News

The Belgian Federal Mediation Commission has awarded the title of accredited mediator ("médiateur agréé") in civil and commercial matters to our partner Dimitri de Bournonville. The award of this title recognizes the expertise and professional qualifications of its holders in mediation matters, and enable them to handle mediation cases under the full benefit of the Belgian mediation legal regime, including in terms of homologation of mediation agreements.

Dimitri de Bournonville and Cyril-Igor Grigorieff will be attending the 37th annual European Air Law Association Conference conference on 6 and 7 November 2025 in Vienna. This year, the program will focus on air traffic management, the revision of the EU regulation 1008/2008 on the market entry and operations conditions, and of regulation 261/2004 on the protection of passengers, next to the restructuring of business aviation.

We are proud and honored to announce that, in addition to his role and functions as a partner at Bournonville Grigorieff, Dimitri de Bournonville has now become a member of the Brussels Bar Council (conseil de l'Ordre français des avocats au barreau de Bruxelles). This is a remarkable recognition of Dimitri's experience and seniority, and illustrates the trust placed in him by the legal community and profession.

Our partner Dimitri de Bournonville is a candidate to the next elections of the Brussels Bar Council, to join the team conducted by the bâtonnière Marie Dupont and the vice-bâtonnier Marc Dal. The Bar Council is composed of the bâtonnier (president) of the Bar and 16 members elected annually by the General Assembly of Lawyers. The Council's mission is to preserve the honor of the Bar Association and to maintain (and as the case may be enforce) compliance with the key professional conduct principles. It also performs regulatory and administrative functions, such as the organization of internships and professional training, the development of rules of ethics, the organization of legal aid for the most disadvantaged, and the registration of lawyers on the roll or other lists of the Bar.

Bournonville Grigorieff is pleased to welcome Thomas Chaboureau, who is joining our firm as counsel in Belgium. The arrival of Thomas is strengthening the service offering of the firm in the insurance sector, particularly in the field of dispute resolution. With close to 10 years of professional experience and a solid and well-established experience in the insurance sector, Thomas assists insurers and reinsurers in complex coverage and liability matters, in relation to industrial risks, professional and product liability, aviation, financial lines, construction, cyber risks and reinsurance coverage. He has developed a recognized expertise in handling complex files. He also provides legal advice in relation to policy wording, regulatory issues, claims and risk assessment and deductible or aggregation issues.

We are very proud to have been able to contribute to the takeover of assets and cargo activities of Air Belgium by the CMA CGM group, in a landmark transaction that involved interaction with a vast number of stakeholders, such as the FOD Mobiliteit en Vervoer / SPF Mobilité et Transports, the Court of Enterprise in charge of the reorganization proceedings, the aircraft lessors, the customers and services providers. We were mainly involved the transaction and commercial aspects, including the drafting and negotiation of all relevant aircraft and engine lease agreements, charter and other operating agreements aimed at ensuring the continuity of the operations and the new development of the activities.

Our team at Bournonville Grigorieff has again secured Top Tier (Band 1) rankings in the latest EMEA edition of the independent guide to the legal professions Legal 500: 'outstanding aviation legal practice', 'robust reputation for handling high-profile cases', 'one of the uncontested leaders in the sector', 'track record of successful outcomes', and 'excellent sector knowledge'. Our partner Dimitri de Bournonville is recognized once again in the Hall of Fame section, described as 'calm, to the point, clever, brilliant, gentle, and subtle'.

We are very pleased that our partner Cyril-Igor Grigorieff is taking over the course of Transport Law at Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB). The lectures will start in March 2025 on the main campus of the University. This complements the other lectures and teaching mandates of Cyril-Igor, notably at Paris-Saclay University, Haute Ecole Fransisco Ferrer, EPHEC, Ecole Nationale de l'Aviation Civile (ENAC) in Toulouse and Leiden University in The Netherlands.

Dimitri de Bournonville and Cyril-Igor Grigorieff have been invited as speakers at the next International Aviation Conference organized by the McGill Institute for Air and Space Law and the Pan European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL) in Madrid in June 2025, to discuss recent topics in relation to cargo claims and insurance.

Cyril-Igor Grigorieff has received the Best PhD Award from the Académie de l'Air et de l'Espace - Air and Space Academy for his thesis on the Montreal Convention. Since completing his thesis, Cyril-Igor had the privilege of teaching air law to numerous students at various universities and schools, including Université Libre de Bruxelles, Université Paris-Saclay, ENAC and Leiden University.

Dimitri de Bournonville was the only partner of an international law firm based in Brussels to be awarded the official title of accredited Transport Law Specialist by his Belgian and Brussels bar authorities. This reflects the visibility and breadth of Dimitri's practice in the field, after close to 30 years of professional experience in the transport, aviation, logistics and commercial sectors.