Benoît Kohl is a professor, arbitrator and attorney, specialized in contract law, real estate law, and construction law.

In addition to negotiating contracts, drafting legal opinions, and developing legal structures in these fields, Benoît Kohl participates in dispute resolution before judicial and arbitral bodies.

He has also been appointed on numerous occasions as an arbitrator, mediator, or conciliator in many cases, both nationally and internationally (ICC, CEPANI, VIAC, ad hoc, etc.).

He was sworn in as a lawyer on 2 September 2000. Before founding Kohl – Rigolet, he worked at the firms Matray, Matray & Hallet (2000–2007) and Stibbe (2007–2025). Since 1 January 2026 and the founding of the law firm Kohl – Rigolet (www.kohlrigolet.com), he is registered with the Brussels Bar and the Liège Bar.

In addition to his activities as a lawyer, Benoît Kohl is a full professor at the University of Liège, where he teaches special contract law and construction law (www.droit.uliege.be). He is a visiting professor at the University of Paris 2 (Panthéon-Assas).

Since June 2020, Benoît Kohl is President of CEPANI, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation (www.cepani.be). Between 2012 and 2017, he was also co-president of CEPANI40. He has been appointed by the Belgian Minister of Justice to represent Belgium at the United Nations for the negotiation of UNCITRAL conventions on arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (https://uncitral.un.org). He is also a member of the board of directors of ICC Belgium.

Benoît Kohl was a founding member and director of the Belgian Association of Construction Law (www.abdc.be), of which he was president between 2010 and 2019. In 2011, he was appointed president of the European Society of Construction Law. He is also a member of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers.

Benoît Kohl was appointed by the Belgian Minister of Justice to serve from 2016 to 2021 as a member of the Federal Commission responsible for reforming the Civil Code (law of obligations and contract law), whose work led to the adoption in 2022 of the law reforming obligations and contracts. He is currently a member of the commission established by the Belgian Minister of Justice for drafting the bill reforming special contracts.

Previously, Benoît Kohl was a member of the Notarial Appointment Commission and Government Commissioner to the Judicial Training Institute (2007–2012).

He is regularly invited as a speaker at conferences in Belgium and abroad. He has published numerous reference works and articles, particularly in contract law, construction law, and arbitration law. He is also a member of the editorial board of several Belgian legal journals.

In 2008, he won the UPSI Award for his doctoral thesis on European harmonization of construction and real estate development law. In 2010, he received the Jean Rey Triennial Prize at the European Parliament.

Benoît Kohl is fluent in French, English, and Dutch

Education: Law Degree (University of Liège – 1999) ; LL.M. (Cambridge – 2004); PhD in Law (University of Liège – 2007)

Benoît is contactable on benoit.kohl@kohlrigolet.com or benoit.kohluliege.be