Mr Frits van der Woude > Kennedy Van der Laan > Amsterdam, Netherlands > Lawyer Profile

Kennedy Van der Laan
MOLENWERF 16
1014 BG
P.O. Box 58188, 1040HD
Netherlands

Work Department

Insurance and Liability Group

Position

Partner

Career

Before switching to the legal profession, Frits worked in the insurance sector for almost 20 years, where he held several positions in the area of placing and claims, both as a lawyer and as a board member. Since 2003 he has been working as an attorney in the areas between insurance law, professional liability and directors’ and supervisory directors’ liability. He works in large and media-sensitive cases and advises, litigates and arbitrates on coverage disputes at national and international insurance programs. For example, Frits represented insurers in the settlement of the shareholders’ claim against Fortis, and he litigates for insurers in disputes concerning the insurance of directors and supervisory directors of Imtech.

Frits is a lecturer/researcher of Liability and Insurance at VU University Amsterdam. He teaches the Masterclass in Insurance Law for the Risk Insurance Traineeship of the Dutch Insurance Exchange Association.

Languages

Dutch, English

Memberships

Frits has been chairman of the Insurances Committee of the Royal Dutch Association of Civil-Law Notaries. The Minister made him a member of the Actual Damage Committee in the Childcare Benefits Scandal (Toeslagenaffaire). Frits has also been a member of the Executive Committee of Kennedy Van der Laan NV. He is a member of the Support Committee for Legal Aid Lawyers of the Amsterdam Bar Association and an affiliate of the Dutch Society for Insurance Studies and the Dutch Association for Liability and Compensation Law.

Education

After completing his Economics studies, Frits studied Dutch law and Notarial law. He is a trained mediator and completed the Course for Supervisory Directors at Nyenrode Business University.

Lawyer Rankings

Netherlands > Insurance

Kennedy Van der Laan advises on standalone insurance law and associated regulatory issues, covering both Dutch and European matters for a client roster that includes insurers, brokers and public bodies. The group handles a range of insurance products, with particular focus placed on casualty, property and engineering and financial lines coverage in addition to a growing class actions practice. The insurance side of the practice is headed by a team consisting of Erik van Orsouw, Chris van Dijk, Frits van der Woude, Peter van den Broek and Petra Oskam, with Jan Broekhuizen taking the lead on matters of insurance regulation. Marit van der Pool joined the firm’s partnership ranks in September 2023, with a defence and coverage practice centred around D&O and professional indemnity claims.