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Sofico teaches at HOGENT during trajectory days
For the fourth year, several Sofico colleagues guest lectured a class at the HOGENT university of Applied Sciences and Arts. During this week, students...
Hidden Agenda: Dimitri Dhollander
There is (much) more to an (ex-)colleague than meets the eye. Although it's often worth showing off, some remain unnoticed. This week: a legal attack of the musk ox.
Dimitri, only one person carries the job title 'Legal Counsel' at Sofico. What are your responsibilities at Sofico and within which team do you operate?
"As the (first and only) Legal Counsel within Sofico (and part of the Finance & Administration team) a multitude of matters related to the legal part for Sofico's various branches fall within my responsibilities. This can range from the management of client contracts and partner contracts to the settlement of leases. The tasks also include HR-related matters, the protection of Sofico's IP, corporate law obligations and our compliance in general as well participating in interviews of course :). The diversity in topics just makes working at Sofico very interesting and challenging."
Legislation should be as close to the practice as possible, but unfortunately, this is not always the case.
When you started at Sofico, you only worked at your previous employer for a couple of months? How did you turn the switch so quickly?
"After working for the Belgian government (with its wonderful world of ministerial cabinets), I did indeed end up in the travel sector at Thomas Cook.
My affinity with corporate law made this a challenging position, especially given the turbulent waters Thomas Cook was already in at the time. As you probably know, Thomas Cook went bankrupt in mid-2019, after which I was obliged to look for another employer."
Is it sometimes difficult not to have colleagues with the same background/knowledge? Colleagues who can serve as a sounding board.
"Although it is true that there is no one within Sofico to whom I can turn with purely legal questions, I have been welcomed with open arms from the very start by all my colleagues (especially to check on certain legal matters; laughs). After eighteen months, that’s still the case. So, within Sofico, I have sounding boards in abundance. Thanks all!
Although there are no other lawyers present, I am often amazed by the legal knowledge that is nevertheless present."
Fortunately, fish cannot speak (and have a very short memory span) as they might have heard and seen a lot of confidential information during their stay at my home office.
Does the travel industry (or government) differ much from the work you do now? And how?
"The choice for Sofico was mainly inspired by the feeling I got during the conversations with different people before signing, namely a no-nonsense culture with a family atmosphere and without unnecessary hierarchy. This is completely different from a government apparatus or a foreign company that is managed under a strict and fixed umbrella.
Without a doubt, the Sofico culture suits me much better."
You play padel with friends and run regularly. What drives you to exercise? Does company culture play a role in that?
"I try to follow the cliché/adage mens sana in corpore sano, and therefore I play padel a few times a week in Ghent. I have heard that there are a few more padel players at Sofico, so if - once we gain some freedom - there is interest in playing a match or tournament, drop me a line!
Walking has been largely replaced by cycling due to injuries, but that has the advantage that a bicycle takes me further than my feet."
Fortunately for us, they stormed the tents when we were not in them. Of the 4 tents, two remained usable afterward.
During holidays, the mountains call. Not without danger, we were told ;) ...
"Indeed, going into the mountains is a yearly must, although, it has been way too long! Where I used to be a tour guide taking a group on treks, often in the mountains. The last few years I've been trekking and climbing with the tent. This brought me to the Moroccan Atlas Mountains, the Alps, and the Pyrenees. But my favorite trek is still the GR20 in Corsica."
"Trekking is indeed not without danger, as I have personally experienced in Norway where a local population of musk oxen looked at our tents as food or a threat. Fortunately for us, they stormed the tents when we were not in them. Of the 4 tents, two remained usable afterward.
This year the Tour du Mont Blanc is on the menu. Hopefully, France will let me in to complete the trek."
Although our national Constitution stipulates that the colors of the flag are red, yellow, and black, they ended up being draped in a different order.
You spent a year fish-sitting the fish of the Finance Department. Did they pull you through the lockdowns?
Although the fish have since returned to their familiar place, they have indeed stayed at my home for quite some time.
Fortunately, fish cannot speak (and have a very short memory span) as they might have heard and seen a lot of confidential information during their stay at my home office.
The law is supposed to provide clarity but surely you are sometimes amazed by its absurdity? Tell us!
Legislation should be as close to the practice as possible, but unfortunately, this is not always the case. To give an extreme and classic example from Belgium, demonstrated to me during one of my first law classes at university: although our national constitution stipulates that the colors of the flag are red, yellow, and black, they ended up being draped in a different order on the flag itself.
"I admit, I do have the (perhaps gullible) tendency to think that legislation nationally but especially European and international is becoming better and more readable... Let us hope that this trend continues."
Luckily, dreaming is human. What does Dimitri still dream about?
"In these times, my hope is the same as that of many, no doubt: that normal life as we knew it, may soon resume.
To name two real dreams: trekking in the Nepalese Annapurna and writing a book about the treks undertaken."
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