Sitting comfortably alongside the high-quality legal services on offer to the myriad multinational and local enterprises established in the Benelux market, there are a wide range of other services that stem from the presence of European Union (EU) institutions in both Brussels and Luxembourg. While EU/competition law has historically had a high profile, a highly active international trade law bar has been growing nicely alongside it for many years.
Increasingly, the focus of much of this work is moving away from the ‘bread and butter’ EU-focused anti-dumping work that has traditionally formed the core of this services sector. This picture has changed for many reasons. Perhaps foremost is the cut-throat competition over fees that Brussels-based law firms and offices have openly engaged in, either to preserve their position in this market segment or in the belief that this is the key to unlocking a successful and profitable trade practice in the longer term. Regardless of their motives, the result is a buyers’ market where new suppliers enter at their peril.
