Multilingual Law Firm Website Cost in Brussels (2026)

The verdict in three sentences

For an 18-lawyer business law firm in Brussels serving clients across Belgium, France and the Netherlands, a trilingual FR, NL and EN website costs between €12,000 and €28,000 excluding VAT in 2026, delivered in 9 to 12 weeks. Legal translation is a major cost (€0.12 to €0.20 per word) and compliance with bar rules on lawyers' advertising is non-negotiable. Built properly, with clean hreflang tags and lawyer profiles by practice area, the site becomes your first referral tool across borders.

The budget for a trilingual law firm website

Cost is built around three blocks: site structure (practice areas, lawyer profiles, publications), translation and multilingual architecture. The volume of translated text is often the first line to negotiate.

These figures are 2026 orders of magnitude excluding translation. In Brussels, many firms write one language in-house and send the other two to specialist legal translators.

Bar rules and multilingual architecture

A law firm site must follow the profession's advertising rules, set in Belgium by the OBFG for French and German-speaking bars and the OVB for Dutch-speaking bars: mandatory information (bar of registration, practice structure, insurance), no comparative or disparaging claims, careful use of the word "specialist" and caution with client references, which are covered by professional secrecy and require the client's express consent. A compliance review of content before launch avoids remarks from the bâtonnier or stafhouder.

On the technical side, every page must exist in its three versions with reciprocal hreflang tags (fr-BE, nl-BE, en) and localised URLs, for example /nl/rechtsgebieden/vennootschapsrecht rather than a translation hidden behind a switcher. Hreflang errors are among the most common problems on multilingual sites and can show the French version to a director in Antwerp.

Mini case study

Pieter, managing partner of an 18-lawyer firm in Brussels, earns 35% of fees from Dutch and Flemish companies. The current site exists only in French and English. He picks the Advanced level at €20,000 excluding VAT, plus €5,500 of translation, and €270 a month of maintenance.

The maths: €25,500 of investment plus €3,240 of maintenance in year one. If the Dutch version generates 3 new matters per quarter from companies in Flanders and the Netherlands, with average fees of €12,000 per matter, the firm adds €144,000 of annual revenue. The project pays for itself from the second or third matter won.

FAQ

How much does a multilingual law firm website cost in Brussels in 2026?

Between €12,000 and €28,000 excluding VAT for a FR, NL and EN site, excluding translation. Add €4,000 to €7,000 of legal translation for an 18-lawyer firm.

Can we use machine translation?

Yes, with post-editing by a legal translator, which cuts cost by 40 to 50%. Raw unreviewed output is not advisable: one terminology error on a practice area damages the firm's credibility.

Which bar rules apply to the website?

The OBFG and OVB advertising rules: mandatory information, no comparison with other firms, controlled use of "specialist" and express consent from any client named. A compliance review takes about 4 to 6 hours.

Do we need separate domains per language?

No, a single domain with /fr, /nl and /en subfolders is usually more effective for SEO. It concentrates domain authority and simplifies maintenance.

What does €160 to €430 a month of maintenance cover?

The low end covers security, backups and updates. The high end includes publishing 2 to 4 trilingual articles a month and SEO monitoring per language.

Let's scope your project. Tell us your target languages, the number of lawyers and practice areas to feature and your publishing pace, and we will return a scope, indicative budget including translation and a 9 to 12 week plan. Detailed quote within 48 h. WhatsApp +221 77 596 93 33.