Van Doorne‘s employment and pensions team works in tandem with the firm's corporate group to support clients on the employment law aspects of M&A transactions and restructurings. Steven Sterk is a key contact for corporate employment law matters, and the group is recognised for its strength in representing corporate entities and works councils in litigation. Other key areas of instruction include handling the dismissals of managing directors, renumeration issues and investigations. Marjolijn Lips focuses on advising management and supervisory boards, and Cara Pronk is well versed in handling cross-border cases. Pension litigation is another core area of strength for the group; Sijbren Kuiper fields extensive experience in advising on pension disputes. All named lawyers co-head the practice.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Marjolijn Lips really gets involved in the case and feels like she is part of my team. She can understand the clients' risk appetite and she can work towards a solution rather than advising from the side. She makes the effort to understand the case rather than assuming it is similar to what they have seen before.’
‘Van Doorne is a pleasure to work with, from the first to the last person. They are very knowledgeable, responsive and to the point. Every challenge has been met. This also includes appropriate follow up and makes for a trusted external legal counsel partner.’
‘Niels van Boekel's calm and crystal clear approach cuts through complexity to give balanced and real-world advice that makes the difference. Working in his team were Maurits Top and Puck Van Genechten who were equally knowledgeable and a true extension of Niels' capabilities. A pleasure to work with all of the team.’
‘The Van Doorne team is extremely experienced, pragmatic and easy to reach. They always make sure one of the team is available if needed and all team members are aware of what's going on in their client's business. In my view they have a very close collaboration, both within the team as with the client. ’
‘Cara Pronk is an extremely qualified and experienced, yet super pragmatic and friendly person. She is very capable, always available and has a good understanding of the business and its stakeholders. ’
‘The team has an excellent combination of experience, empathy and the ability to maintain the objectivity in any situation - even under great pressure. This, in my experience, supports the process and delivers the intended result.’
‘Expert knowledge, very keen analytical capabilities, excellent negotiation skills.'
‘Marjolijn Lips is very pleasant to work with. She is very hands on, clearly oversees the bigger picture (and the client's interests) and is not afraid to tell the client the truth. Very knowledgeable. Transparent communication. Niels van Boekel is very knowledgeable as well. He has the quality to assist the client in a relaxed way while also giving the feeling that the matter is handled diligently. ’

Key clients

Getir and Gorillas
Central Works Council of Ayvens
MacUnited
Intertek
ROC van Amsterdam
Enviolo
Ascend Performance Materials
Skytanking Amsterdam
TSS

Work highlights

Advised Getir on the employment and pension aspects involving the EUR 1.2bn acquisition of Gorillas, including a dispute over the mandatory application of the collective labour agreement and pension fund.
Advised Ascend Performance Materials on the closure of the business operations in the Netherlands, as well as negotiating with the works council and union.