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European law firm Fieldfisher announces the opening of a new office in Amsterdam. The five partner firm will be structured as a Swiss Verein and will operate from 1 May 2017. The office will be led by Marcel Willems, and all join from Kennedy Van der Laan (KVdL). Marcel is an experienced manager, and cofounded KVdL over twenty five years ago and has been instrumental in its growth and success.
He is joined by Jan Schouten, Marinus de Waal, Frans-Jozef Crousen and Louis Bouchez. Jan, Frans-Jozef and Louis have over 20 years' experience in the corporate transactions practice. Jan and Marinus – who was a Senior Associate - are both civil-law notaries and Marinus has over ten years' experience in corporate transactions and cross-border structuring.
The practice will initially focus on corporate, finance and insolvency, business structuring (including inward investment), commercial contracts, compliance and governance and corporate litigation.
Fieldfisher launched its new strategy in June 2016 where the Netherlands was identified as a key part of the firm's international expansion plans.
Commenting on the new office, Michael Chissick, Managing Partner of Fieldfisher, says, "We've been looking at setting up an office in the Netherlands for a while. We've had a footprint in the Benelux region for years and it was a natural step to have a Dutch presence as well. We send more work to this jurisdiction than any others where we don't have an office.”
"Amsterdam in particular, is a hub for the firm's key sectors including TMT, energy, life sciences and tech. As well as the natural sector cross-over, investments from China and America are two key markets for us and are a particular feature of Dutch bound investment.”
"We have had a close working relationship with Marcel and his team for over 20 years and are delighted that they are joining the Fieldfisher family. The team's experience and drive fits seamlessly with our culture – as all our recent mergers have – and we are looking forward to taking advantage of the synergies and opportunities in the region post-Brexit."
Marcel, Managing Partner of Fieldfisher Amsterdam, adds, "We've worked with Fieldfisher for years and have an established relationship. As well as our natural rapport, we were looking for a new and exciting challenge and joining such an ambitious firm was a superb opportunity.”
"This is a real chance for us to develop and grow a genuine pan-European offering in the Dutch legal market, as well as utilising Fieldfisher's existing US and Chinese offerings.”
"To begin, our focus will be developing our excellent corporate offering but we will be looking to recruit IP/IT and employment lawyers in the future as we grow."
The opening of the Amsterdam office follows a successful year of growth for the Fieldfisher network. In November 2016 the firm launched a new Swiss Verein in China with a Beijing office. This month the China arm opened another office in Shanghai. In the same month as the new China Verein was established, the firm merged with commercial firm Hill Hofstetter . And in July last year the firm joined with SASPI, which has four offices across Italy, through a Swiss Verein structure.