Dispute resolution: class actions

Houthoff

Houthoff‘s class actions and mass claims practice is led from Amsterdam by Albert Knigge, who is an authority in the field, often leading on complex cross-border class actions and Supreme Court proceedings. The team was active in a number of collective damages, securities and competition-related claims in 2024. Other notable team members in Amsterdam include Rick Cornelissen, who focuses his practice on follow-on cartel and abuse of dominance damages claims, and Diederik van der Kooji, who is experienced in handling collective proceedings and mass claims in Supreme Court litigation. In Rotterdam, Paul Sluijter specialises in cross-border class actions and international mass claims, utilising his expertise in private international law to advise clients, while Huib Lebbing typically acts as defence counsel in sensitive cases involving health and safety.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Albert Knigge is one of the best lawyers I have ever worked with. He is extremely knowledgeable, always available and client focused, while at the same time no nonsense - he will not overpromise and is a very strong communicator. Rick Cornelissen is always willing to find a client-focused solution.’
‘The Houthoff team is right at the forefront on Dutch class action litigation, has a great team and offers top level expertise.'
‘We are very content with Houthoff's work in our class action. The team is highly experienced, responsive, delivers high quality work and is pleasant to work with.’
‘Albert Knigge truly is a trusted advisor. We work with several law firms and lawyers, but to us Albert stands out in quality and expertise.’
‘In our class action, Houthoff did a great job getting to know about a complex case in a short time period with successful results. The collaboration was great.’
‘Rick Cornelissen did a great job in the hearing providing clear views about our case and providing always good solutions to the different problems we faced.'
‘I consider Houthoff to be one of the best law firms I work with, if not the best. It has an impressive structure, a great reputation and is able to carry out the best possible work in its client's favour. The pleadings it prepares are excellent and often already correspond to what we consider pertinent to present in court, meriting few repairs. In short, Houthoff is always very approachable and really embraces what the client has in mind.’
‘Very professional litigation team with a client centric approach. The team consists of good litigators, applies a structured approach in preparing litigation and takes specific client requests into account with flexibility.’

Key clients

Petrobras
Volvo Trucks / Renault Trucks
Stellantis N.V.
Audi AG
Nationale-Nederlanden Levensverzekering Maatschappij N.V.
Trafigura
Singapore Airlines Limited
Singapore Airlines Cargo Pte Ltd
CBRE Investment Management
Royal FloraHolland
Cargolux Airlines International
Ennatuurlijk B.V.
The Dutch State (Ministry of Public Health, Welfare and Sport)
Royal FloraHolland
Draad Nijmegen B.V.
Kone Oyj

Work highlights

Represented several car manufacturers, including Stellantis and Audi, as defendants against four class actions brought in the Diesel matter.
Represented Kone in two Supreme Court appeals concerning damages proceedings launched by two claims organisations following a European Commission decision over competition law infringements in the elevators and escalators industry.
Represented CBRE Investment Management and other lessors in the interim relief proceedings initiated by 540 tenants of residential units over changes to the regulations for standard rent adjustment clauses for residential space.