Marc Cottyn
Marc Cottyn started out like any trainee at the bar after graduating in 1978 with a licentiate in law, specialising in economic and financial law, from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB). After a turbulent start, it was soon clear that business was in his blood. It wasn’t long, therefore, before Marc set up a law firm together with Theo Stevens and Nestor Roseleth under the then name Advokatenkantoor Stevens, Cottyn and Roseleth, now COTTYN.
As well as being a founding partner and managing director of the Belgian practice, Marc is also a partner in charge of the civil law, tax law, public procurement and company law units because of his experience and expertise. For the latter three, he also fills the role of coordinator.
Recommended by Legal 500 EMEA, 2008 and 2009 editions in the Corporate and M&A field.
Marc also explored the other side of the job and is, inter alia, a former member of the council of the Dendermonde Bar Association and former director of the Order of Flemish Bars (information and communication department).
As a result of his successful career, Marc Cottyn is frequently asked to give seminars, lectures and speeches. This includes regular cooperation with the Flemish business network VOKA and Flanders Investment & Trade (FIT).
Within the COTTYN Network, Marc is responsible partner for the offices in Belgium – Aalst, Poland – Warsaw, Czechia – Prague, Austria – Vienna, Netherlands – Blaricum and France – Paris.
Studies
Vrije Universiteit Brussel: licentiate in law – 1978
Bar
Member of the Dendermonde bar since 01/10/1978
Member of the Warsaw bar since 2006
Member of the Prague bar since 2010
Mediation lawyer certificate (Order of Flemish Bars)
Expertise
Languages
- Dutch
- French
- English
- German
Specialisms
Marc in his own words
My career as a lawyer did not start quite as expected, since my “patron” was the victim of a serious accident, I was thrown in at the deep end, so to speak. It was a learning experience, from which my main takeaway was that you need to surround yourself with good colleagues.
At the beginning of my career, large law firms were not really a thing yet, and it was not even possible to set up a corporation as a lawyer. As soon as this opportunity arose, we were first on the ball. We started out with three lawyers and have now expanded to a team of more than 40 in Belgium and 75 internationally, and we’re still growing.
Whether we’re dealing with a case or a potential collaboration, I like to make the initial contacts, follow them up and then put forward the best possible proposal with a specialised and diverse team. An efficient working method which we have adopted with the COTTYN Network.
