Europe - Netherlands

Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV

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Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV continues to be the go-to counsel to the Dutch government and regulatory bodies, advising on emerging areas of law and defending them in politically sensitive and complex disputes. Arnoud Boorsma spearheads the team and is adept at supervision, enforcement, and general administrative law, notably within the telecoms, public, and commercial media spaces. Meanwhile, administrative law specialist Jannetje Bootsma concentrates on telecoms and education law.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘They have ample experience in the field and the Dutch Telecommunications Act, acting on behalf of the government.’

  • ‘Arnoud Boorsma is an experienced litigator acting on behalf of the government, in the field of telecommunication law, specifically frequencies. He is a respectful and worthy opponent.’

  • ‘Pels Rijcken possesses excellent knowledge of general administrative and civil law, as well as specialised expertise in the telecom field. The team is highly motivated to get the best possible outcomes for us and is very accurate, efficient and professional in doing so.’

  • ‘Arnoud Boorsma brings years of experience in the field of national supervisors and telecommunication law. That, combined with his outstanding speaking and writing skills, make him a great lawyer to have on our side.’

  • 'Very competent. Good communication. Fast.'

  • 'They know our business really well and are very competent.'

Key clients

  • Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy
  • Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure
  • The Dutch Media Authority (Commissariaat voor de Media)
  • Ministry of Education, Culture and Science

Work highlights

  • Assisted the Dutch Authority for Digital Infrastructure in an appeal and other legal matters relating to the cabinet's decision to extend the licenses of rural FM frequencies without an auction.
  • Assisted the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate in all proceedings regarding the allocation and roll-out of the 5G frequency range in the Netherlands.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Arnoud Boorsma

Arnoud Boorsma

Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV

As a specialist in administrative law, Arnoud represents the interests of the State as well as a number of public regulators such as the Netherlands Authority for Financial Markets, the Dutch Media Authority and Radiocommunications Agency Netherlands. In his capacity as lawyer for these clients he has very extensive experience with administrative proceedings at the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Council of State, the Rotterdam District Court and the Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal. His specialisations include general administrative and procedural administrative law, financial law, media law and telecommunications law.

Jannetje Bootsma

Jannetje Bootsma

Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn NV

Jannetje Bootsma is an expert in the broad field of administrative law. Jannetje has a preference for advising, proactively assisting and representing government authorities. She is specifically specialised in telecommunications law and education law. Issues pertaining to public housing, public order (e.g. the legal competencies of mayors) and Article 1 of the First Protocol of the European Convention on Human Rights are also key elements in her practice. She is one of the contributors to “Tekst & Commentaar Telecommunicatie- en Privacyrecht” (Text and commentary Telecommunications and Privacy Law). She combines work for ACM with work for the Radiocommunications Agency, the Dutch Media Authority and the Ministery of Economic Affairs, thus underlining her broad expertise in the field of Telecommunications law.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Arnoud Boorsma

Other key lawyers

Jannetje Bootsma, Marlies Koppenol