Michael Olislaegers

Stockholm building | Leonardo Da Vincilaan 19A | B-1831 Diegem | Belgium

M: +32 475 52 29 20

E: molislaegers(at)odc(dot)law

Michael Olislaegers is a member of the Brussels Bar Association, managing partner of the firm and chairman of Awerian.

He is fluent in Dutch, English and French with a working knowledge of German.

Education & career

Michael Olislaegers graduated in 1990 as Licentiate (Master) in Law at the University of Antwerp.

In 1991 he obtained a Master of Laws (LLM) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), with a focus on the legal aspects of international finance, international economic law, international arbitration and European law. LSE is a School of the University of London. In 1994 he obtained a Master in Business Administration from the EHSAL Management School in Brussels.

In 2007 to 2008, Michael Olislaegers was extensively trained in negotiation and mediation techniques and became accredited by the Belgian Federal Commission as mediator in business matters.

Michael became a member of the Brussels Bar Association in 1992 and was a member of the Antwerp Bar Association from 1993 to 1999. He started his career working for the Belgian law firms that by 2000 had become part of multinational law firms Allen & Overy (formerly Loeff Claeys Verbeke, now known as A&O Shearman) and Coudert Brothers (formerly Coppens, Van Ommeslaghe & Faurès).

As a junior lawyer, Michael worked mainly for Louis H. Verbeke, Philip Ghekiere (in Brussels) and Wim Dejonghe (in Antwerp), all at Loeff Claeys Verbeke. In 1995 to 1996 Michael gained capital markets experience working in a London City firm (Allen & Overy). In 1997 Michael Olislaegers co-founded the Antwerp office of Coppens, Van Ommeslaghe & Faurès (that became part of Coudert Brothers in 1999), where he was in charge of the Corporate & M&A department.

In 1999 and 2000 Michael Olislaegers gained professional experience and made partner in a major worldwide multidisciplinary audit, tax, consulting and legal services firm (KPMG) and in January 2001 Michael co-founded the law firm that continued the legal services department of KPMG as a law firm submitted to the Brussels’ Bar Regulations.

In 2002 Michael Olislaegers founded a niche Belgian law firm practicing in close cooperation with the US law firm Oppenheimer Wolff & Donnelly LLP (OWD), that was succeeded in Brussels by the US law firm Steptoe & Johnson LLP (Steptoe LLP) in 2004. Meanwhile, in January 2003, Kristof De Creus had joined and the firm became known as ‘Olislaegers & De Creus’.

Experience

During his career, Michael gained experience and expertise in a large number of economic sectors and focused his practice has always been focused on the legal aspects of corporate & M&A, banking & finance, commercial & contract law, dispute resolution (litigation, mediation and arbitration), regulatory & compliance, property & real estate as well as banking and insurance products and MiFID regulations.

Michael Olislaegers has since longer than two decades been consistently recommended by the Legal 500 EMEA guide for his legal expertise and skills in the fields of corporate and commercial matters, M&A and since many years also in the field of dispute resolution.

A few notable testimonials from over the years

I’m using O&DC since 2005. Various types of work: advising on the content/making contracts of various kinds; legal due diligence for a take-over; permanent legal advice for a merger; legal structuring of start-up projects; structuring of complex work for interrelations between several companies in a total group structure; etc. Response times are most of the time extremely short (overnight results, meetings within two-three days, …). Business acumen is high / Industry knowledge is often positively surprising to me. In-depth knowledge indeed, if needed change of partner to have the most adequate answers. Value for money: not cheap in itself, but most often worth several/many times the cost, especially in view of having covered future business risks. Michael Olislaegers: very high cooperative and pro-active thinking for the client.

I have been working for about 30 years with law firms active in Belgium. Amongst them over this time horizon parties like A&O, Linklaters, Freshfields, Stibbe Simont, DLA, … None of them approaches the client-oriented approach of O&De Creus.

Source: Chairman of the Board of a Belgian company

Dank voor de info mbt jullie activiteiten. Dit kan van pas komen omdat klanten soms vragen naar wie ze kunnen stappen voor juridisch advies inzake vastgoed. Ik heb alleszins een erg goede indruk overgehouden aan onze samenwerking en kan dus zonder problemen klanten doorverwijzen als het geval zich voordoet.

Source: Brussels based Senior Consultant, Capital Markets division, international real estate consultant/agent

Needless to say, I also look forward to working with ODC.

Source: Managing Partner, Brussels office, international law firm

Our cooperation has indeed been a good and positive story. Most appreciated and talk to you soon.

Source: Senior partner, Brussels office, international law firm

Our London colleagues …. have strongly recommended you to us. We have been asked on a highly confidential basis to submit at very short notice a proposal for advising on a capital markets transaction. This pitch is actually of utmost importance for us as a firm. We are looking forward to pitching with you for this matter.

Source: German office of a US-UK law firm

Ik ben idd niet vergeten dat je voor de familie * goed werk verricht hebt. … Ik zou liefst hebben dat je dit dossier zoveel mogelijk zelf behandelt.

Source: Belgian accountant