Chris Schijns (°1984, Genk) has been with Adlex Lawyers & Mediators since 1 November 2014 and has been a partner of the firm since 1 January 2020. He focusses on public and administrative law, particularly environmental law, spatial planning, expropriations, environmental and energy law, local authorities, civil servants, municipal and other local taxes, concessions, easements, education law, PPP, and public procurement. In addition, he specializes in tenancy and agricultural law. He is also a certified mediator and collaborative lawyer, and he heads the legal domain of “mediation.”

In July 2009, he obtained his Master of Laws degree with distinction at the University of Brussels (VUB), specializing in public and administrative law. In January 2011, he completed advanced training in climate and energy law at the Institute for Environmental and Energy Law at KU Leuven. He began his traineeship in 2009 at the law firm Monard-D’Hulst in Hasselt. In the summer of 2013, he moved to the corporate world, becoming in-house legal counsel PPP & Real Estate at Belgium’s largest real estate group, AG Real Estate.
In the summer of 2014, he decided to return to his first passion, the legal profession, and joined Adlex Lawyers & Mediators.

Chris Schijns is a member of the Association of Public Law Lawyers (GAP). He also holds the certificate of specialized training in cassation in criminal matters, as well as an MBA obtained through NCOI Learning.

Since 1 September 2012, he has also been affiliated with University Colleges Leuven Limburg (UCLL), where he teaches “Environmental Law,” “International and European Law,” supervises internships, and coaches the Moot Court EU Law competition in the Business Management – Legal Practice program.

He is a regular speaker at Confocus, SPRYG – Real Estate Academy, VIVO, SyntraPXL, Schulinck – Wolters Kluwer, and Escala, and he publishes frequently in the Journal of Environmental and Energy Law. Chris Schijns is also co-author of the leading Handbook on Construction Law (2nd and 3rd editions), as well as the Annotated Environmental Law Code and Guide to Belgian Expropriation Law. Most recently, he contributed to the handbook International and European Union Law.

In 2021, Chris Schijns deepened his commitment to mediation and, after completing intensive training, became a collaborative lawyer. Inspired by his mediation practice, he further specialized as a “public authority mediator” at KU Leuven. In 2023, he was appointed external mediator at the Council for Permit Disputes. He also teaches mediation in construction disputes at New Deal Academy.

Chris Schijns is chair of the Municipal Spatial Planning Committee (GECORO) in the municipality of Lanaken. He is founder, (former) president, and board member of Rotary Leuven-Brussel-Dijleland. Recently, he also became chair of the Board of Directors of the “Schots Weekend.” In addition, he serves as a director in several non-profit organizations with a social and community focus.