Grand Place in Brussels, Belgium. Photo: S-F/Shutterstock.com

Longtime Clifford Chance partner Sébastien Ryelandt has joined the Belgium-based law firm Strelia as a partner.

Ryelandt was head of Clifford Chance's litigation and disputes practice in Brussels for 14 years.

He is known for his expertise in arbitration and litigation, in particular in banking litigation and white-collar crime, including insider trading.

Ryelandt told Law.com one of the main reasons he decided to make the move is that he wanted to represent small companies in Belgium, which he was not easily able to do at Clifford Chance.

"Clifford Chance is a first-class law firm," he said, "In the Belgian market it is a victim of its reputation as being very expensive. It was very difficult to approach local clients."

Ryelandt said that working at Clifford Chance was a "great experience" but he found that, as with all international law firms, there was increasing centralisation away from local offices.

"The decisions are taken in London," he says. "That was not my business model."

He said there is a growing trend among lawyers moving away from major international law firms to smaller ones that have a greater focus on the local market.

"You see a number of lawyers making the move who want more flexibility and autonomy," he said.

Joining Strelia, he said, was for him a logical choice.

The independent Belgium firm, which has a global focus, was founded in 2013. It focuses on corporate and litigation matters, as well as mergers and acquisitions, private equity, corporate finance, tax law, restructuring and insolvency, employment law, commercial contracts and dispute resolution including arbitration.