In 1869 he became a counsel at the Court of Appeals in Ghent, and from 1876 on he was a prosecutor at the Military Court for Antwerp, Mons and Ghent.
He started working as a legal counselor at the Court of Appeals in Ghent in 1869, and later became a prosecutor at the Military Court that covered the cities of Antwerp, Mons, and Ghent, starting from 1876.