Astrea continued its excellent rankings in the most important legal directories in 2018. We are delighted to be recognised again in Chambers and Legal500 with several honourable rankings.
In the latest edition of Legal500, Astrea is ranked in the following departments and lawyers:
Banking, Finance and Capital Markets: Tier 4 – Dieter Veestraeten
Commercial, Corporate and M&A: Tier 4 – Steven De Schrijver and Frédéric Verspreeuwen
Dispute Resolution: Tier 4 – Marc Van Looveren, Louis Verstraeten and Olivier Van Fraeyenhoven
Insolvency and Restructuring: Tier 3 – Louis Verstraeten
IT and Telecoms: Tier 3 –Steven De Schrijver and Barbara Terriere
Transport: Tier 1 – Marc Van Looveren, Louis Verstraeten and Ruud De Houwer
An overview of the detailed results can be found on the Legal500 website.
In Chambers, Astrea is listed with the following rankings:
Shipping: Band 3 - Marc Van Looveren: “Marc Van Looveren offers "speedy, accurate, reliable and detailed advice coupled with a strong business acumen," according to clients. Also praised for his comprehensive understanding of shipping law in an international context, he handles all angles of Belgian shipping law including ship arrests and cargo claims.”
Corporate/M&A: Band 4 - Frédéric Verspreeuwen: “Frederic Verspreeuwen is the co-head of Astrea's corporate team and advises Belgian and international clients on acquisitions and corporate restructuring. He recently acted for Cronos Group on the sale of its share in Wijs. Clients value his accessibility and describe him as "a good negotiator who is always seeking a solution."
Employment: Band 4 - Rudi Desmet: “Rudi Desmet of Astrea is praised by one client as "very accurate and knowledgeable," while another praises him as "a very good specialist for social labour law." His expertise covers employment-related litigation, dismissals and transfers of undertakings.”
TMT: Information Technology: Band 3 - Steven De Schrijver: “Steven De Schrijver of Astrea is praised for his "sound counsel and tactical advice" and offers expertise in commercial agreements, software licensing, technology transfers and IT outsourcing. He continues to advise Microsoft on a range of commercial issues including terms and conditions, public procurement and contractual issues.”
Banking & Finance: “foreign expert” for Germany - Dieter Veestraeten: “Dieter Veestraeten of Astrea is well known for representing German banks, recently advising IKB Deutsche Industriebank on early repayment and the release of securities under a credit facility granted to Unitank. Sources report that his command of the German language is "a big benefit".
As the rankings are based on feedback from in-house peers and clients we would like to thank all of you for your positive input and appreciation for the quality of the services we have rendered to you. Of course we will seek to maintain this level of quality and would love to further develop our services together with you.

