In 2019, the top 50Dutch law firms (Dutch:advocatenkantoren) had around 4,476attorneys (Dutch:advocaten)[1] and the top 30 law firms had around 183notaries (Dutch:notarissen) and 527 candidate notaries.[2] According to theChambers and Partners legal directory, the top five law firms in the Netherlands are Allen & Overy Netherlands,De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek,Houthoff,Loyens & Loeff andStibbe.[3][4][5][6][7] Every year advocatie.nl publishes a list of the 50 biggest law firms in headcount.
Bigger law firms in the Netherlands are often organised as a partnership, private limited liability company (B.V. orDutch:besloten vennootschap), public company (N.V. orDutch:naamloze vennootschap)) or cooperative. It is common for a law firm to have notaries attached to it. Smaller law firms sometimes opt for a maatschap, where all lawyers run their own offices, but share the costs of rent, employees and marketing.
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A list of law firms (in alphabetical order) with more than 100 attorneys in the Netherlands in 2020 is set out below.
| Name | Date Founded | Attorneys[9] | Revenue (€ million)(Note 1)[10] |
|---|---|---|---|
| AKD | 1903[11] | 196 | 84,19 |
| Allen & Overy Netherlands(Note 2) | 1854(Note 3)[12] | 169 | (Note 4) |
| De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek(Note 5) | 1871[13] | 298 | 167,70 |
| Dirkzwager | 104 | 41,76 | |
| DLA Piper Netherlands | 115 | 55,22 | |
| Clifford Chance Netherlands | 1972[14] | 126 | (Note 6) |
| CMS Netherlands | 115 | 46,99 | |
| Houthoff | 245 | 123,80 | |
| EY HVG Law | 124 | 45,01(Note 7) | |
| Kennedy Van der Laan | 2006[15] | 102 | 26,23 |
| Loyens & Loeff(Note 2) | 2000[16] | 255 | 343,90 |
| NautaDutilh | 1724[17] | 266 | 175,20 |
| Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn | 1969[18] | 151 | 54,63 |
| Stibbe(Note 8) | 1911[19] | 193 | 101,21 |
| Van Doorne | 1930[20] | 153 | 59,06 |
Notes:
(1) 2019/2020, including notarial revenue.
(2) In 1991,Benelux law firm, Loeff Claeys Verbeke, formed a tripartite alliance withMagic Circle law firm Allen & Overy and French law firmGide Loyrette Nouel. Allen & Overy and Gide Loyrette Nouel terminated their alliance in 1998.[21] After it was unable to agree on a full merger with Allen & Overy, in 2000, a third of the Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg offices of Loeff Claeys Verbeke merged with Allen & Overy to form Allen & Overy Belgium, Luxembourg and Netherlands, a third merged with tax advisers Loyens & Volkmaars to form Loyens & Loeff and a third left the firm. At its height, Loeff Claeys Verbeke had more than 500 attorneys and notaries.[22][23]
(3) Allen & Overy was founded in theCity of London on 1 January 1930.[24][25]
(4) Allen & Overy does not separately report its revenue for the Netherlands. In its 2019/20 financial year, it had global revenue of £1,69 billion.[26]
(5) In 1998. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and three other European law firms entered into an alliance withLinklaters to form Linklaters & Alliance.[27] In 2002, it terminated that alliance, choosing not to merge with Linklaters.[28] It has since entered into a "best friends" alliance withBonelliErede (Italy),Bredin Prat (France),Hengeler Mueller (Germany),Slaughter and May (UK) andUría Menéndez (Spain).[29]
(6) Clifford Chance does not separately report its revenue for the Netherlands. In its 2019/2020 financial year, it had global revenue of £1,8 billion.[30]
(7) 2018/2019.[31]
(8) In 2002,Silver Circle law firmHerbert Smith (nowHerbert Smith Freehills) (UK),Gleiss Lutz (Germany) and Stibbe formed a tripartite alliance.[32] In November 2011, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe voted against a merger with Herbert Smith.[33] That alliance subsequently ended on 31 December 2011.[34]
A list of law firms (in alphabetical order) with more than 20 notaries and candidate notaries in the Netherlands in 2020 is set out below.[35]
| Name | Notaries | Candidate Notaries |
|---|---|---|
| Actus Notarissen | 11 | 11 |
| Allen & Overy Netherlands | 3 | 18 |
| Baker McKenzie Netherlands | 2 | 18 |
| Daamen De Kort van Tuijl | 10 | 12 |
| De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek | 4 | 28 |
| Dirkzwager | 8 | 13 |
| Houthoff | 5 | 43 |
| Hermans & Schuttevaer | 9 | 17 |
| Het Notarieel | 12 | 18 |
| Hoekstra & Partners | 9 | 14 |
| Loyens & Loeff | 10 | 61 |
| NautaDutilh | 9 | 39 |
| Trip | 5 | 15 |
| Van Doorne | 9 | 17 |
| VBC Notarissen | 6 | 18 |
Chambers and Partners rankings of the number of speciality areas in each law firm recognised as leading in the Netherlands in 2020. In the Netherlands, Chambers and Partners ranks law firms in bands from 1 (highest) to 4 (lowest). Being ranked in any band is an achievement.[36] This list is non-exhaustive.
| Rank | Name | Band 1 | Band 2 | Band 3 | Band 4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Allen & Overy Netherlands[37] | 12 | 6 | 4 | 1 |
| 2 | De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek[38] | 11 | 6 | 2 | None |
| 3 | Stibbe[39] | 8 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 4 | Loyens & Loeff[40] | 8 | 4 | 3 | 1 |
| 5 | Houthoff[41] | 7 | 4 | 9 | None |
| NautaDutilh[42] | 5 | 11 | 3 | None | |
| Clifford Chance Netherlands[43] | 4 | 7 | 3 | 1 | |
| AKD[44] | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | |
| Van Doorne[45] | 4 | 1 | 4 | 3 | |
| Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn[46] | 3 | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Stek[47] | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | |
| Linklaters Netherlands[48] | 2 | None | 2 | 3 | |
| Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer Netherlands[49] | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | |
| DLA Piper Netherlands[50] | 1 | 1 | 6 | 1 | |
| Lexence[51] | 1 | None | 2 | 1 | |
| Simmons & Simmons Netherlands[52] | None | 4 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jones Day Netherlands[53] | None | 3 | 1 | 1 | |
| Baker McKenzie Netherlands[54] | None | 2 | 3 | 1 | |
| CMS Netherlands[55] | None | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| deBreij[56] | None | 1 | None | None | |
| Kennedy Van der Laan[57] | None | None | None | 1 | |
| EY HVG Law[58] | None | None | None | None |
In 2019, the average gross annual salary for associates at Dutch law firms ranged between: