Clifford Chance

Clifford Chance announces the promotion of 31 partners to the global partnership, and four new Senior Counsel and forty new Counsel appointments across our European offices, 8 of which are in Belgium

Global law firm Clifford Chance announces the promotion of 31 lawyers to the global partnership, and four new Senior Counsel and forty new Counsel across its European offices, effective 1 May 2025. The list includes one partner, one Senior Counsel and six new Counsel in Belgium: Aleksander Tombiński (Partner), Pieter De Bock (Senior Counsel), Nivi Balaji (Counsel), Jonathan Blondeel (Counsel), Carmen Puscas (Counsel), Nathan Tulkens (Counsel), Stijn Van Walleghem (Counsel), and Gillis Waelkens (Counsel).

Alexandre Ooms, Office Managing Partner for Clifford Chance in Belgium: " I wish to congratulate our 8 lawyers on their well-deserved promotions to Partner, Senior Counsel and Counsel and I am delighted to count so many talents in our team.

These achievements are a testament to their unwavering dedication, exceptional commitment, and the significant contributions they have made to our firm and to the Brussels office in the past years"

Aleksander Tombiński, Corporate

Aleksander, in our Brussels Antitrust team, helps clients navigate through complex regulatory investigations. His practice covers abuse of market power, anti-competitive agreements, tech regulation, global merger control, and state aid matters. He joined the firm as an Associate in 2013 and was promoted to Counsel in 2022. Aleks holds a Master en droit from the Université catholique de Louvain and is qualified to practise in Belgium. Fluent in French and Polish, he dedicates a significant portion of his time to clients in the tech and retail sectors.

Pieter De Bock, Real estate

A member of the Brussels bar since 1999, Pieter is a specialist in real estate transactions and projects, public, environmental and urban planning law. He works on a broad range of real estate matters including numerous high profile property transactions or projects, corporate transactions, advisory work and litigation. Pieter has advised numerous clients on zoning law, permitting requirements and questions of environmental law, including on liabilities for soil contamination.

Nivi Balaji, Corporate

Nivi specialises in UK and EU competition law, advising on merger control, foreign investment regimes and behavioural antitrust matters. Nivi advises clients across a number of sectors including energy and infrastructure, transportation, telecoms, consumer goods and retail. She holds a Bachelor of Laws (LLB Honours) from the Durham University and a Master of Laws (Competition law) from the College of Europe.

Jonathan Blondeel, Corporate

Jonathan is a member of our Global Antitrust group and joined Clifford Chance Brussels in 2015. Jonathan advises clients on a wide range of EU and Belgian competition law matters, including merger control, behavioural matters under Articles 101 and 102 of the TFEU, and State aid investigations, as well as Belgian FDI matters. He also coordinated the development of the Clifford Chance Dawn Raid App for Belgium. He holds a degree in Law from the Universiteit Gent and an LL.M in Competition Law from University College London.

Carmen Puscas, Corporate

Carmen joined our Global Antitrust Group in 2018. She advises clients on all aspects of competition law and represents companies in behavioural investigations (both in submitting and defending against complaints) and merger control proceedings before the European Commission. She has worked with clients across various sectors including TMT, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and oil and gas. She holds a Bachelor of Laws / Behavioural Science (Psychology) from the Queensland University of Technology, a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice from the College of Law, Queensland, and an LL.M in International and European Law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel.

Nathan Tulkens, Litigation and Dispute Resolution

Nathan joined Clifford Chance in Brussels in 2015 following the obtention of his law degree magna cum laude from the University of Louvain-la-Neuve in 2014. He is a member of our litigation and dispute resolution practice. Nathan's practice is focused on commercial litigation and arbitration whether in a domestic or international context. He also has a substantial experience in commercial law and M&A and advises corporate clients across various sectors. He is a member of CEPANI, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and has a keen interest in ESG related work and topics, as well as the sports sector.

Stijn Van Walleghem, Tax, Pensions and Employment

Stijn joined the Clifford Chance Brussels office as a tax associate in 2015. He obtained master degrees in law from the Universities of Leuven (KUL) and Brussels (ULB), where he specialised in tax law and international law. Stijn also obtained an LLM in taxation (with additional certification in WTO law) from Georgetown University in Washington D.C. He advises clients on the tax aspects of corporate (e.g. private equity M&A, LBO, MBO, restructuring operations), finance and real estate transactions. He has represented clients in major tax disputes with the Belgian tax authorities, including during tax investigations, administrative proceedings and legal proceedings before the various Belgian courts.

Gillis Waelkens, Corporate

Gillis joined Clifford Chance in Brussels as an associate in 2018. He focuses on domestic and international M&A transactions and corporate advisory work. He has a particular expertise with regulated industries (telecom, energy, transportation), technology and venture capital, and cross-border industrial M&A. He assists clients with their infrastructure transactions, venture and growth investments, public and cross-border M&A. Gillis obtained his law degree magna cum laude from KU Leuven in 2018. He also holds a Master in Policy Economics from KU Leuven.

Charles Adams, the Global Managing Partner at Clifford Chance, said about the partners' promotions, "We're committed to investing in and nurturing our top talent in areas where we can have the most impact on our clients' success. These exceptional individuals represent our high-performing, collaborative culture and continued focus on supporting our clients’ most critical challenges."

Steve Jacoby, co-Regional Managing Partner for One Europe comments on the (Senior) Counsel appointments: "These appointments reflect our commitment to continuing to invest in our people, ensuring we continue to deliver exceptional service to our clients and strengthen our position as the leading global law firm in Europe".

Chinwe Odimba-Chapman, co-Regional Managing Partner for One Europe continues: "These appointments are a testament to the exceptional talent within Clifford Chance. By investing in our people, we are not only investing in the future of our firm but also ensuring that we continue to meet the evolving needs of our clients."

The new Senior Counsel and Counsel appointments span all practice areas across the firm's European offices, including M&A, Antitrust, Private Capital, Technology, Tax and Litigation.

Click here for a full overview of the partners' promotions and here for a full overview of the new Senior Counsel and Counsel.