Bernard Caris

Bernard Caris obtained his law degree at the Catholic University of Leuven. He has been a member of the Dutch speaking section of the Brussels Bar Association since 1994. Bernard Caris is fluent in Dutch, French and English and has basic knowledge of German and Spanish.

His career has developed through:

activities as a lawyer:

• he has assisted primarily Belgian and foreign companies in several areas of law;
• more specifically he assists clients with regard to “business immigration”, including both applying for permits (work permits, professional cards, visa, …) and advising with respect to taxes, social security and citizenship;
• furthermore he has vast experience in providing advice and litigating in matters relating to (inter)national commercial and civil law (distribution and agency contracts, …) and intellectual property rights (copyright, trademarks, …);
• he is considered one of Belgium’s expert lawyers in the field of corporate immigration(Who’s Who legal).

academic activities:

• he is the Belgian member of ABIL (Alliance of Business Immigration Lawyers), an international network of “business immigration” lawyers;
• he has been a regular speaker since 2002 on Belgian and international conferences with regard to “business immigration” and he has written several publications in this same practice area;
• he has written several articles since 2003 with regard to commercial law and intellectual property rights for “KMO – Vraag & Antwoord” (editor: Kluwer) and he was also member of the editorial staff of this newsletter;

functions at the Bar:

• he was member of the board of the Flemish Young Bar (2004-2007) at the Brussels Bar Association;
• during this same time (2004-2007) he was editor of “Het Poelaertplein” (magazine of Flemish Young Bar).