Osborne Clarke promotes new partner, two Counsel and two senior associates in the Brussels office

International legal practice Osborne Clarke announces a partner promotion and four senior internal promotions in the Brussels office, effective 1 January.

Bernd De Marrez is now a Partner in the Employment team and Violette Keppenne and Laurent De Pauw are Counsel on the Corporate team. Shahine Kalantari is now a Senior Associate on the Corporate team and Nikitas Michail is a Senior Associate on the Commercial team. 

Bernd is an employment & pensions specialist. He advises local and international companies on all aspects of individual and collective employment law, social security law and pension law (both statutory and occupational). Bernd joined Osborne Clarke in 2021 and is a graduate of KU Leuven, where he also subsequently worked as an assistant at the Institute for Social Law.

Thierry Viérin, co-founding partner and head of Employment, comments, "Bernd's promotion to partner reflects the continued growth of our team and our investment in market‑leading talent. Bernd brings broad expertise across employment matters, strengthening our ability to guide clients through complex workforce challenges. His promotion underscores our commitment to delivering pragmatic, responsive client service that helps businesses achieve their goals."

Violette joined Osborne Clarke in 2019. She specialises in corporate law, including mergers & acquisitions and venture capital. She regularly assists Life Sciences companies in raising funds from public or private investors as well as on sale or acquisition processes.  Violette holds a Master's degree in Law from the University of Liege and an LLM in International Law from the University of Edinburgh.

Laurent De Pauw is a tech-focused corporate lawyer who specialises in mergers & acquisitions, venture capital and funding rounds, complex corporate reorganisations, and ESG regulation from a corporate and transactional perspective. He joined Osborne Clarke in 2020. He holds a Master’s degree in Law and an LLM in Corporate law from the Free University of Brussels (ULB) and a University Certificate in Banking and Finance law from the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL).

Shahine joined Osborne Clarke in 2022 and advises clients on M&A, venture capital and capital market transactions. In addition to his position as a corporate lawyer, Shahine is a teaching assistant at the Université Libre de Bruxelles. Nikitas specialises in commercial law with a particular focus on distribution networks and retail contracts as well as on domestic and cross-border disputes. He also has experience as an in-house counsel at a major European retailer, helping him support our retail clients in a rapidly changing market.

Co-Managing Partner Marie Canivet comments, "These promotions are a testament to the excellent client service and thorough legal expertise of Bernd, Violette, Laurent, Shahine and Nikitas. Each one of them has distinguished themselves at Osborne Clarke and we're delighted to see them take the next steps in their career with us. Recognising and cultivating our talent is a core part of our strategy for greater firmwide growth."

In addition to these five senior promotions, there are also several promotions at the associate level.

Osborne Clarke's Belgian office is in the heart of Brussels, advising clients on national and EU law and acting as trusted partners for businesses of all sizes. Our team is made up of experts in Commercial & Litigation, Corporate, Employment, EU, Data, IT & IP, Payments and FinTech,  Life Sciences Regulatory, and Tax law.