Arbitration and mediation

Partner

Herman Verbist

Herman Verbist is a lawyer at the bars of Ghent and Brussels, and head of the arbitration department with Everest Attorneys.

Since more than 30 years, his activity focuses primarily on arbitration and alternative dispute resolution.

He has acted in more than 80 national and international arbitrations as counsel, sole arbitrator, chairman of the arbitral tribunal, co-arbitrator, or expert (CEPANI, ICC, CAS, Permanent Court of Arbitration, European Court of Arbitration, Danish Institute of Arbitration, Polish Court of Arbitration, ad hoc) and has also acted as mediator in more than 20 national and international mediations (appointments by Belgian Courts, WIPO, Energy Community, ad hoc) and as adjudicator.

Herman Verbist is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and member of numerous international arbitration associations and registered as arbitrator on the list of arbitrators of several arbitration institutions worldwide, including CAS, WIPO, NAI, CAfA, VIAC, ICDR, HKIAC, SIAC, THAC, AIAC, KCAB, ICDR, JCAA.

He is also an accredited mediator (Belgian Federal Mediation Commission) and is registered on the “Panel of Conciliators” of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), Washington D.C., and also registered on the Energy Community Dispute Resolution Panel of Mediators, Vienna, Austria.

He is co-chairman of FICA (Forum for International Conciliation and Arbitration), an international think tank of arbitrators and mediators, United Kingdom, and attends the sessions of Working Group II (Dispute Resolution) of UNCITRAL in New York and Vienna.

He is founder and member of the Executive Committee of the European Dispute Resolution Society, an international think tank of academics, practitioners and policy-makers for debates on topical discussions and developments related to dispute resolution in, with and by the European Union.

He obtained his Master’s degree in law at the University of Leuven, and has completed additional law studies in Germany (Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen) and in the United Kingdom (King’s College, University of London). He obtained a doctorate in law at the University of Ghent.

He worked for eight years as counsel at the secretariat of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris. He has been president of the arbitrators of the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport for five years.

For 17 years, he was a visiting professor for the course on international commercial arbitration at the University of Ghent. Since 2020, he has been a professor for the course ‘Case Study Investment Mediation’ at the Europa Institute of the University of Saarland.

He has authored and co-authored several books and articles on arbitration and and alternative dispute resolution.

Partner

Frank Burssens

Frank Burssens graduated in 1990 with a master’s degree in law at the University of Ghent and in 1991 obtained an LL.M. in internatinal business law at London University (Queen Mary and Westfield College).

In 2007, Frank, together with some co-partners, founded the firm Burssens & Partners Ondernemingsadvocaten, which now operates under the name Everest. As a lawyer working in the Ghent office of Everest, Frank specialises in property law (legal assistance with the purchase and sale of land and buildings, share transactions of project companies and urban planning and environmental issues), construction law (both public contracts and private construction law) and energy law. He assists his clients in the areas of both contracts and judicial proceedings and arbitration.

Moreover, he also has an extensive track record in the area of general commercial and company law, especially as regards company takeovers. He has also been appointed as an arbiter with the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Partner

Mario Van Santvoort

Mario Van Santvoort obtained his master’s degree in law with honours in 2000 at the Roman Catholic University of Leuven (1995-2000). He completed an EEP year in France at the University of Rennes (Brittany) and was sworn in as a lawyer at the Brussels bar on 6 November 2000. In 2002 and 2003, he further specialised in corporate law via an additional master’s degree in business law (GGS) at the University of Antwerp.

In 2004, he was registered at the Brussels bar (Dutch-speaking section). He has been a partner of the firm since 2007 and is a co-founder of Everest. Since 2018, he has also been registered at the Antwerp bar.

Mario is a managing partner of Everest Antwerp where his specialities include company law, arbitration and mediation and real estate, construction and energy law.

Partner

Lucien Kalenga

Lucien Kalenga obtained a master’s degree in law and a specialist qualification (D.E.S.) in economic law at the Roman Catholic University of Leuven.

Lucien practises company law, international law and dispute settlement in the Brussels office of Everest.

He was a member of the Council of French-speaking Lawyers at the Brussels bar from 2011 to 2014.

Lucien Kalenga also held office as president of the Brussels Young Bar Association during the period from 2008 to 2009.