About us

Wouter Van Cutsem

• Lawyer
• Defensis director
• Dutch-speaking Brussels Bar
• Dutch, French, English
• Business contracts, claims for and against companies, IT law
• wvancutsem@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 71

Wouter is a director and partner of the firm, and has been a lawyer for more than 25 years. Many companies call on him and his team almost every day, as their regular lawyers. But Wouter Van Cutsem is also happy to assist you as your personal counsellor with great enthusiasm and commitment. As the firm frequently acts for creditors, he has also taken the post-graduate course in receivership and liquidation.

From the start of his career as a lawyer, Wouter has worked continuously and intensively for the IT sector, including software producers, hardware suppliers, network specialists, etc. In addition, he has also been the counsel of numerous distributors (including medical devices), graphic companies and various contractors in various sectors has for many years. He has regularly advised these companies or their shareholders in the sale or purchase of companies.

Although he is a "court lawyer" at heart, Wouter's main aim is to save you from long and costly litigation, and this starts with efficient and digitalised contract management. Under his supervision, Defensis takes care of the editing and daily follow-up of the contracts of numerous companies.

Olivier Kerkhofs

• Lawyer
• Defensis director
• Dutch-speaking Brussels Bar
• Dutch, French, English
• Corporate law, medical devices, M&A
• okerkhofs@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 73

Olivier Kerkhofs joined our firm after a period working in a law firm that did a lot of arbitration. As a Master in Corporate Law, companies are definitely "his thing", and he is involved in them on a more or less daily basis. Based on this interest, he is very active in the office cases involving acquisitions, corporate disputes and the more complex corporate housekeeping work. His focus is not limited to one legal domain, however. Olivier is also co-editor of numerous (commercial) contracts, including IT contracts, distribution contracts, lease contracts, etc. After his traineeship, he became a partner in Defensis, and Olivier Kerkhofs has also become one of the directors of the firm in the meantime.

Régine Peremans

• Lawyer
• Dendermonde Bar
• Dutch, French
• Social law, liability law, physical injury
• rperemans@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 78

Régine Peremans has two distinct preferences, namely social law and cases involving serious bodily harm.

In social law cases, Régine assists both employers and employees in complex dismissal procedures, in which she has experience of personnel conflicts in both the public and the private sector. Régine Peremans is also well-versed in the legislation on the social status of self-employed persons. Other lawyers have come to her for advice more than once when it comes to social law.

Her special interest and experience also cover the field of liability and compensation in the event of serious physical injury or death. These cases often have a link with social law (incapacity for work, illness and invalidity, medical force majeure).

More than one client can confirm that her experience is, however, far from limited to these two legal domains. For more than 25 years, she has been handling insurance files, rental disputes, construction issues, family matters, etc. in her general law practice.

Stijn Poppe

• Lawyer
• Dutch-speaking Brussels and Dendermonde Bars
• Dutch, French, English,
• Criminal law, family law, co-ownership
• spoppe@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 74

Stijn Poppe is a ‘thoroughbred’ lawyer. His preferred subject matter is criminal law and everything related to it, including the more complex traffic law. Stijn also obtained the certificate of the Court of Cassation for criminal cases. But to simply describe him as just a criminal lawyer would not be correct, however. Stijn Poppe is an excellent expert in civil procedure, and is also active in construction cases, co-ownership cases, rental law, juvenile law, family law, settlements and divisions. Stijn has been a member of the Dendermonde Bar for more than 10 years, and is also registered with the Brussels Bar.

Joris Durinck 

• Lawyer
• Dendermonde Bar
• Dutch, French, English
• GDPR, construction law, corporate housekeeping, rental law
• jdurinck@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 83

With an additional Master in Company Law, additional training in receivership and liquidation and a post-graduate training in the acquisition and transfer of companies, Joris Durinck is mainly active in corporate law, but without limiting himself to this. He also has a broad experience in rental law, including the specific legislation on commercial leases. At Defensis, he also advises clients on the application of the GDPR. Joris is a member of the Dendermonde Bar.

Angela Spitali

• Lawyer
• Dutch-speaking Brussels Bar
• Dutch, French, English, Italian, some knowledge of Russian
• Liquidation-division, insolvency, debt collection
• aspitali@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 76

With her name, it’s not hard to guess that Angela Spitali has Italian roots (Sicily to be precise), and therefore speaks quite a bit of Italian. Angela started her career at the bar in a firm that mainly practiced in tax law (after all, she is also a Master of Tax Law), but, in 2014, she explicitly chose to practice in other areas of law as well. Angela participates in a significant number of proceedings before the family court (including complex settlements and partitions), insolvency and real estate litigation (e.g. co-ownership and rent cases).

Sara Vandenbossche

• MasterTranslator
• Dutch, French, Italian, English
• svandenbossche@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 79

To describe Sara as an excellent administrative right-hand would be incomplete. Sara Vandenbossche is a master translator in "Dutch - French" and is ultimately responsible for all non-legal tasks in the office. For example, she is also responsible for the final check of the texts (layout), the preparation of the accounts, the management of the suppliers, the layout of your file in the document management system and in the Cicero lawyer's software, etc.

Ann-Sofie Vandenbossche

• Bachelor Accountancy-Taxation
• Dutch, French, English
• avandenbossche@defensis.be
• +32 (0)2 892 60 81

Together with Sara Vandenbossche, Ann-Sofie is responsible for the administrative follow-up of the files and the practical organisation of the office. With her background of debtor management in a large regional hospital, Ann-Sofie Vandenbossche is the right person for the administrative part of your collection files.