In 2019, the top 50 Dutch law firms () had around 4,476 attorneys ()Advocatie Advocatuur Top 50 2020 Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/advocatuur-top-50-2020/ and the top 30 law firms had around 183 notaries () and 527 candidate notaries.Advocatie Advocatuur Top 50 4 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/advocatuur-top-50-2020/ According to the Chambers and Partners legal directory, the top five law firms in the Netherlands are Allen & Overy Netherlands, De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, Houthoff, Loyens & Loeff and Stibbe. Every year advocatie.nl publishes a list of the 50 biggest law firms in headcount.
Structure
Bigger law firms in the Netherlands are often organised as a partnership, private limited liability company (B.V. or ), public company (N.V. or )) 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.
Largest Law Firms Attorneys
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 AttorneysAdvocatie Advocatuur Top 50 4 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/advocatuur-top-50-2020/ Revenue (€ million)(Note 1)Advocatie Omzetten top 50-kantoren 2019: grote sprong Dirkzwager, zorgen voor 2020Accessed 4 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/business/omzetten-top-50-kantoren-2019-grote-sprong-dirkzwager-zorgen-voor-2020/ AKD 1903LinkedIn AKD Accessed 4 August 2020 https://www.linkedin.com/company/akdbenelux/about/ 196 84,19 Allen & Overy Netherlands(Note 2) 1854(Note 3)Top Employers Allen & Overy Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.top-employers.com/en/companyprofiles/nl/allen--overy-llp/ 169 (Note 4) De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek(Note 5)1871ADvocatenblad De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.advocatenblad.nl/2014/06/30/bouwer-van-de-brauw/ 298 167,70 Dirkzwager 104 41,76 DLA Piper Netherlands 115 55,22 Clifford Chance Netherlands 1972Clifford Chance Amsterdam 1 August 2020 https://www.cliffordchance.com/people_and_places/places/europe/netherlands.html 126 (Note 6) CMS Netherlands 115 46,99 Houthoff 245 123,80 EY HVG Law 124 45,01(Note 7) Kennedy Van der Laan 2006Bloomberg Kennedy Van der Laan Accessed 4 August 2020 https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/4043125Z:NA 102 26,23 Loyens & Loeff(Note 2) 2000FD Loyens & Loeff moet €21 mln vergoeden wegens fouten Accessed 1 August 2020 https://fd.nl/economie-politiek/1352625/loyens-loeff-moet-21-mln-vergoeden-wegens-fouten-advies-bedrijfsopvolging 255 343,90 NautaDutilh 1724International Law Office NautaDutilh Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.internationallawoffice.com/Directory/NautaDutilh/Rotterdam 266 175,20 Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn 1969Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn History Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.pelsrijcken.nl/over-ons/geschiedenis 151 54,63 Stibbe(Note 8) 1911Advocatie Stibbe Accessed 1 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/kantoor/stibbe/ 193 101,21 Van Doorne 1930IFRL100 Van Doorne Accessed 1 August 2020https://www.iflr1000.com/Firm/Van-Doorne-Netherlands/Profile/3199#undefined 153 59,06
Notes:
(1) 2019/2020, including notarial revenue.
(2) In 1991, Benelux law firm, Loeff Claeys Verbeke, formed a tripartite alliance with Magic Circle law firm Allen & Overy and French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel. Allen & Overy and Gide Loyrette Nouel terminated their alliance in 1998. "When Firms Decide to Merge, Some Lawyers Decide to Leave" Wall Street Journal 24 October 2000 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.NRC Handelblad Advocatenkantoor Loeff valt uit elkaar na 'fusie' 13 July 1999 https://retro.nrc.nl/W2/Nieuws/1999/07/13/Vp/08.html
(3) Allen & Overy was founded in the City of London on 1 January 1930.
(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.The Lawyer A&O breaks magic circle financials silence with modest growth Accessed 4 August 2020 https://www.thelawyer.com/allen-overy-financials-2020/
(5) In 1998. De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek and three other European law firms entered into an alliance with Linklaters to form Linklaters & Alliance.De Volkskrant De Brauw in alliantie met Britse Linklaters https://www.volkskrant.nl/economie/de-brauw-in-alliantie-met-britse-linklaters~bb4f073d/ In 2002, it terminated that alliance, choosing not to merge with Linklaters.Law.com De Brauw withdraws from Linklaters' European alliance 17 April 2002 https://www.law.com/international-edition/2002/04/17/de-brauw-withdraws-from-linklaters-european-alliance/ It has since entered into a "best friends" alliance with BonelliErede (Italy), Bredin Prat (France), Hengeler Mueller (Germany), Slaughter and May (UK) and Uría Menéndez (Spain).
(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.The Lawyer Clifford Chance fends off virus threat with 6 per cent revenue surge Accessed 4 August 2020 https://www.thelawyer.com/clifford-chance-financials-2020/
(7) 2018/2019.UK Companies House HVG Law LLP Group of companies' accounts made up to 30 June 2019 https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/document-api-images-live.ch.gov.uk/docs/l-dJbS2EIelYdJ07lStn9jn7DwFWFTBQv3o7bjvXpGs/application-pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Content-Sha256=UNSIGNED-PAYLOAD&X-Amz-Credential=ASIAWRGBDBV3B547PMBL%2F20200804%2Feu-west-2%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20200804T182135Z&X-Amz-Expires=60&X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEN%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCWV1LXdlc3QtMiJIMEYCIQD5VN07rnH01DAYgeh13LIHHPnWj7K3avY8sPv1w7wRiwIhANBQZ1nIvi%2FFq7isYNANHgvESPW8G7fxu8QnPCOSq7j2Kr0DCKj%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEQAhoMNDQ5MjI5MDMyODIyIgyY845ewuu4mPjhG%2BcqkQN9bBCWjrwYCemaNCoNuG%2BphGd885X52bh4Ba7sR%2FGH6kXk2g0FnT2kHqlRnRc8w%2FNh9Jk7ep%2BzgfmLZdgsxsnuzKu3gB4rEE5MVgKhCbL7v36Y0iLYo9PZSXy%2Fwx9tOhPr12zStm3WGIRyUn4riQMRsY2hVCEFbLDqHZkuTyZ951oiwqHiHMVw1s457zdObIBnkhtbcnZNEP9m8%2F98jMmdbsx5bvM0NlO9grSDvWgy4C00YRwWJP8ndY5vixCwC01deeFt2dqhMf7I9obrN9HX7nCzkaKulRIRtk%2Bu6lIAu2g4%2Bcva8ftrpQQyanSaHiMGNqUYaiVYrWxnVawhYl6UEbQB83suDMl%2BxRxdrWcdLTkWoGF%2FK7mAL2sBfvjnv1fe0HxqOjHPEX5YiUh1nasxWXCDgGNbtgtAFJ5GE%2BFqVIZGvOsShLG24wV%2BvYc4gEjb%2FEVVCn%2FOFqm%2Bew7ixVxtbkbnbTI5NsJUQU3DVHn1oLRqYR%2F%2F5CQtUDXXgVuMWTF1aFwzE3Q5nWWX%2FSaeXk51YDC56KX5BTrqAf3LkGfFCjcv915%2Fjn5XYfmN964ucUWFzwlg6wV3oeoZN6UU3XkhQC0QUnT2zEipXs2bfa2bpa3UKYtwUftWlsJUKOLlQl8TpdSHZkk2I%2Fhnny8v2rTLkx9Ces2Xe3Cgb3Z7lsUG4A1eHtWm0mP2yXCKaBP1N01DaS0m6k8Im3MzZOLZ5Qizff49ksMjfs3VqNtiHbGhTeKLNh3fMS61GYRXjbDJS9Urx%2By61h6u4u%2FNJ%2FIxgaMbLhMZB5qv9znOoQQH44mD%2F2COmZURdrMo45CR46Su1scDYXIXdMt3NDF6E6EsrtJ%2F9wttQQ%3D%3D&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=a17673e6bc6bd45c40ef97120cdc44d0c3f762e299305eb94e146cc6de398385
(8) In 2002, Silver Circle law firm Herbert Smith (now Herbert Smith Freehills) (UK), Gleiss Lutz (Germany) and Stibbe formed a tripartite alliance. In November 2011, Gleiss Lutz and Stibbe voted against a merger with Herbert Smith. That alliance subsequently ended on 31 December 2011.
Notaries
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.Advocatie Advocatuur Top 50 4 August 2020 https://www.advocatie.nl/advocatuur-top-50-2020/
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
Rankings 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.Chambers and Partners Ranking Explained https://chambers.com/research/the-rankings-explained This list is non-exhaustive.
Rank Name Band 1 Band 2 Band 3 Band 4 1 Allen & Overy NetherlandsChambers & Partners Allen & Overy Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/allen-overy-llp-europe-7:7 12 6 4 12 De Brauw Blackstone WestbroekChambers & Partners De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/de-brauw-blackstone-westbroek-europe-7:3861 11 6 2 None3 StibbeChambers & Partners Stibbe Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/stibbe-europe-7:3874 8 7 3 14 Loyens & LoeffChambers & Partners Loyens & Loeff Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/loyens-loeff-europe-7:64329 8 4 3 15HouthoffChambers & Partners Houthoff Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/houthoff-europe-7:3865 7 4 9 None NautaDutilhChambers & Partners NautaDutilh Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/nautadutilh-europe-7:3868 5 11 3 None Clifford Chance NetherlandsChambers & Partners Clifford Chance Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/clifford-chance-llp-europe-7:83 4 7 3 1 AKDChambers & Partners AKD Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/akd-europe-7:3859 4 2 3 2 Van DoorneChambers & Partners Van Doorne Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/van-doorne-europe-7:1421 4 1 4 3 Pels Rijcken & Droogleever FortuijnChambers & Partners Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/pels-rijcken-droogleever-fortuijn-nv-europe-7:3879 3 3 1 1 StekChambers & Partners Stek Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/stek-europe-7:1222235 2 1 2 1 Linklaters NetherlandsChambers & Partners Linklaters Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/linklaters-europe-7:255 2 None 2 3 Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer NetherlandsChambers & Partners Pels Rijcken & Droogleever Fortuijn Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/freshfields-bruckhaus-deringer-llp-europe-7:147 1 5 3 2 DLA Piper NetherlandsChambers & Partners DLA Piper Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/dla-piper-llp-europe-7:22401592 1 1 6 1 LexenceChambers & Partners Lexence Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/lexence-europe-7:113028 1 None 2 1 Simmons & Simmons NetherlandsChambers & Partners Simmons & Simmons Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/simmons-simmons-llp-europe-7:383 None 4 1 3 Jones Day NetherlandsChambers & Partners Jones Day Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/jones-day-europe-7:8429 None 3 1 1 Baker McKenzie NetherlandsChambers & Partners Baker McKenzie Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/baker-mckenzie-europe-7:2692 None 2 3 1 CMS NetherlandsChambers & Partners CMS Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/cms-europe-7:7489 None 1 2 3 deBreijChambers & Partners deBreij Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/debreij-europe-7:22404228 None 1 None None Kennedy Van der LaanChambers & Partners Kennedy Van der Laan Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/kennedy-van-der-laan-global-2:3866 None None None 1 EY HVG LawChambers & Partners HVG Law Accessed 1 August 2020 https://chambers.com/law-firm/hvg-law-llp-europe-7:140562 None None None None
Associate remuneration
In 2019, the average gross annual salary for associates at Dutch law firms ranged between: