The Role
We are looking for a freshly graduated IC&T Lawyer with a strong academic background and excellent command of English, Dutch and French to join our Brussels office.
The Team
Our International Commercial & Trade (IC&T) team is the global market leader in the commercial and trade sphere. The team helps businesses manage the life cycle of their products and services by addressing legal and regulatory issues in each phase of the supply chain, from structuring, design, procurement and manufacturing through to cross-border trade, ending with advertising and sales and after-sales issues in the local markets.
The Belgian IC&T team is renowned for its expertise in advising on a broad range of commercial activities and relationships, including domestic and international agency and distribution networks, outsourcing; services and consultancy agreements; development and manufacturing agreements; procurement and supply chain arrangements; warehousing and logistics and terms of trade. The team often works on pan-European and global projects, assisting clients in managing the differences between EU Member States' local laws in a coordinated manner. They also support clients on regulatory and marketing related matters, with a focus on the consumer products, food and beverage and healthcare sectors.
The Belgian team not only advises and negotiates, but also litigates commercial disputes before courts and arbitral tribunals.
Key Skills and Experience Required
The successful candidate will be able to demonstrate all or the majority of the following:
1. A qualified lawyer with a strong academic background (Belgian law degree)
2. Interest in IC&T and dispute resolution
3. Excellent command of English, Dutch and French
4. An additional foreign Law Degree is recommended
5. High quality work standards
6. Strong client-service orientation
7. Excellent communication skills
8. Ability to work well both in a team and individually
Why join us?
Baker McKenzie is a truly global law firm. Founded in 1949, we advise many of the world's most dynamic and successful business organisations through our 13,200 people in 78 offices in 46 countries. Yet big does not mean impersonal. We work hard to ensure that everyone knows their role and has the support they need to perform it to the highest standard. Our culture encourages this - how we work, think and behave in a collaborative and fulfilling way.
Baker McKenzie opened its first Belgian office in Brussels in 1957. In 2002, it opened its Antwerp office. Today, Baker McKenzie has more than 80 Belgian qualified lawyers across the two offices.
The strength of the firm and our culture is evidenced by a number of recent awards, including:
9. Named Global Law Firm of the Year in Europe at the Lawyer European Awards 2021
10. Named Leading Legal Brand for the 12th Consecutive Year by Thomson Reuters Global Elite Law Firm Brand Index
11. Ranked as one of the Stonewall Top Global Employers for 2022 with a Gold Award on Stonewall's Global Workplace Equality Index of Top Global Employers for LGBTQ+ people, reflecting our commitment to our progressive values and our collaborative, diverse and inclusive culture
12. Top 75 employers in the 2021 Social Mobility Employer Index
13. 2022 Hall of Fame for the Best Law Firm for Women - Working Mother Magazine
14. One of the Top Law Firms for Women - Law360 Glass Ceiling Report 2020
15. 2020 Best Law Firm for Women in Europe and Asia - Euromoney Women in Business Law Awards
16. Recognised as a global leader in the climate change sphere by Global Market Leaders 2022
17. Recognised by Accenture in 2022 in its Outside Counsel Diversity Awards for its efforts around increasing equality and inclusion in the legal profession
18. Belgium Tax Disputes Firm of the Year 2021 - ITR European Tax Awards 2021
19. Climate Change Firm of the Year 2020 - Who's Who Legal Awards
20. TARGET job awards 2020 - Finalist for most popular graduate recruiter in law
21. We view diversity and inclusion as a business imperative, and seek to engage with our clients to drive diversity and inclusion both within our Firm and in the broader legal community. Diverse teams make innovation possible, provide us greater insight into client needs, and lead to better performance
22. Our approach is global and inclusive. We have more than 13,000 employees in 46 countries who speak 80+ languages, and we want to ensure that all of our people feel included and empowered
23. The D&I Agenda is championed at the highest level by our Global Chair and our Global Executive Committee whose members each have KPIs around diversity
24. We have a Global D&I Committee who actively work to drive forward the firm's diversity and inclusion strategy and monitors progress through regular meetings and leadership accountability
25. We are proactively cultivating a diverse and inclusive environment through leadership accountability, policies and practices and client and community outreach.