Law firms of the Netherlands

Last updated

In 2019, the top 50 Dutch law firms (Dutch : advocatenkantoren) had around 4,476 attorneys (Dutch : advocaten) [1] and the top 30 law firms had around 183 notaries (Dutch : notarissen) and 527 candidate notaries. [2] According to the Chambers and Partners legal directory, the top five law firms in the Netherlands are Allen & Overy Netherlands, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Houthoff, Loyens & Loeff and Stibbe. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] Every year advocatie.nl publishes a list of the 50 biggest law firms in headcount.

Contents

Structure

Bigger law firms in the Netherlands are often organised as a partnership, private limited liability company (B.V. or Dutch : besloten vennootschap ), public company (N.V. or Dutch : naamloze vennootschap )) or cooperative. It is common for a law firm to have notaries attached to it. Smaller law firms sometimes opt for a maatschap, where all lawyers run their own offices, but share the costs of rent, employees and marketing.

Largest Law Firms

Attorneys

A list of law firms (in alphabetical order) with more than 100 attorneys in the Netherlands in 2020 is set out below.

NameDate FoundedAttorneys [9] Revenue (€ million)(Note 1) [10]
AKD1903 [11] 19684,19
Allen & Overy Netherlands (Note 2)1854(Note 3) [12] 169(Note 4)
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek (Note 5)1871 [13] 298167,70
Dirkzwager10441,76
DLA Piper Netherlands 11555,22
Clifford Chance Netherlands 1972 [14] 126(Note 6)
CMS Netherlands 11546,99
Houthoff 245123,80
EY HVG Law12445,01(Note 7)
Kennedy Van der Laan2006 [15] 10226,23
Loyens & Loeff (Note 2)2000 [16] 255343,90
NautaDutilh 1724 [17] 266175,20
Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn1969 [18] 15154,63
Stibbe (Note 8)1911 [19] 193101,21
Van Doorne1930 [20] 15359,06

Notes:

(1) 2019/2020, including notarial revenue.

(2) In 1991, Benelux law firm, Loeff Claeys Verbeke, formed a tripartite alliance with Magic Circle law firm Allen & Overy and French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel. Allen & Overy and Gide Loyrette Nouel terminated their alliance in 1998. [21] After it was unable to agree on a full merger with Allen & Overy, in 2000, a third of the Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg offices of Loeff Claeys Verbeke merged with Allen & Overy to form Allen & Overy Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, a third merged with tax advisers Loyens & Volkmaars to form Loyens & Loeff and a third left the firm. At its height, Loeff Claeys Verbeke had more than 500 attorneys and notaries. [22] [23]

(3) Allen & Overy was founded in the City of London on 1 January 1930. [24] [25]

(4) Allen & Overy does not separately report its revenue for the Netherlands. In its 2019/20 financial year, it had global revenue of £1,69 billion. [26]

(5) In 1998. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and three other European law firms entered into an alliance with Linklaters to form Linklaters & Alliance. [27] In 2002, it terminated that alliance, choosing not to merge with Linklaters. [28] It has since entered into a "best friends" alliance with BonelliErede (Italy), Bredin Prat (France), Hengeler Mueller (Germany), Slaughter and May (UK) and Uría Menéndez (Spain). [29]

(6) Clifford Chance does not separately report its revenue for the Netherlands. In its 2019/2020 financial year, it had global revenue of £1,8 billion. [30]

(7) 2018/2019. [31]

(8) In 2002, Silver Circle law firm Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills) (UK), Gleiss Lutz (Germany) and Stibbe formed a tripartite alliance. [32] In November 2011, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe voted against a merger with Herbert Smith. [33] That alliance subsequently ended on 31 December 2011. [34]

Notaries

A list of law firms (in alphabetical order) with more than 20 notaries and candidate notaries in the Netherlands in 2020 is set out below. [35]

NameNotariesCandidate Notaries
Actus Notarissen1111
Allen & Overy Netherlands 318
Baker McKenzie Netherlands 218
Daamen De Kort van Tuijl1012
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek 428
Dirkzwager813
Houthoff 543
Hermans & Schuttevaer917
Het Notarieel1218
Hoekstra & Partners914
Loyens & Loeff 1061
NautaDutilh 939
Trip515
Van Doorne917
VBC Notarissen618

Rankings

Chambers and Partners rankings of the number of speciality areas in each law firm recognised as leading in the Netherlands in 2020. In the Netherlands, Chambers and Partners ranks law firms in bands from 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest). Being ranked in any band is an achievement. [36] This list is non-exhaustive.

RankNameBand 1Band 2Band 3Band 4
1 Allen & Overy Netherlands [37] 12641
2 De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek [38] 1162None
3 Stibbe [39] 8731
4 Loyens & Loeff [40] 8431
5 Houthoff [41] 749None
NautaDutilh [42] 5113None
Clifford Chance Netherlands [43] 4731
AKD [44] 4232
Van Doorne [45] 4143
Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn [46] 3311
Stek [47] 2121
Linklaters Netherlands [48] 2None23
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Netherlands [49] 1532
DLA Piper Netherlands [50] 1161
Lexence [51] 1None21
Simmons & Simmons Netherlands [52] None413
Jones Day Netherlands [53] None311
Baker McKenzie Netherlands [54] None231
CMS Netherlands [55] None123
deBreij [56] None1NoneNone
Kennedy Van der Laan [57] NoneNoneNone1
EY HVG Law [58] NoneNoneNoneNone

Associate remuneration

In 2019, the average gross annual salary for associates at Dutch law firms ranged between:

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