Area of specialisation
Bar admission
Experience with legal system
Professional experience
Elisabeth Puistienne holds French and Belgian law degrees, as well as a Master’s in European Law. She began her career in 1995 at the Brussels Bar, practicing commercial law and dispute resolution with a focus on distribution and competition law.She then transitioned in-house, first in the cement industry (CBR–HeidelbergCement), followed by the beer industry (InBev), where she led legal matters for the Asian region, and later in the apparel and retail sector (Levi Strauss & Co.), where she oversaw European legal matters.
She has also managed disputes in a wide range of jurisdictions and legal areas, including competition law, distribution, commercial contracts, digital and e-commerce, intellectual property, and employment law. Throughout her career, she has led numerous international M&A transactions across Africa, Asia, and Europe. Her experience includes drafting and negotiating complex distribution and global licence agreements, as well as designing distribution systems. She has strong expertise in EU distribution and franchising, including unauthorized trade issues, selective distribution under the EU competition rules, agency agreements, and global licensing structures.
Elisabeth’s practice focuses on retail, intellectual property, and European distribution (including franchising), as well as product and sustainability regulation, notably the GPSR and Green Deal regulatory frameworks.
In the context of the arbitration of disputes, she brings the perspective of a pragmatic lawyer with a strong understanding of business realities, enabling her to balance the competing interests at stake.