First conversation
What has happened, and whether we can act at all.
Beveren · Law practice, also FeraLex Advocaten
It has no
It has no
expiry date.
Professional secrecy here is protected by criminal law, not just by professional rules. It covers everything we learn because of your matter, it survives the end of the case and your death, and it is not simply a switch you can turn off.
- 2022since
- Secrecyabsolute
- Neverdisclosed
- Bothways
What we do
Four things, one foundation
Everything else rests on professional secrecy, so it is worth understanding exactly how far it goes.
Professional secrecy
What is protected, for how long, and why you cannot simply waive it.
See the programConfidential letters
Correspondence between lawyers that cannot be produced in court.
See the programConflicts
Checking before accepting, and withdrawing where a conflict appears later.
See the programAdvice and matters
Advice, negotiation and proceedings, on a basis agreed in advance.
See the program
How it works
How we work
Check conflicts before accepting an instruction, treat professional secrecy as the criminal obligation it is rather than a courtesy, keep correspondence between lawyers confidential so settlement remains possible, and agree the basis of fees before being instructed.
Conflicts checked
Across the practice, before accepting.
The basis agreed
Fees and scope, in writing, in advance.
The matter run
With what you tell us protected permanently.
Working together
Fees
Fees are in euro and the basis on which they are calculated is agreed before the practice is instructed. Fees are never a share of the result, which the profession prohibits.
Advice
A view on a specific situation, after the documents.
- Conflict checked first
- Fee basis agreed in advance
- Documents examined properly
- Written position
- Weak positions said to be weak
A matter
Negotiation, settlement or proceedings.
- Secrecy without time limit
- Correspondence kept confidential
- Funds on a third-party account
- Deadlines diarised
- Withdrawal if a conflict appears
What cannot be offered
Not reluctance. Rules that bind the profession.
- No fee as a share of the result
- No success rate quoted
- No comparison with other lawyers
- No client testimonials
- No handing over confidential letters
Every engagement is quoted after a free consultation. No subscription.
How we work
A duty that outlives the file
ADVOCAAT KIM DE WILDE BV was created on 4 May 2022 and is registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 0785.815.410, with its registered office at 38 Eedverbondlaan in Beveren-Kruibeke-Zwijndrecht, and trades from an establishment under the name FeraLex Advocaten. Its sole registered activity is the activity of a lawyer.
Professional secrecy is the foundation that everything else in this relationship rests on, and it is considerably stronger than most clients expect. In Belgium it is protected by the criminal law, so breaching it is an offence rather than a disciplinary matter. It covers not only what a client says but everything the lawyer learns because of the matter, and in sensitive cases it covers the fact that the client came at all. It has no expiry date: it survives the conclusion of the case, the end of the relationship and the death of the client. The feature that surprises people most is that it is not simply a right belonging to the client which the client may switch off on request, because the obligation is of public order and the lawyer remains its keeper. That is precisely what makes it worth having, since a secret that evaporates under pressure protects nobody. A related rule makes negotiation possible at all: correspondence between lawyers is in principle confidential, cannot be produced in proceedings and cannot be handed to a client as a document to rely on, which allows two lawyers to explore a settlement frankly without a concession becoming an admission. And conflicts are checked at the level of the practice before an instruction is accepted.
Frequently asked
The questions we get most
How strong is professional secrecy in Belgium?
Stronger than most people assume. It is protected by the criminal law, so breaching it is an offence and not merely a professional failing. It covers everything you tell us and everything we learn because of the matter, and where the fact of consulting a lawyer is itself sensitive, it covers that too. There is no category of information that is somehow outside it because it seems unimportant.
Does it end when my case ends?
No. It is not limited in time. It survives the conclusion of the matter, the end of the professional relationship and the death of the client. That permanence is deliberate: a duty that lapsed after a few years would be worth very little to anyone deciding today whether to speak freely about something difficult.
Can I waive it if I want something disclosed?
Not as simply as people expect, and this is the point that surprises clients most. The obligation is of public order and the lawyer remains its keeper, so a request from a client to disclose is assessed rather than treated as automatic authorisation. It feels restrictive until you consider the alternative: a secrecy that a client can switch off is a secrecy that a client can be pressured into switching off.
Why can you not show me the letters from the other lawyer?
Because correspondence between lawyers is in principle confidential. It cannot be produced in legal proceedings and cannot be handed to a client as a document to rely on, subject to the limited categories the rules treat as official. That rule is what allows two lawyers to explore a settlement honestly, since neither has to worry that an exploratory concession will reappear as an admission. We will tell you the substance of what is being discussed.
What happens if you cannot act because of a conflict?
We tell you early and you go elsewhere. A lawyer cannot act for parties whose interests conflict, and the test applies across the practice rather than to an individual, which is why the check happens before an instruction is accepted rather than after documents have changed hands. Being turned away at the first conversation is a much better outcome than discovering months later that your lawyer should never have been acting.
Will you take this on a percentage of what I recover?
No, and no lawyer in Belgium may. An agreement providing solely for a share of the proceeds of a case is prohibited for the profession, so it is not something being withheld from you. What you get instead is the basis of the fees explained before the practice is instructed, and an honest view of whether a matter is worth pursuing, which is the more useful of the two.
Something you need to talk through?
A first conversation, with no obligation.