De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek is highly regarded in the employment law space, with an excellent track record in handling complex, high-profile contentious and non-contentious matters. Under the leadership of Barbara Kloppert and Stefan Sagel, the team often acts for clients in the Supreme Court in disputes involving trade unions and high-profile individual dismissal cases. Renumeration matters are another core area of strength for the group. The client base includes multinational companies, pension funds and trade unions. Sagel focuses on contentious employment matters, with established strength in acting for clients before employment tribunals, the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Kloppert is well versed in advising on matters involving works councils, executive and board appointments, redundancies and remuneration.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘Stefan Sagel is very responsive, easy going, energetic, knowledgeable and practical in how he works on cases. ’

  • ‘The team stands out for its ability to quickly understand a matter, ask the relevant questions and next to a legal analysis offer pragmatic solutions.’

  • ‘Excellent knowledge and expertise, a problem solving attitude and work is delivered as promised.’

  • ‘We work with De Brauw on a regular basis on a variety of employment-related matters including complex cross-border transactions that require a high level of technical expertise. Their team of experienced lawyers are able to deliver quick and practical responses.’

  • ‘Barbara Kloppert and Stefan Sagel are experts in their field and are always able to come up with solutions to any type of problem. Stefan's extensive legal knowledge and Barbara's talent for dealing with tricky situations are very impressive. It is always a pleasure to collaborate with them.’

  • ‘Very knowledgeable advice, incredibly service-minded and they think beyond your question.’

  • ‘Rik van Haeringen is down-to-earth, very knowledgeable and approachable. likes to think ahead and be proactive in his advice. Also very service-oriented and a good sparring partner. Always keeps a cool head, regardless of the situation. Tessa van der Stel is very service orientated, responsive, knowledgeable and very approachable. Pleasant to deal with and always polite. Stefan Sagel is an incredibly inspiring professional. Thinks ahead and knows the business well. Advice is always knowledgeable and he also has a good sense of humour. ’

  • ‘I have found the team very knowledgeable, as one would expect from a firm like De Brauw. They always made sure that the team was aligned and updated, enabling them to take the full spectrum of the situation into account, supporting our executive decision making.’

Key clients

  • Booking.com Holdings Inc.
  • Shell
  • Schiphol
  • Elof Hansson Fiber
  • BAM
  • Uber
  • Leaseplan
  • ASML
  • Achmea
  • RELX/Elsevier
  • Aalberts
  • Friesland Campina
  • Aegon N.V.
  • NN Group N.V.
  • Heineken N.V.
  • Ahold Delhaize
  • Fugro
  • Optiver
  • Rabobank

Work highlights

  • Acted for Booking.com in litigation before the Supreme Court on the applicability of the mandatory industry wide pension fund for the travel industry.
  • Assisted KSL Capital Partners with the employment and remuneration aspects of the sale of the Zien Group.
  • Represented CapGemini in a case concerning whether a change of contract with an IT provider results in a transfer of undertakings.

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.
Stefan Sagel
Hall of fameDe Brauw Blackstone Westbroek
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Barbara Kloppert
De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Barbara Kloppert, Stefan Sagel

Other key lawyers

Rik van Haeringen, Tessa van der Stel, Hein Koster