MAURITS J.F. LUGARD leads Sidley’s Life Sciences team in Brussels, a part of Sidley’s premier Global Life Sciences group. Maurits has an uncommon wealth of experience in EU law, drawing on his tenure within the European Commission and on years of private practice in the regulatory capitals of Brussels and Washington, D.C.
Maurits’ practice focuses on helping clients navigate the complex web of EU and Member State rules and procedures with an emphasis on food, drugs, medical devices, cosmetics and biotechnology. He helps corporate clients and trade associations shape future legislation and advises on the complex legal issues of the current regulations in areas such as pharmacovigilance (drug safety), clinical trials, marketing authorizations, advertising and promotional issues, labeling and the application of the precautionary principle.
Maurits also advises clients on a broad range of market access and product safety issues such as GMP compliance, life-cycle management, product recall procedures, adverse events, health claims, in-vitro diagnostics, implantable medical devices, food additives, parallel trade and supply chain management. He also advises on pharmaceutical contractual issues, including distribution, supply, manufacturing, R&D and other cooperation agreements in Europe. He has represented clients in matters before the European Commission, the European Medicines Agency, the European Food Safety Authority and Member State authorities.
He assists a range of multinational pharmaceutical clients with product commercialization and marketing, as well as clinical trials and product recalls.
Maurits is widely recognized as a leader in the EU regulatory sphere. Year on year, he and the firm’s EU Life Sciences team feature prominently in the rankings of the leading bar publications, such as Chambers, Best Lawyers in Belgium, and Who’s Who Legal:
- Legal 500 EMEA (Belgium) 2024 — Maurits is ranked in EU regulatory: Pharma, medical devices and biotech.
- In the 2024 edition of Chambers Europe Belgium 2024, a client notes that “Maurits communicates in a coherent way and can put you in contact with the right people. On a human level and in terms of expertise, it's a pleasure to work with him.” and that “Maurits is very knowledgeable and applies a pragmatic approach." "Maurits Lugard is a great and knowledgeable lawyer.”
- In the 2023 edition of Chambers Europe, clients states that “he has a strategic, pragmatic, multi-stakeholder approach that brings lots of value to the discussions and risk management.”
- Who’s Who Legal 2022-2024 — He was recommended
- In the 2022 edition of Chambers Europe, clients enthused that he is “very good to work with” because he is “very pragmatic and fast.”
- In the 2020 edition of Chambers Europe, sources describe Maurits as “always an excellent partner.”
- In the 2019 edition of Chambers Europe Belgium, Maurits was picked out as “a very good regulatory lawyer.”
- Who’s Who Legal 2019 — He was named as “one of the highly sought-after lawyers in the market.” His broad practice encompasses most regulatory and market access issues.
- In the 2017 edition of Chambers Europe, Maurits has also been described by clients as having “great technical and subject matter expertise and provides fantastic client support,” adding that he has “a real grasp on the key issues facing global pharmaceutical companies”
In addition to EU life sciences regulatory issues, Maurits also advises on EU regulatory issues involving chemicals and the environment. He helps clients conduct risk assessments and advises on anti-corruption compliance and government enforcement, including FCPA investigations.
Prior to entering private practice, Maurits gained nine years of regulatory and legal experience at the European Commission. During a three-year term at the European Commission’s Legal Service, Maurits advised on health and safety related trade barriers. In particular, he dealt with sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures and technical barriers to trade (TBT). He was responsible for analyzing draft legislation prepared by the Directorate-General for Environment and the Directorate-General for Health and Consumer Protection (DG Santé), including amendments to the EU Cosmetics Directive. He was also the European Commission’s legal counsel on its Communication on the precautionary principle. Maurits also spent six years at the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Enterprise.