A 'go-to firm for Supreme Court litigation in the Netherlands', Houthoff assists clients with the full array of commercial litigation services. The team has a strong bench of litigators led by Jan Willem de Groot and Bart van der Wiel from Amsterdam. De Groot excels in representing clients in corporate litigation before the Enterprise Chamber and Amsterdam Court of Appeal, while van der Wiel leads the Supreme Court litigation team. Competition-related disputes are handled by Rick Cornelissen; David Heems is experienced in restructuring and insolvency disputes; and Remme Verkek works together with van der Wiel in Supreme Court cases. The team has strong international ties and connections with overseas firms, enabling it to advise on complex multi-jurisdictional contentious matters. Albert Knigge is key to multi-party cross-border disputes and is often involved in high-profile litigation. Marjolein Heuten is noted for her skills in disputes before the Enterprise Chamber and in transaction-related litigation.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Above all Houthoff provides the best quality. Very good from both a legal and a strategic point of view. Also nice people to work with. Just top of the league.'

  • ‘Jan Willem de Groot is very on the ball, a sharp legal thinker and a great organiser of his team.’

  • ‘Houthoff's Supreme Court litigation practice excels in complex disputes. They also provide clear and practical advice from a cassation perspective to lawyers involved in first instance or appeal proceedings.’

  • ‘Our main contact is Bart van der Wiel. He is one of the smartest lawyers in his field, very knowledgeable in legal and strategical aspects of a case. He handles cases with humour and respect.’

  • ‘Houthoff's Supreme Court litigation practice is excellent and they are our go-to firm for Supreme Court litigation in the Netherlands. The team is extremely knowledgeable and professional and at the same time very pleasant to work with. They have the capacity to get to the heart of the matter quickly and their submissions are to the point. We can only highly recommend them.’

  • ‘Bart van der Wiel heads the Supreme Court litigation team and is extremely knowledgeable and experienced in Supreme Court litigation. Remme Verkerk is key for the Supreme Court litigation practice, with a focus on international arbitration related litigation for which we can highly recommend him. Laura van Gardingen is extremely talented, with great client skills and can handle large complex cases.’

  • ‘The Houthoff team is our go-to team for litigation in the Netherlands, especially Supreme Court litigation. The team has profound knowledge of the real estate sector and always keeps an eye on the practical and commercial interests at hand.’

  • ‘Jan Willem de Groot is an amazing litigator. He is great in court and possesses a sharp legal mind. Fun to work with.’

Key clients

  • BC Partners
  • HPS Investment partners
  • Dummen Orange
  • CBRE
  • Elliott Management
  • Trafigura
  • Avery Dennison
  • Huntington Ingalls Industries
  • Owens-Illinois, Inc.
  • Centerbridge
  • TotalEngergies
  • AIG
  • ING
  • LG
  • Volvo Trucks
  • LG Electronics
  • Volvo Trucks / Renault Trucks
  • Petrobras
  • Audi AG
  • Nexans S.A.
  • Sligro Food Group
  • Supervisory Board Imtech
  • Koninklijke Luchtvaartmaatschappij (KLM)
  • British Airways
  • Delta Air Lines
  • easyJet
  • United Airlines
  • Deutsche Lufthansa
  • International Air Transport Association
  • Fortenova
  • Fujifilm

Work highlights

  • Represented Huseyin Can Yildirim in his shareholder dispute with Yildirim Holding AS and Huseyin's co-shareholders in Yildirim Group.
  • Represented several major airlines and aviation organisations in a case against the Dutch state to prevent a reduction of Schiphol airport’s yearly allowance of flights from 500,000 to 460,000.
  • Represented LG Electronics in its defence against a €2bn (plus interest) claim that was entirely dismissed by the Dutch court.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame
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Leading partners
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Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Jan Willem de Groot, Bart van der Wiel

Other key lawyers

Rick Cornelissen, David Heems, Remme Verkek, Albert Knigge, Marjolein Heuten, Paul Sluijter, Laura van Gardingen