Benoît Kohl specialises in civil law with a particular focus on real estate and construction law, land law, and arbitration.
In addition to negotiating national and international contracts, providing legal advice and structuring operations in relation to the above areas of law, Benoît leads various disputes before the courts and in arbitration procedures. He has a particular expertise in European construction law and also frequently acts as an arbitrator in relation to real estate and construction law.
Benoît Kohl’s extensive experience as a professor and his role as an expert in legal associations and think tanks contribute strongly to the expertise of our Real Estate & Construction practice, in which he combines theory and practice brilliantly.
He is the author of various publications on his areas of expertise and a regular guest speaker at seminars and conferences. Benoît is an ordinary professor at the law faculty of the University of Liège where he heads the department for contract law. He is also a visiting professor of European construction law at the University Paris 2 Panthéon-Assas.
Benoît was appointed by the Minister of Justice as an expert for the drafting of the reform of the new Belgian Civil Code (contract law). In addition, he represents the Minister of Justice in the activities of the task force on Arbitration and Dispute Settlement of the UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law). Benoît is also active in many legal and construction law associations. Since 2020, he is the President of CEPANI, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation. He was also co-President of the Belgian Association of Construction Law (BVBR – ABDC) until 2020 and President of the European Society of Construction Law (ESCL) from 2011 to 2022. Furthermore, Benoît is a board member of ICC Belgium, an academic guest of the Society of Construction Law in the UK and member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).
Benoît holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from the University of Liège. He also obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M) in Commercial Law from the University of Cambridge and a doctoral degree from the University of Liège with a thesis dedicated to the prospects of European harmonization of real estate promotion. For his thesis, he obtained the UPSI Award in 2008 and the triennial Jean Rey Award at the European Parliament in 2010.
Benoît was admitted to the Liège Bar in 2000 and to the Brussels Bar in 2007. He joined the Brussels office of Stibbe in 2007.