Jean-Francois Gerard is a Brussels based senior lawyer specialising in European and international employment law and global head of practice development for the firm's employment and incentives practice. Next to his practice role, he helped launch and coordinate the refugees legal helpdesk, a pro bono initiative started in April 2022 in collaboration with the Brussels Bar Association, with the NGO Vluchtelingen Werk and with the Brussels probono teams of a number of international and national business law firms. The helpdesk welcomes asylum seekers arriving in the country, provides them with information about the asylum procedure and the rights and further direct them to specialised lawyers for the necessary legal actions. The helpdesk has met with over 7000 asylum seekers since it was launched.