Nobody can take
a share of your win.

We cannot, and nor can any Belgian lawyer practising properly. An agreement made before a matter is resolved under which the fee consists solely of a share or percentage of the result — the pactum de quota litis — is prohibited. If someone offers you that arrangement, they are offering something the rules of the profession forbid, which tells you something before you have even discussed the case.

We will give you an honest assessment, including where the case is weak, and we will not convert it into a percentage or a promise. The result depends on the facts as they can be proved, the evidence that exists, how a court applies the law and decisions taken by other parties — none of which we control. A lawyer who gives you a confident figure is selling you certainty that does not exist.

Because the rules governing a lawyer's communications require them to be truthful and dignified and to respect professional secrecy, and they do not permit claimed success rates or comparisons with other practitioners. A testimonial also risks revealing that someone was a client, which is itself covered by secrecy. The absence of those things is compliance rather than modesty.

What you tell a lawyer is covered by professional secrecy, which is protected by the criminal law and is considerably stronger than the confidentiality owed by most other professions. There is a narrow area where anti-money-laundering obligations apply to lawyers — assisting in certain property and company transactions — but those obligations expressly do not reach information obtained when assessing your legal position or when defending or representing you, and any report goes to the President of the Bar rather than directly to the authorities.

We agree the basis in writing at the outset: a fixed amount for a defined task, or a rate for time spent, with an estimate that we update if it moves. We also explain the court costs and the procedural indemnity, and what you may have to pay if the case is lost. That second figure is the one clients are most often not told, and it frequently changes the decision.

Yes, immediately. Limitation periods and procedural time limits are strict and a right can simply expire, including while someone is deciding whether to take advice. The first meeting is free precisely so that the cost of asking is never the reason somebody waits. Nothing on this site is advice on your matter, and reading it does not create a lawyer-client relationship.