Gerrit-Jan Zwenne
Hall of famePels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NVPels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV‘s privacy and data protection team sits within the wider privacy and technology department and is led out of The Hague by Gerrit-Jan Zwenne and Marte van Graafeiland. The practice advises both public and private sector clients including representing the Dutch State in high-profile proceedings. The team also often represents non-profit foundations as claimants in collective redress litigation against big technology enterprises, and assists defendants in class action law suits against foundations. Other key work includes assisting clients with data breaches, data subject access rights and use of data collection and processing methods. Zwenne is a leading figure in the data protection space, while van Graafeiland focuses on data protection issues involving the public domain.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘The team has thorough and in-depth knowledge of data protection law. They also have a strong foundation in academia. They are easily accessible and easy to deal with.’
‘Gerrit-Jan Zwenne has an excellent and up-to-date knowledge of data protection law, with a strong academic foundation; he thinks quickly and originally.’
‘The factor that makes the team stand out is Gerrit-Jan Zwemme. Pels Rijcken is the law firm that represents the government. That makes them unique anyway and they have all resources to be best in class with any and all innovations.’
‘Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is an undisputed leader in his field of expertise. Where others can present privacy and data protection as daunting topics or costly risks, Gerrit-Jan is able to simplify and reduce the topic to pragmatic solutions.’
‘Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is one of the most authoritative experts in data protection in the Netherlands. The breadth of knowledge in his team is impressive and greatly contributed to the success in our case. Obviously, in view of the huge fundamental and monetary interests of these cases, in these cases all the top lawyers are involved. We feel very confident with Pels Rijcken team.’
‘We work mainly with Gerrit-Jan Zwenne and Lars Groeneveld from Pels Rijcken. Gerrit-Jan has over 35 years of experience in data protection matters, Lars is an associate with an good sense of what needs to be done to win a case.’
'What we appreciate most is the out-of-the-box thinking, developing new strong arguments to further the case. That is, in my view, their unique selling point.’
‘Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is highly regarded for his deserved reputation and his holistic approach to privacy issues, always considering the interests of all parties involved. He remains undeterred by the national regulator's often inflexible interpretation of the GDPR and, when required, adopts a pioneering stance that serves both his clients' interests and the evolution of jurisprudence.’
Key clients
- Data Privacy Stichting
- Stichting Bescherming Privacybelangen
- Stichting Consumers United in Court
- Surfshark Incogni
- Infomedics
- Parliament (Tweede Kamer)
- Reclassering Nederland
- Dutch State
Work highlights
- Represented the Ministry of Health in a class action related to the aftermath of a covid-19 data breach.
- Represented DPS in a class action against Meta for infringements of both the Dutch DPA and the GDPR.
- Represented SBP in a data protection class action alongside Lemstra van der Kor, against Google.
Lawyers
Hall of Fame
The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Gerrit-Jan Zwenne, Marte van Graafeiland