The Legal 500

Allen & Overy LLP is ‘top of the market when it comes to rates, but this is paid back in knowledge, experience and agility’. Herald Jongen ‘brings great experience to the table’, while Quinten Kroes is ‘very good in commercial contracts, IP, data protection, and privacy matters’. Recent highlights include advising T-Systems on its successful bid for the global outsourcing of Philips’ data centres.

Bart van Reeken heads De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek’s top-end outsourcing practice, while Lokke Moerel leads the firm’s IT compliance group. The pair also undertake IT litigation, working alongside Tobias Cohen Jehoram, who focuses on internet and digital copyright litigation. The team counts IBM, Unilever and BT as clients, and recently advised Philips on its global outsourcing to T-Systems.

Bird & Bird LLP won a number of impressive new clients such as Wehkamp – the largest online retailer in the Netherlands – and expanded its cyber-crimes practice into the public sector. Practice head Jeroen van der Lee advised PharmaPartners on various agreements, including the introduction of electronic patient files.

Clifford Chance has extensive experience handling outsourcing projects, and advises a number of financial institutions on data privacy work. The group continued to advise Accenture on outsourcing projects, as well as on taking its finance and accounting services in house. Alvin Khodabaks leads the IP/IT group.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s IP practice frequently proves pivotal in major transactions, and recently acted alongside the corporate team on the ABN AMRO demerger. Other recent highlights include advising ING Continental Europe and ING Investment Management on outsourcing its respective procurement organisations. Counsel Wieke van Angeren heads the team.

Houthoff Buruma serves as general counsel for clients such as eBay, Asos Origin and Paypal, and is advising the Dutch Healthcare Authority on the outsourcing of its IT infrastructure. Wolter Wefers Bettink leads the two-partner team, which acted for a number of automotive clients including Volvo, Ford, Nissan and Peugeot on privacy and e-commerce matters.

Kennedy Van der Laan handles a significant amount of IT work for banks and insurers, other financial institutions and major corporates such as Microsoft. The team has been busy advising on cloud computing issues, and witnessed an increase in disputes following the failure of large technology projects. Joost Linnemann and Patrick Wit are the key contacts.

Loyens & Loeff is advising Nuon on transactions relating to the nationwide rollout of smart meters, and acting for Pensioenfonds Horeca & Catering on the implementation of enterprise, resource and planning systems. Serge Zwanen is recommended along with senior associate Edward de Lange, who is a ‘practical lawyer with a high standard of service’.

Van Doorne is ‘fast and to-the-point’, and the team ‘knows the IT world, the players, contract types, and contractual tricks’. Recent highlights include advising the Public Health Service of Amsterdam on redefining its policy for sourcing an important IT system. Kees Stuurman is ‘quite knowledgeable, prompt, and accurate’, while Elisabeth Thole is ‘very thorough’.

DLA Piper won an appointment to Accenture’s panel for major outsourcing deals in the Netherlands, and continued to act for longstanding client iSOFT Nederland. Arend Lagemaat is ‘very responsive and customer oriented’.

Marc Wallheimer leads Hogan Lovells International LLP’s three-partner IT team, which advised Hollister and Honeywell on data-processing agreements.

NautaDutilh advised a major Dutch bank on contracting with two IT suppliers regarding the supply of infrastructure for its new savings systems. Clients include ABN AMRO, Fiat and France Telecom. Piet Sippens Groenewegen leads the team.

Stibbe’s clients include the Dutch government, ING and Translink. The team has acted on large-scale projects such as the implementation of road pricing in the Netherlands.

Clients are ‘very pleased with the professionalism and in-depth knowledge’ of Vondst Advocaten N.V. The group ‘answers quickly, and in a pragmatic manner with concrete details and practical suggestions that prove very helpful to the client’. The group won new instructions from Avebe, Celanese and DELA.