VANDERSTAPPEN ROBERT is pleased to announce that Olivier Van Herstraeten joined the firm as a partner in June 2025. His arrival significantly strengthens the firm's capabilities in legal risk management, compliance, and corporate responsibility, enhancing its capacity to guide clients through intricate legal challenges.
Olivier Van Herstraeten brings a wealth of experience, having previously worked at prestigious international law firms such as Allen & Overy (formerly Loef Claes Verbeke) and Fieldfisher. Beyond his firm experience, he has held various senior roles as a member of Executive Committees and as General Counsel for multinational groups across diverse sectors, including retail (GB-INNO-BM), banking & insurance (Dexia Group), and Defense (FN-BROWNING).
His practice will focus on corporate law, compliance, and dispute resolution. He possesses deep expertise in corporate governance, legal risk management (including legal risk mapping, AML and other internal policies, and whistleblowing), corporate restructuring/crisis management, director's liability, and shareholders' agreements & conflicts.
Olivier has extensive hands-on experience advising Boards and Executive Committees of companies navigating distress or undergoing complex restructuring and transformation processes, including interactions with media and supervisory authorities. He has also served on several boards (e.g., Exki) and undertaken interim management assignments. His commitment to the legal community is further demonstrated by his role as a consular judge at the Brussels commercial court and his past tenure as a board member of the Institute of Belgian (in-house) lawyers (2015-2017).
Academically, Olivier holds an LLM in Economic Law (1988, magna cum laude) from Université Libre de Bruxelles, a Master in Taxation (1987, magna cum laude) from ICHEC, and a Master in Law (1986, magna cum laude) from Université Catholique de Louvain. He was also a lecturer and teaching assistant for tax seminars (UCL) and an introduction to tax (ICHEC-ESSF) between 1993 and 2005. Olivier has also been featured in the press for his defense of various cases.
Commenting on his new role, Olivier Van Herstraeten stated: "I am very pleased to announce that I will be joining the law firm VANDERSTAPPEN ROBERT as a partner. Nicolas Van Der Stappen and Laurent Robert founded this firm, which is specialized in resolving complex disputes in corporate and construction law. I will contribute my expertise as a lawyer specialized in corporate law, as well as my in-depth knowledge of legal risk management within companies, acquired through my experience as General Counsel and Executive Committee member in various international groups. Our ambition is to provide our clients with top-tier expertise combined with a pragmatic and rigorous approach to complex legal challenges. I am looking forward to starting this new chapter of my professional life."
