Based in The Hague, Pels Rijcken is known for advising the State of the Netherlands, Dutch municipalities, such as The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam, as well as financial supervisory authorities, administrative and regulatory authorities, and multinational corporations on class actions. Willem Heemskerk leads the international team and is well versed in handling class actions before national courts. He is particularly knowledgeable in cases involving liability and compensation and often advises corporate clients. Co-leading the litigation practice is Raimond Dufour, who excels in cross-border mass damage disputes. He has been key to a number of high-profile cases handled both at national courts and the Court of Justice of the European Union.
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Great litigation practice. Great lawyers with the capability to discern what is of relevance in the specific case.’
‘Pels Rijcken is the best of the overseas firms I instruct - they provide clear, well thought-out and thorough advice, are very strong on strategy and the team is a pleasure to work with. ’
‘Willem Heemskerk is an impressive senior leader - he exudes a calm demeanour but knows when to fight. Raimond Dufour is impressively across every detail of a matter - he is thorough, considered and very bright.’
Key clients
- Vale S.A.
- Braskem S.A., Braskem Netherlands B.V., Braskem Netherlands Finance B.V., Braskem Netherlands Inc. B.V.
- UBS AG and UBS Securities Japan Co. Ltd.
- Scandinavian Airlines (SAS)
- ArcelorMittal
- Mercedes-Benz Group AG
- Porsche AG
- Nationale-Nederlanden
- State of the Netherlands
- Westlake
Work highlights
- Represented Vale in a class action following a dam burst in Brazil.
- Represented two UBS entities in a class action regarding the alleged manipulation of LIBOR and other interest rate benchmarks.
- Represented Mercedes-Benz in more than 60 different cartel follow-on class action proceedings relating to the alleged truck cartel.
Lawyers
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Practice head
Willem Heemskerk; Raimond Dufour