Practice area: Commercial / Commercial litigation

Pieter-Jan heads the Commercial Law team at EY Law in Belgium. Pieter-Jan started his career as a commercial lawyer in 2009 and he has extensive experience and knowledge in:

• general and specific contract law, including agreements on sale/purchase, (commercial) lease, loan, service contracts, sui generis contracts and settlements;
• general commercial law;
• e-commerce and marketing (B2B and B2C);
• trade intermediaries (distribution and commercial agency agreements);
• pre-contractual obligations in commercial cooperation agreements;
• litigation and dispute resolution; and
• GDPR.

                                                                                                                                                    He furthermore has a keen interest in Techlaw, such as disruptive business models, blockchain and smart contracting, on which he has published extensively in the past.                                                                                                                                                                 Prior to joining EY Law, he gained extensive experience as a commercial lawyer/litigator in a wide variety of commercial matters. He advised public companies on high-level contractual agreements and disputes. He has also extensively advised on GDPR compliance. His work has involved specific litigation on financial law and litigation against customs authorities.

Additional information

Pieter-Jan is a lawyer and member of the Brussels’ Bar since 2009. He holds a Master’s degree from the KU Leuven (2008), an LL.M. degree in Contract and Commercial Law from the University College London (2009) and a postgraduate degree in Corporate Management from the KU Leuven (2014).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Prior to joining EY Law, he worked in the Commercial (Litigation) department of a leading international law firm.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Pieter-Jan joined EY Law in August 2022 to head the Commercial Law team at EY Law.

Publications and contributions

Pieter-Jan is the editor and (co-) author of the following books, contributions and articles:

• P.J. AERTS, F. HOOGENDIJK en N. VANDEZANDE (eds.), Smart contracts: een overzicht vanuit juridisch perspectief, Antwerpen, Intersentia 2020, 403p.;
• P.J. AERTS, “Inleiding tot smart contracts (Wat is een smart contract, Verbintenisrechtelijke analyse en Geschillenbeslechting)”, in P.J AERTS, F. HOOGENDIJK en N. VANDEZANDE (eds.), Smart contracts: een overzicht vanuit juridisch perspectief, Antwerpen, Intersentia 2020, p. 57-127;
• P.J. AERTS en F. HOOGENDIJK, noot onder HvJ 20 december 2017, RW 2018, p. 75;
• P.J. AERTS, “Eerste beslissing van het Hof van Justitie inzake de kwalificatie van de activiteiten van de tussenpersoon in de platformeconomie (Uber)”, Actua Leges 2018;
• P.J. AERTS, “Uber en het Unierecht: Court of justice says no! Maar luidt deze beslissing het begin in van een veralgemeende vergunningsplicht?”, RABG 2018, p. 814;
• P.J. AERTS, “Uber is een transportdienst”, De Juristenkrant 2018 (afl. 361), p. 3;
• P.J. AERTS, "Uber en autodelen", in M.E. STORME en F. HELSEN (eds.), Innovatie en disruptie in het economisch recht, Antwerpen, Intersentia, 2017, 217-276;
• P.J. AERTS, “Uber, episode IV: een nieuwe hoop”, De Juristenkrant (afl. 345) 2017, 4;
• CASAER & P.J. AERTS, "​ Facebookfoto’s en privacy: wie niet weg is, mag gezien worden"​, De Juristenkrant, (afl. 325) 2016, 3;
• P.J. AERTS, “Uber is taxidienst, vindt Brusselse stakingsrechter”, De Juristenkrant, (afl. 332) 2016, 5;
• P.J. AERTS, “Uber pop(s) and then it…stops”, De Juristenkrant (afl. 315) 2015, 5

Languages

Dutch (native), English (fluent), French (fluent) and Spanish (conversational).