a silent structure which channels tensions, orders perspectives, and renders cooperation possible within a plurality of legal systems. For the European citizen whose life and assets extend beyond a single Member State, no less than for the North-American client whose situation extends across the Atlantic, an understanding of this architecture is not a matter of academic refinement but of practical necessity.
International succession law occupies the intersection of patrimony, culture and law. Where different legal systems converge upon a single estate, its administration calls not only for a command of the formal rules of each system concerned, but also for the capacity to coordinate those systems, to optimise the fiscal outcome, and to attend to the cultural sensitivities which inevitably accompany the transmission of wealth from one generation to the next.
The handling of international estates is structured by four dimensions: the drafting and interpretation of wills and other instruments of last will, including the choice of law under Article 22 of the Succession Regulation (EU) 650/2012; the coordination of succession law with the matrimonial property regime of the spouses; the strategies developed against double taxation; and the harmonisation of the fiscal and the civil-law frameworks, having regard to the national and regional particularities which, within federal States such as Belgium, Spain and Germany, give rise to substantial variation in the rules applicable to a single estate.
The reach of international succession law extends well beyond the European Union — to Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Norway and Iceland within Europe, and beyond Europe to the United States and Canada, to the codifications of Latin America with their institution of forced heirship (la legítima), and to Islamic legal systems which combine religious prescription with national legislation. International estates are never purely legal matters. They call for an equilibrium between patrimony, family interests and legal certainty, in which legal coordination, fiscal optimisation and cultural sensitivity are inextricably bound together.
Contract law cannot be reduced to a single normative layer. Contractual relationships unfold within a stratified framework in which several dimensions intersect: a territorial dimension (the conflict-of-laws rules on applicable law and choice of forum, under Rome I and Brussels Ia, and the choice-of-law analyses of the Restatement, the Civil Code of Québec and the common-law provinces); a doctrinal dimension (party autonomy, good faith — bonne foi, Treu und Glauben, buena fe — proportionality, and the prohibition of the abuse of rights); a cultural and linguistic dimension; a corrective dimension (transparency, proportionality, consumer protection); and a European and international dimension, including the CISG.
General terms and conditions embody the pre-contractual structuring of obligations, with validity and enforceability varying appreciably between business-to-business, business-to-consumer and digital contexts — the latter increasingly subject to the Digital Services Act and Digital Markets Act, and to the developing data- and consumer-protection regimes of the United States and Canada. Commercial freedom of contract operates within legal and economic constraints; consumer contracts are systematically circumscribed by a regime of mandatory protection; and online contracts give rise to questions of algorithmic contracting, cross-border enforceability and the validity of consent.
Core concepts — good faith, reasonableness, guarantee, warranty, condition, cause, consideration — require ongoing interpretive alignment across legal cultures. The civilian notion of cause has no exact common-law counterpart; the common-law doctrine of consideration finds no precise equivalent in continental codifications. The contract, in this view, is not merely an instrument of private autonomy, but also a locus of protection, of coordination and of cultural translation.
Liability law stands at the intersection of several normative layers. It encompasses contractual and non-contractual liability alike and is increasingly shaped by cross-border dimensions. Three principal categories form the foundation of the field: contractual liability, concerning the breach of obligations arising from agreement; non-contractual liability, addressing fault, damage and causal connection (délit and quasi-délit in the civilian tradition, tort in the common-law tradition); and cross-border liability, giving rise to questions of conflict of laws addressed by Rome II, Brussels Ia and the relevant Hague Conventions. A cross-border transaction may begin in contract, end in tort, and simultaneously raise questions of applicable law and of international enforcement.
Liability is not only a legal matter but an economically charged one. Divergent methods for the calculation of damages, varying litigation costs and territorially limited insurance coverage bear materially upon the parties — the differences being particularly marked between the European tradition, reserved as to punitive damages, and the United States tradition, in which punitive damages and the class action occupy a more prominent place. The digital transformation has rendered new questions pressing: the liability of online platforms, data breaches, artificial intelligence and smart contracts.
Liability law is not a closed system but a multilayered structure in which national traditions, European harmonisation and international coordination converge. It presents itself as a dynamic field of forces: territorially anchored, materially differentiated, culturally inflected and normatively corrected.
Social security, considered in its cross-border dimension, is a domain in which the law is in constant motion. It is here that mobility and solidarity encounter one another, often in a tension that is not easily resolved. The central question abides: how is social protection to be guaranteed where persons, undertakings and economic activities move across borders?
The field may be read across five layers: the territorial delimitation of competence (within the Union, Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 and its implementing Regulation; outside it, bilateral and totalisation agreements); the classification of employment relationships (employee or self-employed, on criteria that differ markedly between systems); the structuring of activities through contractual, corporate and fiscal arrangements; enforcement and risk analysis, by which abuse and bogus self-employment are prevented; and normative correction, where economic freedoms encounter the social fundamental rights.
Cross-border social security thus presents itself as a matrix of tensions and of convergences. No uniform model exists; there are, however, nodes of agreement, including the protection against abuse, the requirement of coherence and the enduring tension between mobility and solidarity. Legal analysis in this domain must anchor territorially, distinguish materially, think structurally, monitor procedurally and correct normatively.
International family law constitutes one of the most sensitive crossroads of the legal order. It touches upon families at moments of acute vulnerability: divorce, the division of assets, disputes concerning parental responsibility, the recognition of parenthood. Once these matters cross a frontier, the self-evident character of national law dissolves.
At the foundation of the field lie the national codifications. Above these rest the European load-bearing instruments — Regulation (EU) 2019/1111 (Brussels IIb), Regulations (EU) 2016/1103 and 2016/1104, and Regulation (EC) No 4/2009 on maintenance. The multilateral pillars of the Hague Conference complete the structure, and human rights instruments form the capstone: Article 8 ECHR, the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, and Articles 7 and 24 of the Charter. Considered together, these layers do not form a seamless cathedral but a mosaic: solid where rules converge, fragile where gaps emerge.
As Alfons Heyvaert observed, the legal order becomes truly visible only in its fault lines. International family law displays these fault lines with particular clarity. The field is at once an architecture and a chessboard, in which order and dynamics coexist, and it is further challenged by ongoing social change — donor conception and surrogacy, LGBTQI+ families, climate-driven migration. What endures is its foundation: human dignity, and in particular the protection of children, as an indispensable compass within a globalised legal order.
Real property law occupies the intersection of private-law structures of ownership, administrative regulation and international coordination. Ownership, lease and rights of use are never merely legal categories; they are embedded within broader social, economic and cultural contexts. Once real property transactions or disputes cross a frontier, a layered set of rules is set in motion.
The organisation of the common parts of a building reveals with particular clarity the divergences between legal systems — from the Belgian regime of apartment ownership under Book 3 of the Civil Code, to the Spanish propiedad horizontal, to the North-American condominium and homeowners' association. A Belgian heir who inherits an apartment in Málaga is required to enter a Spanish system of management and of contributions, the rules of which differ from those familiar to him or her. Alongside full ownership, the European systems recognise a substantial range of use rights — the long lease, the building right and usufruct — while in other legal families leasehold and building-right structures are the norm rather than the exception.
Real property is inseparable from spatial planning and public-law regulation, and the recognition and enforcement of foreign notarial deeds and judicial decisions is of central practical importance. The right of property is protected by the national constitutions and, at the European level, by Article 1 of the First Protocol ECHR and Article 17 of the Charter — though that protection is not absolute. Real property law in cross-border perspective is at once an architecture and a game: its true significance lies not in the management of bricks and land alone, but in the ordering of human relationships.
Company law constitutes something of a laboratory of layered legal phenomena: the substantive layer of company forms, articles of association and internal organisation; the territorial layer of applicable law and judicial competence; and the doctrinal layer of governing principles — the freedom of establishment, the protection of creditors and shareholders, proportionality and legal certainty. The interplay of these dimensions makes of company law a field which is, in its very nature, transboundary.
The national systems form the building blocks — the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations of 2019, the Spanish Ley de Sociedades de Capital, the German Aktiengesetz and GmbH-Gesetz, the French Code de commerce, Book 2 of the Dutch Civil Code — within a European framework drawn by Directives (EU) 2017/1132 and 2019/2121 and given shape by the Court of Justice (SEVIC, Cartesio, VALE, Polbud). Beyond Europe, distinct paradigms apply, with the State of Delaware occupying a position of particular dominance in the United States.
The layered character of the field becomes apparent across incorporation and amendment of articles, shareholder agreements and capital structures, corporate governance, directors' liability, mergers and reorganisations, and dissolution and winding up. Company law in a cross-border perspective is at once an architecture and an arena, in which territorial embedding, substantive design and doctrinal principle are continuously interwoven around a single underlying question: how is the freedom of enterprise to be reconciled with the protection of third parties?
Financial contracts may, on paper, appear to be no more than bundles of clauses. A closer reading reveals, however, that banking and financial law is the infrastructure upon which trust itself rests. Without confidence in the predictability of contracts and in the protection afforded by the law, credit and investment lose their meaning. Consumer protection, accordingly, is not an obstacle to the market: it is the condition of the market.
The game-theoretical analysis developed by Robert Cooter and Thomas Ulen has made plain that markets are not neutral arenas. The asymmetry between banks and consumers is structural rather than incidental. The law, however, rewrites the underlying payoff structure: duties of transparency, the ex officio examination of unfair terms, and a regime of penalties strengthened by the Omnibus Directive together alter the incentives of the market participants. The European internal market can function only on the condition that consumers in all Member States enjoy a minimum level of protection, anchored by Directive 93/13/EEC and complementary directives on consumer credit, mortgage credit, payment services (PSD2) and investment services (MiFID II, PRIIPs).
Supervision is, for the most part, organised at the national level, while financial products circulate across borders. This is the Heyvaertian fault line characteristic of the field. Financial and banking law thus presents itself as a multilayered structure in which contracts, conflict-of-laws rules and doctrinal corrections intersect — at once a chessboard, on which strategies are deployed, and a cathedral, in which the architecture of trust is patiently constructed.
Intellectual property law is at once an engine of innovation and a mirror in which the tensions of the market are reflected. It protects trade marks, designs and creative works, yet it also raises questions of a fundamental character: how far may exclusivity properly extend, at what point does protection pass over into monopolisation, and in what relation do intellectual rights stand to the free movement of goods and services, to competition law and to fundamental rights?
It is a multilayered architecture which extends from the national codifications and courts, through European harmonisation (the EU Trade Mark Regulation, the Community Design Regulation, the Information Society and Digital Single Market Directives) and supranational institutions, to international conventions — Paris, Berne, the Madrid and Hague Systems, the Patent Cooperation Treaty and TRIPS — and to the corresponding instruments of the United States and Canada. Although European harmonisation has made considerable progress, territorial fragmentation remains a feature of the field.
The protection of intellectual property cannot be considered in isolation from the other fundamental values of the legal order — the freedom of expression and the freedom to conduct a business correct it where necessary. Intellectual property law in a cross-border perspective is, at one and the same time, a cathedral and a chessboard: a cathedral of layers and a chessboard of moves. The structure is never fully completed; it is a living system, which seeks, in each generation, a renewed equilibrium between protection and freedom.
Legal Services for EU, NATO & SHAPE Personnel
A career in the service of European or Atlantic institutions is one of the most demanding and rewarding professional paths there is. It also comes with a distinctive set of legal complexities — ones that most lawyers, even experienced ones, are simply not equipped to navigate.
Peeters Law is different. With over two decades of cross-border practice across Belgian, Spanish, and other European jurisdictions, and with active working fluency in English, French, Dutch, German, Spanish, Catalan, and Portuguese, we understand the specific legal landscape that EU officials, NATO staff, and SHAPE personnel inhabit — and we know how to work within it effectively on your behalf.
Whether you are posted to Brussels for two years or have built a twenty-year career within the institutions, the legal questions that arise from international service deserve counsel that is genuinely international in scope — not advice retrofitted from a purely domestic practice.
Your Legal Situation Is Not Like Everyone Else's
As an EU or NATO official, you live under a particular legal regime that differs significantly from that of other residents of Belgium or the countries where you are posted. This creates specific advantages — and specific complications:
- You are subject to the EU's internal tax regime, not Belgian income tax — but this affects how Belgian authorities and financial institutions assess your solvency, mortgage eligibility, and financial standing.
- You enjoy certain privileges and immunities under the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the EU, or under the NATO Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) — but these have limits, and knowing exactly where those limits lie can be decisive.
- Your family life may span multiple jurisdictions — a spouse from a non-EU country, children born under one legal system who now live under another, assets distributed across several countries.
- You may own or wish to acquire property in Belgium, in your country of origin, or in another EU member state — each with its own registration regime, tax implications, and inheritance rules.
- Your career transitions — postings, reassignments, retirement, departure from the institutions — generate legal questions that require timely and accurate answers.
Areas of Practice
International Family LawSeparation, divorce, and parental arrangements when spouses hold different nationalities, when children have grown up across borders, or when custody disputes involve courts in multiple jurisdictions. We are experienced in applying EU Regulation Brussels IIb and the Hague Convention on International Child Abduction, and in navigating cases that span Belgium, Spain, France, Germany, and beyond.
Cross-Border Property & Real EstateAcquisition, sale, and legal due diligence on properties in Belgium, Spain, and other European jurisdictions. Particular expertise in Spanish real estate, including registration procedures, urban planning compliance, inheritance registration, and disputes arising from concealed defects or non-disclosed encumbrances. We also advise on the practical implications of your EU tax status for mortgage applications and property financing in Belgium.
International Inheritance & Estate PlanningEstates involving assets, heirs, or domicile in multiple countries require careful application of EU Succession Regulation No. 650/2012 and the private international law of each relevant jurisdiction. We advise on estate planning before death and on the administration and recovery of cross-border estates after it.
Privileges, Immunities & Status IssuesAdvice on the scope and limits of privileges and immunities under the Protocol on the Privileges and Immunities of the EU, the NATO SOFA, and relevant bilateral agreements, including the interface between your institutional status and Belgian civil, administrative, and contractual law.
EU Regulatory & Financial MattersAdvice on EU banking regulation, financial compliance, and investment matters — including cross-border investment disputes, UBO registration requirements, and global offshore issues. Our network of tax professionals allows us to ensure comprehensive coverage of your financial legal needs.
Career Transitions & End-of-Service MattersWe advise on the consequences for your Belgian residency status, your property holdings, your pension entitlements, and any pending contractual or family law matters that the transition may affect.
Why Peeters Law
We are not a large firm. We are not a factory. Every client at Peeters Law has direct access to Karen-Anne Peeters — a lawyer with over twenty years of experience in international and cross-border legal practice, five years of professional life in Spain, and a genuine command of seven European languages. We have a wide network of foreign lawyers in many jurisdictions.
We apply what we call the Penteract Methodology — a seven-layer analytical framework developed over years of complex cross-border work — to ensure that no dimension of your legal situation is overlooked. International cases rarely have simple answers, and we do not pretend otherwise. What we offer is rigorous, transparent, and genuinely tailored analysis. We are available for consultations in person in Antwerp and Brussels, as well as online — in whichever of our working languages is most comfortable for you. We work with transparency on fees and process. You will always know where your matter stands.
Working Languages
- English
- French
- Dutch
- German
- Spanish
- Portuguese
- Italian
Also: Catalan (working knowledge). Norwegian, Swedish, and Arabic (basic professional knowledge).
Make an appointment
Consultations are available in Antwerp, Brussels, or online — according to your availability.
You can make an appointment via info@peeterslaw.com
Make an appointmentResidency Options in Belgium, Spain & Portugal for US Citizens & Canadians
Peeters Law — Cross-Border Private International Law and Multijurisdictional Structuring. North-American Citizens Relocating to the European Union.
Citizens of the United States and Canada contemplating long-term residence within the European Union must navigate a plurality of national immigration regimes, each of which operates within the broader framework of Union free movement law and the conflict-of-laws rules of private international law. The granting of visas and residence permits remains the exclusive competence of the national immigration authorities and of counsel admitted to practice before them.
Within these limits, Peeters Law is in a position to assist clients in the visa and residence-permit context, albeit in a circumscribed and indirect manner. The firm does not itself conduct the procedural representation before the immigration authorities. It does, however, contribute to the preparation of such proceedings through the legal analysis of the client's overall situation, the assessment of the available residence routes, the structuring of the underlying private-law arrangements, and, where appropriate, the coordination of the file with a trusted confrère specialised in immigration law. This division of competences ensures that each phase of the relocation is addressed by the practitioner most appropriately qualified for it.
The Penteract Methodology
Central to the firm's approach is the Penteract Methodology, an analytical framework developed for the systematic examination of complex transboundary legal questions. The methodology is designated by reference to the penteract, being the five-dimensional analogue of the tesseract, and proceeds from the premise that legal problems of an international character cannot adequately be resolved as isolated issues within a single national legal order, but require coordinated examination across five interdependent dimensions: the territorial, the substantive, the linguistic and cultural, the normative and the strategic.
Where the complexity of the matter so requires, the analysis may be extended by a sixth structural layer and by a seventh reflexive layer comprising a critical review of the analytical process itself. The methodology is formally denoted as P(T, M, N, C, S). It is offered as one analytical tool among others, and not as a substitute for the substantive rules of the legal orders concerned.
The exposition that follows reflects the principal long-stay residence routes available in Belgium, Spain and Portugal as of April 2026. The financial thresholds set out below are based on the most recent official indices known to the firm at the time of writing and remain subject to annual revision. They are provided for general orientation; verification in the individual case is indispensable.
Belgium
Non-EU and non-EEA nationals seeking residence in Belgium for a period exceeding ninety days are, as a rule, required to obtain a national long-stay visa (Type D) prior to entry, followed by registration in the population register of the competent municipality. The principal residence categories include employment-based authorisation under the Single Permit procedure; self-employment under the Professional Card regime; business establishment and corporate residence routes; residence on the basis of sufficient personal financial means; and residence on grounds of family reunification or for academic and research purposes.
Peeters Law assists in the structuring of Belgian corporate vehicles, the analysis of directors' liability, the coordination of cross-border taxation and the resolution of applicable-law questions under the Belgian Code of Private International Law of 16 July 2004.
Spain
Following the abolition of the investor residence regime under Law 14/2013 (the former Golden Visa programme), with effect from 3 April 2025, the principal long-stay options available to non-EU nationals are the Digital Nomad Visa (visado de nómada digital) and the Non-Lucrative Visa (visado de residencia no lucrativa).
The Digital Nomad Visa is designed for remote workers employed by, or contracting with, entities established outside Spain. The principal applicant must, in principle, demonstrate stable gross monthly income equivalent to at least 200 percent of the national minimum interprofessional wage (SMI), a threshold which, as of 2026, stands at approximately 2,850 euro per month. The Non-Lucrative Visa is intended for financially independent persons who do not intend to pursue gainful activity within Spain, and requires resources corresponding to 400 percent of the Public Multiple Effects Income Indicator (IPREM), approximately 28,800 euro per annum, supplemented by 100 percent of IPREM (7,200 euro per annum) for each accompanying family member.
Peeters Law has developed particular experience in Spanish real-property law, including propiedad horizontal, usufruct and the lease regime under the Ley de Arrendamientos Urbanos; in succession law, including the rules of forced heirship (la legítima); in international family law; and in the coordination of social security regimes.
Portugal
Portugal offers a number of residence pathways for non-EU nationals. The Golden Visa (Autorização de Residência para Investimento) programme remains in force, although the real-estate investment route has been discontinued. The qualifying investment options presently comprise a contribution of 500,000 euro to approved regulated investment funds, with at least 60 percent allocated to Portuguese entities, as well as cultural or scientific contributions and job-creating business investments. Complementary routes include the D7 Visa, for recipients of passive income (a minimum of approximately 920 euro per month for the principal applicant in 2026), and the Digital Nomad Visa.
Physical presence requirements vary considerably between the available routes. Following five years of lawful residence, eligible holders may, subject to the applicable conditions, apply for permanent residence and, in due course, for Portuguese citizenship. Peeters Law assists clients in the cross-border coordination of Portuguese assets alongside Belgian or Spanish holdings, with particular regard to succession planning and to the avoidance of double taxation.
Next Steps. Prospective clients are invited to arrange a confidential initial consultation. Consultations are conducted in English, Spanish, Dutch, French or German, and may be held in person or by remote means.
Contact: info@peeterslaw.com · +32 3 377 83 53 · Jos Smolderenstraat 65, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium
Legal Ethics
Legal ethics form the foundation of the legal profession. They guide the relationship between lawyer and client and anchor it in trust, honesty and diligence. The rules laid down in the Code of Professional Conduct for Lawyers carry a dual significance: for the client, a guarantee of protection and reliability; for the rule of law, structural conditions that ensure the legal profession can function as a free and credible pillar of justice.
Confidentiality
Everything that a lawyer learns in the course of practising their profession is subject to a strict duty of confidentiality. The Court of Cassation regards this professional secrecy as a norm of public order; the European Court of Human Rights sees it as an essential component of a fair trial. Without confidentiality, a client cannot freely approach their counsel. The core remains absolute: communications in the context of defence are protected without exception, as confirmed in Michaud v. France (2012). For the client, confidentiality creates a space where everything can be discussed freely; for the rule of law, it ensures that access to justice can truly function.
Independence
A lawyer practises their profession in full independence and may not allow themselves to be influenced by external pressure or self-interest. Recognised in international principles (UN, CCBE), independence ensures that lawyers act solely in the service of the law and the interests of their client. It also means that the lawyer is free to act against any opposing party, however influential or institutional. For the client, this means the assurance of a free and unbiased defence; for the rule of law, it guarantees that power is kept in balance and that no one stands above the law.
Integrity
A lawyer is obliged to act with honesty and integrity, across a range of domains from fee arrangements to the handling of third-party funds and collegial cooperation. The Court of Cassation confirmed that breach of transparency obligations may give rise to liability. For the client, this means being able to rely on correctness and honesty at every stage of the collaboration; for the rule of law, integrity ensures that justice is upheld by a credible profession that deserves trust.
Undivided loyalty
A lawyer must represent the interests of the client exclusively. Conflicts of interest are prohibited, except in exceptional cases with informed consent. This principle — nemo potest esse simul actor et defensor — is today absolutely enshrined in the Code and the European rules of conduct (CCBE). For the client, this means that their interests always come first, without divided loyalties; for the rule of law, this ensures that the law is not merely formal but actually functions through effective defence.
Communication and transparency
A lawyer must inform their client clearly and in a timely manner, both about the progress of the case and about its financial aspects. Reinforced by the Code of Economic Law and confirmed by the Court of Cassation, transparency corrects the asymmetry between lawyer and client. A signed agreement plays a central role: it makes arrangements tangible and prevents ambiguity arising at a later stage.
Competence and assistance
A lawyer is obliged to continually update their knowledge and provide quality assistance at every stage of the case. Today, competence means more than knowledge of the statute book: current insights into international and compliance rules are also part of it. For the client, this means access to current and high-quality legal assistance; for the rule of law, that the application of law is not only theoretical, but also practically effective.
The role of the engagement agreement
The engagement agreement occupies a special place in the relationship between lawyer and client. It is not merely a formal document, but an instrument that anchors trust and clarity. Arrangements regarding costs, fees and the manner of service delivery can be recorded prior to the handling of the case, but may also be specified or confirmed in the course of the proceedings. This agreement binds both parties and gives concrete form to trust, balance and legal certainty.
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Our Antwerp office is situated just a few steps from the Palace of Justice, in the newly developed district of Nieuw-Zuid. PEETERS LAW is also present in Brussels, on Avenue des Arts, at the heart of the European and international quarter.
Peeters Law Antwerp
Belgium · Flanders
Jos Smolderenstraat 65BE-2000 Antwerp
Belgium +32 3 377 83 53 Directions to Antwerp →
Peeters Law Brussels
Belgium · Capital Region
Avenue des Arts 44BE-1040 Brussels
Belgium +32 2 884 74 74 Directions to Brussels →
Antwerp & Brussels. Belgian roots. European perspective. Two places. Two rhythms within the same legal order.
Antwerp looks out towards the Scheldt and the docks, towards ships, trade and departure. Brussels lives within the quiet murmur of languages, institutions and intersecting diplomacies. A city where Europe is shaped each day through negotiation, balance and movement.
Two cities which remind us, each in their own way, that the law is never still. That it moves constantly between people, borders, cultures and human stories. Whoever approaches the Palace of Justice sees the city opening itself towards the river, and beyond the river, towards the world. Whoever walks along Avenue des Arts enters another landscape entirely: that of European institutions, international organisations and legal decisions that travel silently across borders.
It is within that openness that we practise. Day after day. Rooted locally. Oriented internationally. The architecture of Antwerp’s Palace of Justice gives form to a justice system willing to be seen: visible, present and accessible. Brussels, too, serves as a daily reminder that the law is shaped through an ongoing dialogue between legal orders, languages and societies.
For the law does not live in stone. It lives in people. In the judge who weighs before deciding. In the lawyer who carries a vulnerable voice. In the citizen who still dares to ask for justice. In you, when seeking to protect what is rightfully yours.
The Palace of Justice reflects a society that believes justice need not conceal itself. That it may stand in the open light, sustained not by force, but by trust. Brussels carries that same conviction on another scale: a city where legal cultures meet, confront one another and, at times, reconcile. We share that ambition.
The law demands effort. From judges. From lawyers. From all those who refuse to surrender their rights. Yet that effort carries meaning, because it protects what remains vulnerable: your rights, your interests and your story.
The rule of law is never permanently secured. It remains a fragile and patient construction, endlessly renewed. Each day, it rests in the hands of those who continue to take it seriously. We intend to be among them. Elevated and vulnerable. Transparent and burdened with memory. Always becoming. Like the law itself.
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The Penteract Model and the Heptaract Approach
Methodology and Foundations
Why this approach?
Our methodological approach did not emerge from an ambition to impose an abstract theoretical system upon legal practice, but from a very practical observation: complex legal matters rarely operate within a single legal logic.
In practice, legal files often evolve simultaneously across multiple branches of law, legal orders, languages, normative frameworks and strategic considerations.
What initially appears to be a contractual dispute may simultaneously involve questions of jurisdiction, mandatory law and procedural strategy. A family law matter may engage not only domestic rules, but also international coordination mechanisms, legal culture and fundamental rights. A procedurally strong position may be assessed differently once parallel proceedings, enforceability concerns or reputational interests are taken into account.
The various components of a case therefore do not function as entirely isolated elements existing side by side. They continuously influence one another. Jurisdiction influences strategy. Strategy influences timing. Timing influences evidential positioning. Cultural context influences interpretation. Normative boundaries correct what may appear procedurally possible.
As in many other disciplines, reality here preceded the model. The analysis did not begin with an abstract scheme, but with repeated confrontation with matters in which certain patterns repeatedly reappeared. Out of that practical experience, the Penteract model and the broader Heptaract approach gradually emerged.
The geometric references function solely as conceptual and mnemonic tools. Their purpose is not to mathematise legal analysis, but to make visible the fact that complex legal reasoning frequently develops simultaneously across several interacting dimensions. Not as a mathematical system. Not as an algorithm. Not as an attempt to automate legal decision-making. Rather, as an analytical working framework intended to make visible how complex legal analysis often develops in reality: relationally, multilayeredly and recursively.
The Penteract Model
Five simultaneously active dimensions of legal analysis
These dimensions do not operate independently from one another, but in continuous interaction. A shift within one dimension frequently affects the analysis within the others. The reference to the “Penteract” is conceptual in nature: the interaction between these five dimensions may conceptually be represented as a five-dimensional hypercube. The five dimensions are analytically distinguishable, yet operationally interconnected.
The territorial dimension concerns, among other matters, jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement.
The substantive dimension concerns the legal qualification of facts and the interaction between different fields of law.
The cultural-linguistic dimension concerns the influence of language, legal culture and interpretative frameworks upon legal meaning.
The normative dimension encompasses fundamental rights, constitutional guarantees, general principles of law and normative hierarchy.
The strategic dimension concerns the interaction between analysis, procedural positioning, timing, discretion, negotiations and procedural choices.
The purpose of the model is not to suggest that these dimensions are new. Each already exists within doctrine and practice. The approach primarily seeks to render visible the manner in which these dimensions continuously influence and reorient one another within complex matters. Practice is often simultaneous and recursive where legal analysis is traditionally presented as linear.
The Heptaract Approach
The broader methodological architecture
The Heptaract approach refers to the broader methodological architecture within which, alongside the Penteract model, attention is also given to structural fault lines within the law and to the reflexive examination of the analytical framework itself.
The approach proceeds from the awareness that every method not only clarifies, but necessarily also simplifies. The moment a matter is structured, certain relationships become more visible, whilst other elements temporarily recede into the background. It is precisely for that reason that the Heptaract approach seeks not only to analyse the matter itself, but also periodically to reflect upon the perspective from which the analysis is conducted. From which legal culture is the matter being viewed? Which concepts are treated as self-evident? Which normative assumptions implicitly shape interpretation? Which elements may still remain outside the field of vision?
That reflexive posture is not a sign of uncertainty, but an attempt to preserve intellectual rigour within legal analysis where multiple legal orders, languages, interests and normative frameworks operate simultaneously. The approach further recognises that certain matters may contain structural tensions which cannot be fully resolved within a single normative framework. Where different legal orders, principles or jurisdictional structures operate simultaneously without a clear hierarchy, structural fault lines may become visible within the system itself.
The method does not purport to explain the law exhaustively or to eliminate legal uncertainty. Its ambition is more modest: to structure complex matters sufficiently so that relevant dimensions remain visible, whilst recognising that the model itself necessarily remains a simplification of reality.
Our Approach
At Peeters Law, legal matters are therefore approached not merely linearly, but relationally. Jurisdiction, substantive qualification, normative limitation, language, legal culture and strategy are not examined solely in sequence, but in their continuous interaction.
The Heptaract approach (H7) does not replace classical legal analysis or substantive legal expertise. Rather, it serves as a methodological framework for coherently structuring complex matters, particularly where multiple legal orders, languages, legal cultures and normative layers operate simultaneously.
Peeters Law handles matters with Karen-Anne Peeters as permanent lead counsel and personal point of contact. The firm coordinates matters according to this methodological approach and collaborates, where necessary, with specialised lawyers, academics and external experts. In this way, methodological coherence and targeted expertise are combined within a single integrated case strategy.
I. From Linear to Simultaneous Legal ReasoningSince Savigny developed the doctrine of the Sitz des Rechtsverhältnisses in the eighth volume of his System des heutigen römischen Rechts, private international law has largely been shaped by the idea that every legal relationship containing a foreign element possesses its natural anchoring within a particular legal order. The task of the lawyer is therefore to uncover that anchoring and thereby identify the legal order governing the relationship.
The Savignian model possessed remarkable systematic clarity: legal relationships were conceived as objectively locatable relations, whilst the conflict rule functioned as the instrument through which that localisation became visible. A century and a half later, that systematic purity has largely been relativised. Connecting factors have become pluralised, nuanced and, in certain fields, partially subjected to party autonomy.
Under the influence of authors such as Pierre Mayer, the second half of the twentieth century also witnessed a shift from a largely automatic conflict mechanism towards a more differentiated approach, in which the purpose of the rule, the object of the proceedings and the nature of the relief sought increasingly became part of the analysis itself. Yet the underlying architecture remained largely intact. Lawyers still frequently operate according to an implicit sequential model: first the question of jurisdiction; then the applicable law; thereafter qualification; and finally procedural and strategic implementation. The substance of the analysis has become richer; its underlying structure has remained largely the same.
It is precisely that structure of legal reasoning which is placed into question here. A sequential model assumes that each stage of the analysis may be completed independently before the next stage begins. Methodologically, this amounts to an assumption of independence. Jurisdiction could supposedly be determined without anticipating qualification. Qualification without regard to strategic positioning. Strategy as the concluding phase of an already completed substantive analysis.
Anyone who seriously observes legal practice, however, immediately notices that experienced lawyers rarely work in that manner. They constantly anticipate. They revisit earlier stages when later developments alter the analysis. The choice of forum is often connected to the anticipated qualification. Qualification is connected to the applicable law. The applicable law itself is often connected to the strategically defended connecting factor. Practice is recursive where doctrine remains linear.
This discrepancy between practice and doctrine does not constitute an argument for pragmatism against theory. Rather, it points towards a methodological lacuna. Where actual reasoning develops recursively whilst the explicit model remains linear, a substantial part of the analysis remains implicit. What remains implicit is difficult to test, transmit or criticise. The risk then emerges that legal reasoning evolves into a purely artisanal form of knowledge functioning only so long as its bearer remains present.
The Heptaract approach begins precisely from that observation. It proceeds from the premise that legal reasoning in complex matters is not truly sequential and cannot ever be entirely sequential. The method therefore attempts to formulate an architecture within which that simultaneous and recursive operation may be made explicitly visible.
Legal Notice & Terms and Conditions
Preamble
PEETERS LAW is an independent legal practice, founded on a cross-border, multilingual and strategically integrated approach to the law, with particular expertise in the legal relationships between Belgium, Spain and the European Union. Its guiding principle is Ubi Ius, Ibi Remedium.
This version 9 does not differ in substance from the immediately preceding version, save in respect of the references to the offices and the bar registrations.
Legal Notice
1. Identity and structure
1.1. PEETERS LAW is the professional name under which Karen-Anne Peeters carries out her professional activities as a lawyer.
1.2. Karen-Anne Peeters is a lawyer in Belgium and registered with: 1.2.1. the Antwerp Bar; 1.2.2. the Ordre français des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles.
1.3. The professional activities are carried out, depending on the nature of the matter, the contractual organisation, the invoicing or the services concerned: 1.3.1. either by Karen-Anne Peeters as a natural person, enterprise number and VAT number BE 0817.060.890; 1.3.2. or through PEETERS LAW BV, with current registered office at Jos Smolderenstraat 65, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium, enterprise number and VAT number BE 1032.386.143.
1.4. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the contracting entity is stated on the engagement confirmation, correspondence or invoice.
1.5. Antwerp office (current registered office): Jos Smolderenstraat 65, 2000 Antwerp, Belgium.
1.6. Brussels office (future registered office): Kunstlaan 44, 1040 Brussels, Belgium.
1.7. Contact details: general correspondence info@peeterslaw.com; matter-related correspondence karen@peeterslaw.com; telephone +32 3 377 83 53 / +32 2 884 74 74.
1.8. The current registered office of PEETERS LAW BV is located at Jos Smolderenstraat 65, 2000 Antwerp. The transfer of the registered office to Kunstlaan 44, 1040 Brussels is in preparation and will be formalised by notarial deed no later than 1 July 2026 and published in the Belgian Official Gazette. Once publication takes place, the registered office will be updated and this reservation may be deleted.
2. Dominus litis
2.1. Save as expressly agreed otherwise by power of attorney, mandate or contractual arrangement, Karen-Anne Peeters acts as dominus litis in the matters entrusted to her.
2.2. She retains conduct of the matter, determines its legal and strategic course and bears ultimate responsibility for the handling of the case as a whole.
2.3. In cross-border or particularly complex matters, divergent cooperation structures or mandate arrangements may be devised where the nature of the case so requires.
3. Professional liability insurance
3.1. Karen-Anne Peeters is professionally insured through Amlin Europe NV, Koning Albert II-laan 9, 1210 Brussels, via Vanbreda Risk & Benefits.
3.2. The policy provides worldwide cover, excluding the United States, Canada and disputes falling within the jurisdiction of those countries.
3.3. Where engagements extend beyond the territorial scope of the policy, additional cover is arranged where necessary.
3.4. For services rendered by PEETERS LAW BV, a separate professional liability insurance applies through Amlin Europe NV / Vanbreda Risk & Benefits.
3.5. For services rendered by Karen-Anne Peeters as a natural person, insurance cover likewise applies.
3.6. Where applicable, run-off or extended cover remains in place in accordance with the applicable rules of professional conduct, in particular upon a change of registration, office structure or termination of practice.
3.7. These insurances meet the minimum requirements imposed by the Orde van Vlaamse Balies (Flemish Bar Association) and the Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone (OBFG).
3.8. The office further holds cyber insurance and uses exclusively secure, professional and licensed software and communication systems to protect the confidentiality of client data.
4. Legal services and applicable law
4.1. Karen-Anne Peeters provides legal advice, legal assistance, alternative dispute resolution services and representation in judicial and arbitral proceedings, with particular expertise in cross-border matters, including between Belgium, Spain and the European Union.
4.2. Unless agreed otherwise, these services are governed by Belgian law.
4.3. Disputes fall in principle within the jurisdiction of the courts of Brussels (Dutch-language division), without prejudice to Article 624 of the Judicial Code, Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 and the mandatory provisions on consumer protection.
5. Professional rules and conduct
5.1. Karen-Anne Peeters acts in accordance with: 5.1.1. the rules of the Orde van Vlaamse Balies (Flemish Bar Association), including the Code of Conduct for Lawyers; 5.1.2. the rules of the Antwerp Bar; 5.1.3. the rules of the Ordre des barreaux francophones et germanophone (OBFG); 5.1.4. the rules of the Ordre français des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles; 5.1.5. the applicable European and international rules of professional conduct for lawyers, including the CCBE Code of Conduct.
5.2. Further information is available via advocaat.be and avocats.be.
6. Cookies
6.1. This website does not use cookies for analytical, tracking or optimisation purposes.
General Conditions
Article 1. Identity and structure of the practice
1.1. PEETERS LAW is the professional name under which Karen-Anne Peeters carries out her professional activities as a lawyer.
1.2. Karen-Anne Peeters is a lawyer in Belgium and registered with the Antwerp Bar and with the Ordre français des avocats du barreau de Bruxelles.
1.3. The professional activities are carried out, depending on the nature of the matter, the contractual organisation, the invoicing or the services concerned, either by Karen-Anne Peeters as a natural person (enterprise number and VAT number BE 0817.060.890), or through PEETERS LAW BV (current registered office Jos Smolderenstraat 65, 2000 Antwerp, enterprise number and VAT number BE 1032.386.143).
1.4. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the contracting entity is stated on the engagement confirmation, correspondence or invoice.
1.5. Both entities are jointly referred to in these general conditions as “PEETERS LAW”.
Article 2. Applicability and consumer reservation
2.1. These general conditions apply to all engagements, services, advice, correspondence, consultations and services provided by PEETERS LAW, save for written derogation.
2.2. By engaging the services of PEETERS LAW, the client accepts these general conditions.
2.3. These general conditions take precedence over any general or special conditions of the client, save for express written derogation.
2.4. Where the client is a consumer within the meaning of Book I of the Code of Economic Law, the clauses set out herein apply only to the extent that they are compatible with the mandatory provisions of Book VI of the Code of Economic Law and with the applicable rules of professional conduct. No clause is intended to limit the statutory rights of the consumer.
2.5. If one or more provisions are wholly or partly void, unenforceable or contrary to mandatory law, this does not affect the validity of the remaining provisions.
2.6. The void provision is replaced by a valid provision that approximates as closely as possible the result originally intended.
Article 3. Nature of the services
3.1. PEETERS LAW provides, among other things, legal advice; assistance in negotiations; representation in judicial and arbitral proceedings; alternative dispute resolution, including mediation and collaborative negotiation; legal coordination in cross-border matters; and strategic and comparative legal analysis.
Article 4. Dominus litis and organisation of the matter
4.1. Save as expressly agreed otherwise, Karen-Anne Peeters coordinates the legal and strategic handling of the matter as dominus litis.
4.2. PEETERS LAW reserves the right to cooperate with external lawyers, correspondents, experts, notaries, technical advisers, translators or other service providers in Belgium or abroad.
4.3. PEETERS LAW is responsible for the careful selection of such third parties but, save in the event of gross negligence or fraud, is not liable for their own performance.
Article 5. Client identification, anti-money-laundering obligations and UBO
5.1. PEETERS LAW is subject to the Act of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on the restriction of the use of cash, as well as to the applicable implementing decrees and rules of professional conduct.
5.2. PEETERS LAW identifies the client, its representatives and, where applicable, the ultimate beneficial owners (UBOs) in accordance with the applicable regulations.
5.3. The client undertakes to provide all necessary information and documents in a timely, accurate and complete manner and to notify any changes without delay.
5.4. Depending on the risk profile of the matter, PEETERS LAW may request additional information regarding the origin of funds, the nature of transactions or the structure of the client.
5.5. If the client does not cooperate with the statutory identification or due diligence obligations, PEETERS LAW reserves the right to refuse, suspend or terminate the engagement in accordance with the applicable regulations.
5.6. PEETERS LAW may, in circumstances provided for by law, be required to make reports to the Financial Intelligence Processing Unit (CTIF-CFI), in accordance with the applicable legislation.
5.7. The identification and transaction documentation is retained for the periods prescribed by law.
Article 6. Conflict of interest
6.1. PEETERS LAW carries out a conflict-of-interest check prior to accepting an engagement in accordance with the applicable rules of professional conduct.
6.2. If a conflict of interest arises or threatens to arise during the performance of an engagement, PEETERS LAW may take appropriate measures, including, where applicable, the termination of its involvement.
Article 7. Fees and costs
7.1. The fees of PEETERS LAW are determined in a manner that is fair and moderate in accordance with the applicable rules of professional conduct.
7.2. Unless agreed otherwise, services are in principle charged on the basis of time spent.
7.2bis. The hourly rate is at least 300.00 EUR per hour, excluding VAT, and may be applied within a range up to 600.00 EUR per hour, excluding VAT, depending on the factors set out in Article 7.3. The applicable rate within this range is, where appropriate, further specified in the engagement confirmation or fee agreement.
7.3. In determining the fees, account may be taken, among other things, of the complexity of the matter, the urgency, the specialisation required, the international character of the matter, the economic importance of the case and the nature of the services.
7.4. Additional costs, including court costs, translation costs, travel costs, third-party costs, court registry duties and administrative costs, may be charged separately.
7.5. PEETERS LAW may request advances prior to or during the performance of the engagement.
7.6. Invoices are payable within fifteen days of the invoice date, unless stated otherwise.
7.7. In the event of non-payment, interest and recovery costs may be due in accordance with the applicable legislation and rules of professional conduct. In respect of a consumer, the reciprocity and ceiling rules of Book XIX of the Code of Economic Law apply.
7.8. PEETERS LAW reserves the right to suspend its work in the event of non-payment, subject to compliance with the applicable obligations of professional conduct.
Article 8. Third-party account
8.1. Funds received on behalf of clients or third parties are placed in a third-party account in accordance with the applicable statutory and professional conduct rules.
8.2. To the extent permitted by law and by the rules of professional conduct, PEETERS LAW may set off outstanding and undisputed fees or costs against amounts held on behalf of the client.
8.3. In the event of dispute, the matter may be referred to the competent president of the bar (stafhouder) in accordance with Article 446ter of the Judicial Code.
Article 9. Liability
9.1. The undertakings of PEETERS LAW are in principle obligations of means, save where the law or an express agreement provides otherwise.
9.2. PEETERS LAW is professionally insured in accordance with the applicable statutory and professional conduct obligations.
9.3. Save for mandatory law, gross negligence, fraud or intent, the liability of PEETERS LAW is limited to the cover provided by the applicable professional liability insurance, increased by any applicable deductible.
9.4. Save for gross negligence, fraud or intent, PEETERS LAW is not liable for indirect or consequential damage; failures of electronic communication systems; cybercrime beyond reasonable control measures; errors of third parties engaged; or damage arising from incorrect or incomplete information provided by the client.
9.5. No limitation in this article affects the mandatory rights of a consumer-client under Book VI of the Code of Economic Law.
Article 10. Communication, electronic means and digital data exchange
10.1. In the context of the performance of its engagements, PEETERS LAW uses electronic means of communication, cloud systems, digital file platforms, electronic filing systems and professional software applications, including e-mail, WhatsApp, rich communication services (RCS) and similar messaging services.
10.2. The use of electronic means of communication and messaging services may, subject to reasonable security and care measures, form part of a contemporary and diligent professional practice.
10.3. Contemporary administration of justice relies to a significant extent on electronic communication, digital data exchange, cloud environments, electronic filing systems and digital file platforms, including, among others, DPA-Deposit, e-Deposit, JustRestart, RegSol, Just-on-Web, LexNET, secure electronic transfer services and similar Belgian, foreign or international systems used by lawyers, courts, administrations, fellow lawyers, arbitration institutions, notaries, experts and other professional parties involved in the matter.
10.4. PEETERS LAW thereby, to the extent that they are reasonably available and usable, gives preference to institutional, professional or secure systems suited to the nature of the matter and the data processing concerned.
10.5. PEETERS LAW processes personal data in accordance with the applicable data protection regulations, including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR); the further modalities are set out in Article 14.
10.6. Electronic communication and messaging services may, however, entail inherent risks and limitations.
10.7. Communication via electronic messaging services is often concise, provisional, context-bound, reactive or informal in character and does not necessarily constitute a complete representation of the factual, legal, procedural or strategic analysis of the matter.
10.8. The client remains responsible for its own use of the chosen communication channel.
10.9. Save for gross negligence, fraud or intent, PEETERS LAW cannot be held liable for damage arising from technical characteristics, security limitations or risks inherent in electronic communication, cloud and messaging systems beyond the reasonable control of PEETERS LAW.
10.10. The use of electronic means of communication does not imply permanent availability or immediate response on the part of PEETERS LAW.
Article 11. Confidentiality, professional secrecy and practice organisation
11.1. PEETERS LAW is bound by professional secrecy in accordance with Article 458 of the Criminal Code, Article 5 of the Code of Conduct for Lawyers and the applicable rules of professional conduct.
11.2. PEETERS LAW organises its practice through professional office, meeting, digital and hybrid infrastructure models, including, where applicable, coworking infrastructure, suited to the nature of the matter and the practical organisation of the work.
11.3. The use of such infrastructure does not in itself constitute a breach of proper professional practice, subject to compliance with the applicable statutory, professional conduct and confidentiality obligations.
11.4. Consultations, discussions and case deliberations may, depending on the nature of the matter, take place in person, by telephone, by videoconference or via other reasonable digital means of communication.
11.5. The use of digital or hybrid forms of consultation does not in itself constitute a breach of proper professional practice, subject to compliance with the applicable statutory, professional conduct, confidentiality and care obligations.
11.6. PEETERS LAW ensures that the confidentiality of client communication, file information and professional data processing is safeguarded in accordance with the applicable statutory, professional conduct and security obligations.
11.7. File information, correspondence and professional communication are processed, managed and stored digitally via secure professional systems and devices under the control of PEETERS LAW and not via shared third-party infrastructure without involvement in the matter.
11.8. PEETERS LAW works in principle via digital file processing. Physical documents are stored or processed only to the extent necessary for the performance of the engagement, statutory obligations, evidentiary purposes or the protection of client interests.
11.9. PEETERS LAW does not use shared or publicly accessible copying, scanning or printing systems for confidential file documents.
11.10. Third parties not involved in the matter have no access to confidential file information, physical files, digital file environments or client communication.
11.11. For confidential discussions and matter-related consultations, separate meeting or consultation rooms are used where appropriate.
11.12. The client undertakes not to disseminate confidential documents, advice or procedural documents publicly without prior consultation where this may jeopardise professional secrecy, the rights of third parties, the confidentiality of communication or the proper conduct of proceedings.
Article 12. Technological tools, artificial intelligence and digital processing
12.1. In the context of the performance of the engagement, PEETERS LAW may use reasonable and proportionate technological tools, digital research instruments, automation systems, cloud applications and artificial intelligence (AI) applications.
12.2. Such tools may be used, among other things, for legal research, document structuring, translations, summaries, linguistic support, comparative analysis, administrative processing, strategic reflection, correspondence, digital file processing and support in document preparation.
12.3. PEETERS LAW always retains professional, intellectual and legal control over the services. The results of technological or AI-supported tools are subjected by PEETERS LAW to its own critical and substantive verification before they are used in advice or a procedural document; the ultimate responsibility for the content always rests with the lawyer.
12.4. The use of technological tools does not relieve PEETERS LAW of its professional obligations as to diligence, professional secrecy, independence and professional conduct.
12.5. Technological tools, cloud environments, electronic filing platforms, upload systems, automation systems and AI applications may, despite reasonable control measures, contain technical imperfections.
12.6. PEETERS LAW uses electronic communication, filing, upload, cloud and file management systems, including digital platforms of courts, administrations, arbitration institutions, fellow lawyers and other professional third parties.
12.7. Save for gross negligence, fraud or intent, PEETERS LAW cannot be held liable for purely technical, digital or automated errors beyond its reasonable control.
12.8. Confidential information is in principle not processed via publicly accessible AI systems without appropriate security or anonymisation measures.
Article 13. Intellectual property and methodology
13.1. The legal analyses, advice, strategic reflections, texts, concepts, models and written communication of PEETERS LAW constitute confidential professional communication within the lawyer-client relationship and may constitute the own intellectual creations of PEETERS LAW within the meaning of the applicable intellectual property law.
13.2. The methodologies, analytical frameworks, frameworks, templates, schemes, designations and strategic working methods developed by PEETERS LAW — including, but not limited to, the associated names and symbolism — remain the exclusive intellectual property of PEETERS LAW, regardless of their application in a specific matter.
13.3. The client obtains solely a non-exclusive and non-transferable right of use limited to the purpose for which the documents were prepared.
13.4. Save for statutory obligations or the strictly necessary defence of legitimate interests, documents, advice, texts or methodologies of PEETERS LAW may not be reproduced, published, used commercially or disseminated outside their original context without prior written consent.
Article 14. Data protection (GDPR)
14.1. PEETERS LAW acts as data controller for the personal data it processes in the context of its services and acts in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2016/679 (GDPR) and the applicable Belgian and Spanish implementing legislation.
14.2. Personal data is processed for the purpose of performing the engagement, complying with statutory and professional conduct obligations, managing the client relationship and pursuing the legitimate interests of the client and of PEETERS LAW.
14.3. Personal data is not retained longer than necessary for these purposes and in accordance with the retention periods set out in Article 15.
14.4. In the context of its cross-border practice, PEETERS LAW may process or have processed data within the European Economic Area, including in Spain; transfers outside the EEA take place only subject to appropriate safeguards in accordance with the GDPR.
14.5. The data subject has the rights of access, rectification, erasure, restriction, portability and objection in accordance with the GDPR, to the extent that these are not contrary to professional secrecy or to statutory retention obligations. Requests may be addressed to info@peeterslaw.com.
14.6. The data subject has the right to lodge a complaint with the competent supervisory authority, in Belgium the Data Protection Authority (GBA), or in Spain the Agencia Española de Protección de Datos (AEPD).
Article 15. Retention of files
15.1. PEETERS LAW retains files and documents for a period that in principle amounts to five years after the closure of the file, without prejudice to longer periods arising from statutory, fiscal, professional conduct or professional obligations, or that are necessary to protect the interests of the client or of PEETERS LAW.
15.2. Upon expiry of the applicable retention period, the file may be destroyed in a secure manner without prior notice.
15.3. Original documents belonging to the client are made available to the client upon first request and at the latest upon expiry of the retention period.
Article 16. Termination of the engagement
16.1. PEETERS LAW and the client may terminate the cooperation in accordance with the applicable statutory and professional conduct rules.
16.2. PEETERS LAW reserves the right to terminate its involvement if the trust between lawyer and client is seriously disrupted, if statutory obligations so require or if the client fails to comply with its contractual obligations, subject to compliance with the rules of professional conduct concerning the continuity of assistance.
Article 17. Force majeure, external actors and digital systems
17.1. PEETERS LAW is not liable for delays or shortcomings caused by force majeure or circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including cyber incidents, technical failures, strikes, pandemics, government measures, network problems or failures of digital systems.
17.2. For certain parts of the services, PEETERS LAW depends on external actors and systems, including courts, registries, administrations, electronic filing platforms, foreign authorities, correspondents, network operators and other third parties over which it exercises no decisive control.
17.3. Save for gross negligence, fraud or intent, PEETERS LAW cannot be held liable for delays, technical failures, processing errors, transmission problems, loss of data, erroneous registrations, system interruptions or other shortcomings originating with such external actors or systems beyond the reasonable control of PEETERS LAW.
Article 18. Applicable law and competent court
18.1. Save for mandatory statutory provisions, the legal relationship between PEETERS LAW and the client is governed by Belgian law.
18.2. Disputes fall in principle within the jurisdiction of the courts of Brussels (Dutch-language division), without prejudice to Article 624 of the Judicial Code, Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 and the mandatory provisions on consumer protection, including the right of the consumer to apply to the court of its domicile.
Article 19. Language, version control and amendments
19.1. The version in the language of the engagement confirmation prevails between the parties. In the absence of any mention of a language in the engagement confirmation, the Dutch text prevails as the reference text.
19.2. These general conditions may be amended from time to time. Each version bears a version number and a date. The version applicable to an engagement is the version in force at the time of acceptance of that engagement; PEETERS LAW retains the successive versions for evidentiary purposes.
19.3. The most recent version is available via the website of PEETERS LAW or upon simple request and applies to all engagements accepted after the date of publication.
PEETERS LAW — Ubi Ius, Ibi Remedium