The Legal 500

Houthoff Buruma’s Rutger Schimmelpennick ‘is an excellent bankruptcy practitioner that sets the standard in the field’. He and newly promoted partner Frédéric Verhoeven are ‘fantastic lawyers that are smart and great negotiators’. The team served as the bankruptcy trustee of Lehman Brothers Treasury, and was appointed trustee on the €7.8bn bankruptcy of DSB Bank. Other instructions included advising on the SwissAir and KPNQwest insolvencies.

NautaDutilh secured groundbreaking decisions for Yukos and its Dutch subsidiaries in bankruptcy proceedings, and continues to act for clients such as ABN AMRO and the Dutch central bank. Robert van Galen ‘sees the whole picture and unswervingly responds in the clients’ best interests’, while Barbara Rumora-Scheltema is ‘extremely thorough and very industrious’.

Simmons & Simmons LLP’s practice head Gerhard Gispen is representing Citibank as agent and lender on the KPNQwest insolvency, as well as acting for the court-appointed receiver of Yukos Oil Company. Christiaan Zijderveld ably provides support.

Stibbe’s Karen Harmsen and Toni van Hees are serving as trustees to Indover Bank, while Harmsen and Fons Leijten are acting for Kroymans, which declared bankruptcy in 2009. The group continues to act for the managing directors of Lehman Brothers Treasury, and is advising on Gamma Holding’s restructuring. The team advises banks such as Fortis and ING on problems arising from debtor insolvencies.

Boutique practice Wijn & Stael is one of the best insolvency and restructuring practices in the Netherlands. It is regularly appointed as administrator by the courts in moratorium cases and liquidations. Insolvency expert Willem Jan Van Andel is recommended.

AKD’s Paul Peters served as bankruptcy trustee of SHB Havenpool and the six bankrupt companies of Joep van den Nieuwenhuyzen, while Barend de Roy van Zuidewijn acted as bankruptcy trustee for KPNQwest Finance and Nordhorn Vastgoed. The team acted on the restructurings of Brouwer Group and GMAC RFC Nederland.

Allen & Overy LLP focuses on restructuring work, and is advising the arrangers on the €735m restructuring and refinancing of Q-Park. Its lawyers ‘are on the ball, know what is happening in the market, and execute well’. Practice head Rob Abendroth is ‘knowledgeable and experienced’, while Andrew Thomas displays ‘industry knowledge and negotiation skills’.

CMS Derks Star Busmann’s Marcel Groenewegen is serving as joint trustee in the bankruptcy of DSB Beheer, the parent company of DSB Bank. Other recent instructions include advising a banking syndicate on the insolvency of Kroymans. The corporate recovery team focuses on restructuring companies with anything up to 1,000 employees.

Clifford Chance’s Bas Boris Visser and Jelle Hofland ‘both have good legal knowledge and are pragmatic, which is very much appreciated when restructuring’. The team is acting for Lyondell Basell on its landmark restructuring, which allowed the company to avoid the pitfalls of local insolvencies.

DLA Piper is the only global firm acting on both restructuring and formal insolvencies. The team was appointed as administrator of the Netherlands branch of Landsbanki Islands hf, the second-largest Icelandic bank to have been nationalised. Marc Molhuysen heads the three-partner practice.

De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek is the only Dutch member of the Insol Group of 36. Jan Willem de Boer is advising One Equity Partners on SAS Group’s restructuring, while Ruud Hermans is acting on the $1bn restructuring of Almatis. Other clients include ABN AMRO and Yukos.

Loyens & Loeff offers ‘succinct, well written, commercial advice from a user-friendly team with excellent response times’. The team is advising Oaktree Capital as the largest senior lender in the Almatis restructuring. Hendrik van Drutten is ‘absolutely first rate’.

Osborne Clarke Alliance member Ploum Lodder Princen Advocaten en Notarissen is recommended for bankruptcy, insolvency and financial restructuring. Jeroen Princen heads the group, which is noted largely for domestic work.

Van Doorne is one of four firms that the Amsterdam Court assigns to insolvency cases of financial institutions, and is currently representing the three largest creditors involved in Lehman Brothers Treasury bankruptcy in the Netherlands. Paul Schaink leads the group.