LSEG Brussels
Two Lovells' lawyers, Kirstie Nicholson and Peter Citron, have recently taken over the chairmanship of the Brussels section of the Law Society's European Group (LSEG Brussels).Brussels Legal asked Ms. Nicholson and Mr Citron about the organisation and how it will be developing.
BL: What is the LSEG Brussels' background?
KN: The LSEG is the Brussels 'branch' of the Law Society's European Group based in London. The LSEG (then known as the 'Solicitors European Group') was established in the early 1990s to enable the growing community of (then) mainly English solicitors to participate in informal but informative meetings with senior EU officials speaking on topical developments in EU law. The LSEG now has members from many different EU Member States, though the meetings are still held in English.
BL: What does the LSEG Brussels do?
PC: The LSEG Brussels organises evening meetings for lawyers with an interest in and/or practising EU law.
More recently, the LSEG Brussels has sought to broaden the audiences at LSEG Brussels events by including lawyers practising EU law beyond the Belgian capital (including lawyers from other EU countries), in-house counsel, lawyers working with the myriad of trade associations in Brussels and anyone else who may be interested in any aspect of EU law.
BL: Can you give examples of the sort of events that LSEG Brussels will be organising?
KN: We are aiming to continue the excellent tradition maintained by Conor Maguire under his chairmanship, and organise a number of evening talks relating to topical EU and competition law issues.
On 24 October 2007, Philip Collins, the chairman of the UK's Office of Fair Trading will be speaking on "Markets, Competition and Consumers: Challenges and Opportunities", which we are sure will be a very interesting and informative start to the new season of LSEG meetings.
We will be trying out a new venue for the talks, namely the art deco surroundings of the recently refurbished Maison de la Radio- the Flagey Centre. We are keen to maintain the LSEG Brussels tradition of holding meetings with distinguished speakers in informal surroundings at the lowest cost possible to attendees - and over drinks!
BL: How much does it cost to join the LSEG Brussels and where can someone interested in joining find out more information?
PC: Membership costs £35.00 per year and trainees (stagiaires) pay a reduced rate of £15 and students £7.50.
Members benefit from a reduced rate of Euro 30 for each evening meeting, as opposed to the rate of Euro 40 for non-members.
All those interested in participating in LSEG Brussels should contact:
LSEG.Brussels@lovells.com
BL: Good luck and thank you for your time.
Author: Brussels Legal
Date: 8 October 2007
Location: Brussels Legal/Brussels Newcomer/Useful Organisations
