Liedekerke

Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick is an independent Belgian law firm founded in 1965, headquartered in Brussels with offices in Antwerp, London, Kinshasa, and Kigali, providing legal services across 18 practice areas to corporations, financial institutions, sovereign states, and public sector clients.

Company typePrivate
Founded1965
HeadquartersBrussels, Belgium
Headcount101–250
GTM typeB2B
OfferingServices

What Liedekerke does

Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick is an independent Belgian law firm founded in 1965 and headquartered in Brussels, operating across five offices in Brussels, Antwerp, London, Kinshasa, and Kigali. The firm is one of only two Belgian firms included in the GAR100 ranking for international arbitration, supported by the largest international arbitration team in Belgium (15 lawyers). It is led by managing partner Vincent Busschaert, with Etienne Kairis serving as Co-managing Partner of Litigation, and Africa presence attributed to founding partner Aimery de Schoutheete.

The firm runs 18 practice areas spanning Litigation, International Arbitration, Banking & Finance, Corporate/M&A, Regulatory, ESG, Cyber Security, Whistleblowing, International Sanctions, Distressed M&A, Foreign Investment Screening, and Corporate Governance, among others. It serves large corporations, financial institutions, sovereign states, and public sector clients, with recent mandates including a EUR 97.5 million project financing for Aukera Energy, USD 530 million enforcement proceedings for Kazakhstan, and an ICSID arbitration for DP World.

The firm monetizes through traditional law-firm fee structures: hourly billings, retainers, and project/transaction-based fees. Revenue distribution is diversified across corporate/M&A, litigation, arbitration, regulatory, and finance mandates, with no single client dominating the disclosed book. The firm markets itself on independence, Belgian-rooted international reach (notably in francophone Africa), and depth in dispute resolution, positioning these attributes as differentiators against both Belgian competitors and global firm networks.

Liedekerke firmographics

Firmographics

Name: Liedekerke
Legal name: Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick
Website: https://liedekerke.com
Company type: Private
Founded year: 1965
Operating status: Operating
Headcount range: 101–250 employees
Short description: Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick is an independent Belgian law firm founded in 1965, headquartered in Brussels with offices in Antwerp, London, Kinshasa, and Kigali, providing legal services across 18 practice areas to corporations, financial institutions, sovereign states, and public sector clients.
Ownership category
akta.pro rank

Liedekerke industry classification

Industry

Product category: Legal Services
NAICS: Offices of Lawyers (541110), Legal Services (5411)
SIC: Services-Legal Services (8111)
akta.pro primary industry: Business Valuation & Litigation Support (BPAHABAK)
akta.pro secondary industries: Risk, Compliance & Internal Controls Consulting (BPAHACAJ), Financial Crime, AML/CFT & Sanctions Compliance (BPAHAFAE)

Keywords

Corporate legal services
International arbitration
Banking finance law
Regulatory compliance
Dispute resolution

Where Liedekerke is headquartered

Location

Headquarters

HQ city: Brussels
HQ country: Belgium
HQ region: Europe

Offices5 records

Markets served

Liedekerke business model

Business model

GTM type: B2B
Offering type: Services
Cost components: Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

Legal Services - Professional Fees: Liedekerke generates revenue primarily through professional fees for legal services across its practice areas, including corporate/M&A advisory, litigation representation, international arbitration, regulatory compliance, banking & finance, and restructuring services.

Pricing tiers

Model	Billing	Price
Other	—	Professional legal services with rates based on seniority and complexity

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Liedekerke product offering

Product offering

Core offering

Liedekerke provides comprehensive legal advisory, litigation, and arbitration services across 18 practice areas and 9 cross-cutting solutions. Core offerings include Corporate and M&A, International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution (Belgium's largest team with 15 dedicated lawyers), Litigation (8 partners and 25+ associates), Banking & Finance, Regulatory (24 lawyers), Restructuring & Insolvency, Tax, IP/IT/Data Protection, Employment & Benefits, and Energy. The firm serves large corporations, financial institutions, sovereign states, and international organizations across Belgium, the UK, and francophone Africa.

Product overview

Liedekerke (Liedekerke Wolters Waelbroeck Kirkpatrick) is an independent Belgian law firm celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2025, offering a comprehensive suite of legal services through 18 distinct practice areas and 9 specialized solutions. The core practice areas span contentious matters (Litigation with 8 partners and 25+ associates; International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution with 15 dedicated lawyers and Belgium's largest counsel team; Restructuring & Insolvency) and non-contentious advisory (Corporate and M&A, Banking & Finance, Tax, IP/IT/Data Protection, Employment & Benefits, Regulatory with 24 lawyers, and others). The firm delivers these through cross-cutting solutions including ESG, Cyber Security, Whistleblowing, and Corporate Governance. Liedekerke serves 12 industry sectors with offices in Brussels, Antwerp, London, Kinshasa, and Kigali. The International Arbitration practice is recognized in the GAR100 as one of only two Belgian firms, ranked Band 2 in Chambers Global for Arbitration. The Regulatory practice holds Band 1 in Chambers Europe for Planning & Environment, while Litigation is ranked Band 3 in Chambers Europe.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

White-Collar Crime & Compliance Legal services related to white-collar crime defense, regulatory compliance, investigations, and corporate criminal liability matters.
Real Estate
Banking & Finance
Financial Services Regulatory
Capital Markets
Commercial Contracts
Competition/EU Law & Foreign Investment
Corporate and M&A
IP / IT / Data Protection
Employment & Benefits
Tax
Trade Practices & Consumer Law
Restructuring & Insolvency
Regulatory
International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution
Litigation
Energy
Environment, Planning and Climate Change
Corporate Governance
Distressed M&A
Foreign Investment Screening
ESG
Start-up and scale-up desk
Cyber Security
Compliance & Investigations
Whistleblowing
International Sanctions

Quantifiable outcome

EUR 97.5 million project financing facilitated for energy storage project
+4 more outcomes

Companies that use Liedekerke

Customer profile

Named customers17 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Liedekerke technology and API

Technology

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API: No
API docs
API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Liedekerke partnerships and signals

Strategic signal

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Liedekerke competitors and assessment

Company assessment

Broad incumbents

Freshfields: Global Magic Circle firm with strong Brussels presence in EU competition, regulatory, and international arbitration; competes for the same premium mandates and sovereign-state work.
CMS: European-headquartered law firm with a strong Brussels office offering corporate, banking, regulatory, and dispute resolution services; comparable mid-market European positioning to Liedekerke.
Clifford Chance: Global Magic Circle firm with a major Brussels office that competes directly with Liedekerke on EU regulatory, arbitration, banking & finance, and corporate work; much larger but overlapping in the Belgian market.
Jones Day: Global firm with a substantial Brussels office practicing EU regulatory, competition, M&A, and dispute resolution; competes for similar multinational clients and arbitration mandates.
Baker McKenzie: Global firm with a major Brussels office serving multinationals on EU regulatory, tax, trade, and cross-border transactions; broader geographic reach than Liedekerke but overlapping client base.
Linklaters: Magic Circle firm with a substantial Brussels office competing in corporate/M&A, capital markets, arbitration, and EU regulatory matters; serves similar multinational and sovereign clients.
Allen & Overy (A&O Shearman): Global elite law firm with a long-established Brussels office competing in banking & finance, capital markets, EU competition, and arbitration; comparable client base of large corporates and sovereigns.

Direct peers

Eubelius: Belgian independent law firm headquartered in Brussels with comparable size and a similarly strong focus on dispute resolution, EU/regulatory law, and corporate work; competes head-to-head in the same domestic market.
Stibbe: Leading Benelux independent law firm with comparable headcount and a similar mix of corporate, litigation, arbitration, and regulatory practices; directly competes with Liedekerke for top-tier Belgian and international mandates.
NautaDutilh: Benelux-headquartered independent law firm with strong Brussels presence and comparable offerings in corporate, finance, litigation, and arbitration; competes for the same cross-border Benelux mandates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Liedekerke financial estimates

Financial estimate

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Liedekerke leadership team

Management profile

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Liedekerke subsidiaries and ownership

Company hierarchy

Subsidiaries1 record

Liedekerke funding detail

Funding detail

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Liedekerke M&A and investment

M&A and investment

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Liedekerke

What does Liedekerke do?

Is Liedekerke a public or private company?

Liedekerke is a private company. It is classified as management employee owned and is currently operating.

When was Liedekerke founded?

Liedekerke was founded in 1965. It employs 101 to 250 people.

Where is Liedekerke based?

Liedekerke is headquartered in Brussels, Belgium, in the Europe region.

How does Liedekerke make money?

One revenue line is on record: legal Services - Professional Fees.

Who are Liedekerke's main competitors?

Broad incumbents on record are Freshfields, CMS, Clifford Chance, Jones Day, Baker McKenzie, Linklaters and Allen & Overy (A&O Shearman). Direct peers are Eubelius, Stibbe and NautaDutilh.

Does Liedekerke have an API?

No public API is recorded for Liedekerke.

What industry is Liedekerke in?

Liedekerke's product category is Legal Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAHABAK, Business Valuation & Litigation Support, with a secondary code of BPAHACAJ, Risk, Compliance & Internal Controls Consulting. Its NAICS code is 541110 and its SIC code is 8111.