The employment law scene in Belgium continues to be dominated by this truly outstanding 70-lawyer outfit. Attracting only the most emphatic praise from impressed sources, Claeys & Engels leaves the rest of its rivals firmly in the shade. "We don't try to compete with it, and I don't think there is anyone else who could," admits one peer; "it's clearly the number-one firm - the most difficult to beat and totally above all the others." A large part of this evident superiority can be attributed to the firm's strong emphasis on high-quality training, resulting in an array of excellent individuals. As a boutique, it has the capacity to act as an efficient one-stop shop for the full range of employment issues, including collective labour law and industrial disputes, discrimination, social security, pensions, dismissals, compensation and office safety. It also handles cross-border matters with ease thanks to its involvement in the Ius Laboris alliance, a network of more than 2,500 employment lawyers in more than 45 countries.