Jean-François Bellis is one of the founding partners of Van Bael & Bellis.
In 1975, he started his practice in Brussels, specialising in EU competition and trade law. From 1979-1980, he served as legal secretary to Lord Mackenzie Stuart at the Court of Justice of the European Communities (now Court of Justice of the European Union) in Luxembourg. In 1986, he co-founded Van Bael & Bellis.
Jean-François has extensive litigation experience in EU competition and trade cases, representing clients before the European Commission and the EU Courts and in national proceedings. He is one of the most renowned legal practitioners in his areas of expertise.
Jean-François has represented clients in numerous landmark competition cases, including United Brands, BP, Akzo, Michelin I and II, Microsoft I and II and Woodpulp. More recently, he has acted as lead counsel in some of the most high-profile antitrust cases of the past few years, including Microsoft/Skype, BHP Billiton/Rio Tinto, Polyurethane Foam, LCD Panels, Intel and Airfreight.
Jean-François has been recognised as a leading practitioner by all legal directories. In February 2011, the Global Competition Review (GCR) granted him a "Lifetime Achievement Award" in recognition of his longstanding experience in the field of competition law. In April 2014, he was honoured by Chambers & Partners for his "Outstanding Contribution to the Legal Profession".
He has written numerous books and articles on antitrust issues and spoken at several international conferences and seminars. Notably, he is the editor of Van Bael & Bellis' leading treatise "Competition Law of the European Community" (Kluwer, 2010), a book that is considered a standard work of reference. He also holds a position as a professor of EU competition law at the Institute of European Studies of the University of Brussels.
Jean-François completed his LLM at the University of Michigan and holds a degree in law from the University of Brussels. He is a member of the Brussels Bar.
