Legal information

The Economic Law Code requires lawyers to provide certain information.

Obolos is a limited liability company under Belgian law, with its registered office at 9000 Ghent, Vrijheidslaan 27, with company number 1002.402.156 and with VAT number BE1002.402.156 (hereinafter the “Firm”).

The lawyers working at Obolos are authorised to practice as lawyers in Belgium. They are members of the Ghent Bar Association. All lawyers at the Firm are thus subject to the regulations of the Order of Flemish Bars and the regulations of the Ghent Bar Association; these can be consulted at www.advocaat.be and the website of the Ghent Bar Association respectively (currently www.baliegent.be).

Each of Obolos’s lawyers is insured for its professional liability under a collective policy taken out by the Ghent Bar Association with Amlin Insurance SE (as principal insurer), based at 1030 Brussels, Koning Albert II-laan 37, and the co-insurers Zurich Insurance plc, Belgium Branch and KBC Verzekeringen NV, based at 1930 Zaventem, Da Vincilaan 5 and 3000 Leuven, Professor R. Van Overstraetenplein 2. The policy applies to the consequences of acts committed throughout the world, for activities carried out by the insureds from their offices based in Belgium, subject to the exceptions and clarifications included in the policy. This cover is limited to EUR 2,500,000 per claim, with a deductible of EUR 2,500 per claim. For the trainee lawyer, the aforementioned deductible amounts to EUR 1,250 per claim and for cases pursuant to appointment by the BJB, EUR 300 (both for trainee lawyers and tableau lawyers). The client can always obtain a copy of these and other additional professional policies taken out by Obolos or one of the Firm’s lawyers by written request.

Obolos’s services include: consultancy, assistance in negotiations, drafting of agreements, assistance in disputes before all courts and tribunals in Belgium, acting as agent.

The general terms and conditions applicable to the activities of Obolos and its lawyers are available at http://www.obolos.be/terms-and-conditions/ and can also be requested by the client at any time. These terms and conditions can only be consulted in Dutch. The general terms and conditions state, inter alia, that the contractual relationship between Obolos and the client(s) is governed by Belgian law and that any disputes arising between the Firm and the client(s) in connection with the contract will be submitted to the competent courts of Ghent.

If you wish to obtain further information or if you have a complaint, you can reach the Office
– by post at the address: Vrijheidslaan 27, 9000 Ghent
– by email at the address: info@obolos.be
– by telephone on the number: + 32 9 222 41 07

A new name, an ancient symbol

‘Obolos’ profiles itself as a high quality law firm within a niche of corporate law.

The firm was founded in 2005 under the name “Derycke & Vandenberghe lawyers.

A good 20 years later, there was a growing realization that, despite the firm’s name recognition and reputation, a new name would help the growth of younger talent and raise the profile of younger partners and associates.

Thus began a collective search for a suitable name. A name with meaning, anchored in a past and universally recognizable, with symbolic power as well as meaning within our fields of work.

Obolos ultimately had our preference.

What is an obolos?

‘Obolos’ is an ancient Greek currency whose Dutch name sounds familiar to all: obool.

Originally, the obool is a measure by which weights were expressed. No one knows when its name and use originated, but it is reasonably assumed that its historical origins are at least three thousand years old. It is also a coin with an extremely long history: the last obool was minted around 1700.

In classical Greece, the coin was commonly used throughout the sphere of influence of Greek civilization. Its best-known version is the Athenian: a silver coin with the image of patron goddess Athena on the obverse and an owl on the reverse, often in the company of an olive branch.

As a result, the coin has become the bearer of a rich symbolism. Athena is the goddess of wisdom and, armed if necessary, protects civilization. The owl is to this day the symbol par excellence of wisdom and insight, and the ancients also saw the owl as a messenger of prosperity and destiny (“fortuna”). Even the olive branch, after thousands of years, has lost nothing of its power as a symbol of peace and prosperity….

Wisdom, prosperity, protection … all are the values for which the “new” Obolos wants to stand. Your interests, your prosperity must be protected by our commitment. A commitment in decisiveness and wisdom.

So universal was the obool that it was even considered a mythological currency. In ancient Greece, the obool was given to allow the deceased to reach Hades, the afterlife. Hades now could only be reached by crossing the subterranean river Styx by ferry, a ferry operated by Charon the gloomy ferryman.

An unpaid Charon meant no crossing and therefore no peace of soul.

The connection to our field of work

As a consulting firm, Obolos has profiled itself as a supporting partner within processes of transformation: business transfers, complex reorganizations, structured wealth planning, …

Our lawyers realize that these processes have much in common with a journey: they require effort, time and … a goal. The obool is therefore the symbol of the contribution our office intends to make to the realization of your trajectory. Obolos wants to be your experienced guide, protect your well-being, reach your goal with you. Your passport and your pass currency.

Transactions, transformations, succession: no process can be properly managed without fiscal support. The words of American statesman Benjamin Franklin have lost nothing of their accuracy: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

Not surprisingly does the obool also symbolizes the tax/burden that each of these events undergoes. But the right burden is only that which is inescapable. The ferryman must be paid but paid correctly. Obolos also provides tax advice for your proposed transactions and assists you with tax analyses and optimizations.

Obolos as guide and counselor: practical legal wisdom.