Lawyer – client · Verde Law (Jos De Wachter BV) · version 22/09/2026
Your privacy is important to us. All personal data we receive from you as a client (or a client's contact person) is processed in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation, in particular the General Data Protection Regulation 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 ("GDPR"), as well as this privacy statement.
This privacy statement informs you about which personal data we process, why, how we obtain it, how long we keep it and with whom we share it. It also explains how you can exercise your rights.
1 · Identity and contact details
The controller of your personal data is:
Verde Law – Jos De Wachter BV
Paneelstraat 5, 3600 Genk
Company number: BE0755.461.338 (RPR Tongeren)
If you have any questions about the processing of your personal data, you can always contact us:
- by post: to the address above, marked "Privacy";
- by e-mail: jos.dewachter@verde-law.be;
- by telephone: +32 486 30 58 08.
2 · Purposes
We process your personal data for one or more of the following purposes. For each purpose you can read which data we process, why, on what legal basis, how we obtain it, how long we keep it and with whom we share it.
Legal services to clients
Data: personal identification data (name, (business) address, e-mail address, telephone number), government-issued identification data (identity-card, passport, driving-licence number, company and VAT number), personal characteristics (gender, date and place of birth, language, nationality), family and financial data, and any other information provided for handling your case — where applicable, special categories of personal data or data relating to criminal convictions and offences.
Purpose: providing legal advice, drafting deeds and documents, representing you in court, in arbitration or before administrative bodies, and assisting you in negotiation and mediation.
Legal basis: for a private client, the conclusion and performance of the contract for legal services (Art. 6.1, b) GDPR); for a professional client or other parties, our legitimate interest in providing our legal services (Art. 6.1, f) GDPR). The processing of special categories and criminal data is based on the establishment, exercise or defence of legal claims (Art. 9.2, f) GDPR) and the defence of our clients' interests (Art. 10 GDPR) respectively.
Source: directly from you and/or indirectly via a third party.
Retention period: up to 10 years after closure of the file (plus a verification period of 1 year).
Recipients: where necessary, courts and police services, bailiffs, opposing counsel, successor lawyers, banks and insurers, technical advisers and judicial agents, as well as our IT providers. A list is available upon simple written request.
Compliance with anti-money-laundering and anti-fraud legislation
Data: personal identification data, national register number, government-issued identification data, financial data (transactions for or on behalf of the client), personal characteristics, judicial data and other information we must request or receive in this context.
Purpose: complying with anti-money-laundering and anti-fraud legislation.
Legal basis: the legal obligation under the Act of 18 September 2017 (Art. 6.1, c) GDPR) and — insofar as the processing goes beyond what is strictly necessary — our legitimate interest in being vigilant against money-laundering practices (Art. 6.1, f) GDPR).
Source: directly from you and/or indirectly via a third party.
Retention period: up to 10 years after closure of the last file (plus a verification period of 1 year), unless it must be kept longer in the context of a specific offence.
Recipients: where necessary, public authorities, courts and police services, the president of the Bar, and our IT providers. A list is available upon simple written request.
Invoicing and accounting
Data: personal identification data, company and VAT number, financial data (bank account number, method of payment) and the services provided.
Purpose: drawing up our invoices, keeping our accounts and complying with our accounting obligations, including preparing the annual accounts.
Legal basis: various legal obligations (including the Code of Economic Law, the Companies and Associations Code and the Income Tax Code) (Art. 6.1, c) GDPR) and — insofar as the processing goes beyond what is strictly necessary — our legitimate interest in keeping our accounts (Art. 6.1, f) GDPR).
Source: directly from you and/or indirectly via a third party.
Retention period: up to 10 years after closure of the relevant financial year (plus a verification period of 1 year).
Recipients: our accountancy firm, an external auditor, public authorities, banks and insurers, and our IT providers. A list is available upon simple written request.
Dispute management
Data: personal identification data, government-issued identification data, information on profession and employment, financial and judicial data and any other information that may be relevant for managing a (potential) dispute.
Purpose: defending our legitimate interests in all forms of dispute resolution and handling the related administration.
Legal basis: our legitimate interest in safeguarding the (contractual and non-contractual, statutory and other) rights of our firm (Art. 6.1, f) GDPR).
Source: directly from you and/or indirectly via a third party.
Retention period: up to 5 years after expiry of the last time limit for appeal or review (longer if necessary, e.g. to comply with legal obligations) (plus a verification period of 1 year).
Recipients: external legal advisers and, where necessary, public authorities, courts and police services, banks and insurers, our accountancy firm, bailiffs and debt-collection agencies, as well as our IT providers. A list is available upon simple written request.
Newsletters and other commercial communications
Data: personal identification data (name, (business) address, e-mail address, telephone number).
Purpose: sending newsletters and other commercial communications, such as updates on legal developments, information about our services and occasional messages.
Legal basis: our legitimate interest in promoting our services to (contact persons at) clients (Art. 6.1, f) GDPR). If you subscribed to our newsletter, you receive our communications because you consented to this (Art. 6.1, a) GDPR).
Source: directly from you and/or indirectly via a third party.
Retention period: as long as you are a client of ours or an interested party for the services, i.e. up to 2 years after closure of the last file. You can unsubscribe at any time; in that case we stop processing for this purpose.
Recipients: the software and marketing-tool suppliers we use for this, and our IT providers. A list is available upon simple written request.
3 · Security
We have taken appropriate technical and organisational measures to safeguard the confidentiality of your personal data and to protect it against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure or access.
We have made the necessary contractual arrangements with the third parties we work with and do not transfer your personal data outside the European Economic Area without a guarantee that it enjoys an equivalent level of protection there.
4 · Your rights
You can contact us at any time to exercise the following rights:
- a request for access to or rectification of your personal data;
- a request for erasure of your personal data;
- a request to restrict the processing of your personal data;
- an objection to the processing of your personal data;
- a request to withdraw your consent (where the processing is based on consent);
- a complaint if you consider that we are not acting in accordance with the applicable data protection legislation. You may also lodge a complaint with the Belgian Data Protection Authority.
You can exercise your rights by post (to the address mentioned in section 1, marked "Privacy"), by e-mail (jos.dewachter@verde-law.be) or by telephone (+32 486 30 58 08).
For the purposes whose legal basis is a legitimate interest, you can request more information about the balancing test we carried out, and you may object to the processing at any time on grounds relating to your particular situation. We will then stop the processing, unless there are compelling legitimate grounds that override your interests, rights and freedoms.
In order to handle your request correctly, we process your personal data on the basis of our legal obligations (Art. 6.1, c) GDPR). We may ask you to substantiate your request and/or to provide proof of identity.
5 · Updates
This privacy statement may be amended from time to time, within the limits of the applicable data protection legislation. Via www.verde-law.be/privacy you always have access to the most recent version.
This translation is provided for information purposes only. In the event of any discrepancy between the language versions, only the Dutch version published on www.verde-law.be shall be legally binding.