Liability law

Liability law

Over the years, we have built up an extensive track record in the areas of:

• Damage claims: we offer you complete assistance, advice and follow-up with expert appraisals and defence in procedures in damage cases, physical damage, fire damage, structural damage and traffic accidents. We also assist you in disputes with insurance companies.
• Directors’ liability: defence of directors whose liability is questioned, both in advice and in a procedure; also assistance for companies and shareholders who believe that directors have made mistakes in the performance of their duties.
• Government liability: even if the government is at fault, we will assist you with advice and, if possible/necessary, legal action.
• Product liability: we assist both producers and consumers in product liability claims.
• Class action claims: we also have experience in setting up major claims with numerous victims.

Medical liability

In recent years, our company has built up an additional specialisation in the field of medical (liability) law and patient rights:

Medical liability:

• Medical error: this is an error by virtue of a medical treatment by a health care provider, namely a doctor, a nurse or the paramedical staff when a normal, diligent and prudent health care worker of the same category would not have committed this error when put in the same circumstances.
• Medical appraisal and procedures: we will assist you during the course of a medical appraisal and with legal procedures to prove either an error with an obligation of means or with an obligation of result.

Rights of the patient:

• Right to a good quality service
• Right to a free choice of professional
• Informed consent
• Right to health condition information
• Right to inspect the patient file.

Funds for medical accidents:

We give you initial advice about the chances of success, we put together your file and we start the procedure for you.  The procedure for the funds for medical accidents is an alternative, amicable and faster procedure in which the victim or his/her beneficiary endeavours to obtain compensation:

• either if the damage is caused by a medical accident without liability with abnormal damage, under strict conditions;
• or if the fact results in the liability of the health care provider, whose civil liability is not covered or insufficiently covered by an insurance policy;
• or if the health care provider disputes his/her liability in so far as the damage is severe;
• or if the health care provider’s insurer has proposed compensation, which the Funds considers to be manifestly inadequate.

Director’s liability (at the level of civil and company law)

Over the years, we have built up an extensive track record in the areas of:

Alarm bell procedure

• Legal assistance for directors since they must react in time if their company gets into financial difficulties. Article 2, Section 52 of the Company Code even provides explicitly that if severe and corresponding facts can threaten the continuity of the company, the management body must deliberate over measures which should be taken to safeguard the continuity of economic activities for a term of at least twelve months. Moreover, in some cases the directors must start the alarm bell procedure in time.

Various grounds of liability

• From breaches of the articles of association and/or the Company and Association Code, common management errors or breaches of the general standard of care to founder’s liability, liability due to a late declaration of bankruptcy, liability due to tax and social security debts, liability due to a manifestly serious error which has contributed to bankruptcy and liability due to wrongful trading: the range of liability grounds against a director is fairly extensive. We assist you here not only with relevant advice, but also we supervise in the event of legal procedures both for directors and for creditors who are faced with loss as a result of an entrepreneur in difficulty.
• Apart from grounds of civil liability, the Criminal Code also provides for a number of criminal sanctions which are connected to the insolvency of a company or to injudicious or even malicious acts by a director. Here too, our office can provide the necessary assistance.