Academic background:
- Master of Law from the Catholic University of Louvain
- Degree in criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel
- Certificate from the Higher school for tax sciences
- Civil and commercial mediation diploma
Languages: French ,Dutch, English, Italian
Areas of expertise
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Property law
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Real estate goods (sales, easements, neighbourhood disturbances)
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Renting contracts (residential, office and commercial)
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Construction (contracts, liability, construction defects)
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Co-ownerships
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Economic and commercial law
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Commercial distribution (concessions, franchises, sales agents)
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Business practices and consumer protection
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Banking and finance (mortgages, leasing, consumer loans)
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Contracts (sales, services, subcontracting and management), general terms and conditions
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Insurance and liability law
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Insurance contracts
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Traffic accidents
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Civil or professional liability
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Intellectual property law
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Copyrights
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Image rights
Bernard has practiced as a lawyer since 1980 and joined the Firm in 1985.
Experienced in civil and commercial law, he provides legal advice to businesses and individuals both on a preventative basis (advice, drafting and review of contracts) and within the framework of litigation.
Actively involved with the Professional Institute of Real Estate agents as a legal advisor (1999-2019), his work has mainly been in the area of the real-estate sector (sale, lease, co-ownership, real-estate agencies etc.), but also in the area of liability law and intellectual rights and media rights (copyright, image rights, journalism, right of reply etc.).
Through his experience as a Deputy Magistrate at the canton of Woluwé-Saint-Pierre, allowing him to litigate "from the other side of the bench", he promotes research and proposes pragmatic negotiated solutions, in order to better serve his clients by solving their problems rather than pursuing time-consuming disputes.
However, when proceedings prove to be inevitable, he manages them with pugnacity, diligence and rigour.
He has always been interested in the organisation and valorisation of the legal profession and has been successively responsible of pro bono lawyer (1990-1994), member of the Brussels Bar’s Council (2002-2005), secretary to the French Order of the Brussels Bar (2004-2005), administrator of the Order of French and German-speaking bars (2007-2011) and is now secretary of the disciplinary board for lawyers (since 2017).
Publications :
B. Vinçotte, Les droits d’auteur photographiques (Photographic copyright) RGDC 1992, 123 – 140
B. Vinçotte, Quand l’exécution d’une œuvre musicale ou littéraire est-elle publique, (When the peformance of a musical or literary work is public) JGP 1995, 161-165
B. Vinçotte, Droit d’auteur et comptes-rendus d’actualité, (Copyright and news reporting) RGDC, 1996, 38 - 47
B. Vinçotte et M. Isgour, Le droit à l’image, (Image rights) Larcier, 1998
B. Vinçotte, Conflit entre droit d’auteur et droit de propriété, Auteurs et Medias 2003, (Conflict between copyright and other proprietary rights, Authors and Media) 368-374
B. Vinçotte, Questions spécifiques ayant trait à l’intervention des avocats en matière de copropriété, (Specific questions relating to the intervention of lawyers in co-ownership), in La copropriété par appartement, (ownership of individual units) 2008, 361-371
B. Vinçotte, L’organisation de la profession d’agent immobilier, (Organisation of the real-estate professional) Jurimpratique 2013, 7-56.