Court-registered expert · Brussels
Lionel Fuchs. Fur, leather and textiles.
An independent technical opinion on materials few people can still read: fur and pelts, leather, hides and skins, textiles and garments. Instructed by courts, by lawyers and arbitrators, by insurers, by customs agents and by private clients — in Belgium and across borders.
What a Belgian court-registered expert is. Belgium keeps a national register of judicial experts, held by the Federal Public Service Justice. Admission requires proof of qualification and experience, a criminal-record check, adherence to a statutory code of conduct, and an oath sworn before the First President of a Court of Appeal. Registration is granted for six years and the register is public. I was sworn in on 24 April 2026 and hold number EXP114842845 for leather, textiles and garments, and fur and pelts.
Where I am usually instructed
Material identification, customs and CITES
Natural fur or synthetic? Which species, which origin, which dressing? Written findings for customs clearance, CITES compliance, import disputes and labelling challenges.
Customs and CITES workValuation, probate and insurance
Inventory and valuation of fur, leather and garment collections for estates, insurers and loss adjusters. Replacement value or realisable value, stated separately and reasoned.
Valuation workLitigation and arbitration
Court-appointed expert, single joint expert, or party-appointed technical adviser. How to draft the instruction, what the report contains, timescales and fees.
Instructing meMediation
Accredited mediator in civil and commercial matters. A separate function, never combined with an expert instruction in the same dispute.
Mediation
Why this field is difficult
Fur, leather and textiles are rarely judged well, because they are rarely known at close quarters any more. A pelt that has dried out, a seam that has been taken in, a lining replaced twenty years after the coat was made, one species passed off as another, a modern synthetic that photographs exactly like the natural material: none of this is in a catalogue. It is learned in a workshop, over years.
There are few court-registered experts in this field in Europe, and fewer still who come to it from the trade rather than from a laboratory. That is the whole of my usefulness to a tribunal.
Discussing an instruction
A short call is usually enough to establish whether an expert opinion will help, and which kind. I work in French, Dutch and English, and I travel.