Rate My Professor Bernard Tilleman

Bernard Tilleman is Full Professor in the Faculty of Law and Criminology at KU Leuven. He directs the Centre for Methodology of Law, heads the Institute for Contract Law, and leads the Teacher Training programme for the faculty. Born in 1965, he obtained a Licentiate of Laws from KU Leuven magna cum laude, a Master of Laws from Harvard Law School in 1989, and conducted studies at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and Private International Law in Hamburg in 1990 as part of the DAAD Sonderprogramm für ausländische Juristen. In 1996, he earned his Doctor of Laws from KU Leuven with a thesis on the board of directors of companies, supported by a fellowship from the National Fund for Scientific Research and awarded the Baron Emile Van Dievoet Prize for private law. Earlier, he served at the Secretariat of the Council of Ministers in the Prime Minister's office from 1990 to 1991, worked at the Brussels office of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton from 1991 to 1993, and was admitted to the New York Bar in 1991.

Since 1996, initially as a Post-Doctoral Researcher funded by the National Fund for Scientific Research, Tilleman has taught introduction to private and public law, contract law, and corporate law at KU Leuven campuses in Kortrijk (Kulak), Brussels (Manama Company Law), and Leuven. He was Visiting Professor at Lille II University (1998-2003), the University of Liège (1999-2003), and Radboud University Nijmegen (2000). He served as Dean of the Faculty of Law from 2012 to 2020, President of the Subfaculty of Law at KU Leuven Kulak from 2001 to 2009, member of the Faculty Nomination Board since 2009, and various examination boards for the Institutes of Auditors, Accountants and Tax Consultants, and notaries. Tilleman has authored numerous books and articles on corporate and contract law, including "Bijzondere contracten in kort bestek" (10th edition, 2025, with Alain-Laurent Verbeke), "Handboek nietigheid van besluiten van rechtspersonen" (2025, with Florian Pollefeyt), and "Hervorming van het bijzondere contractenrecht (Boek 7 BW)" in Tijdschrift voor Privaatrecht (2024). He supervises PhD research on topics such as crisis resilience in contract law and settlement agreements with government.