Clifford Chance‘s employment and pension group excels in handling remuneration and incentive issues, multijurisdictional reorganisations, boardroom matters, workplace investigations, and employment litigation. The team is led by the ’excellent, creative and critical’ Floris van de Bult, who excels in transactional employment mandates such as international M&A alongside strategic employment matters. A ‘real powerhouse’, Sanne Blankestijn advises clients on a mix of employment matters such as cross-border restructurings, transactional pension matters and incentive plans. Najib Muslem and Astrid van Ommeren provide key support to the team.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘Sanne Blankestijn is a real powerhouse and one to watch. Swift, practical and never misses a beat. Exceptional in her client service.’
- ‘Floris van de Bult is an excellent employment lawyer. He can handle both contentious and non-contentious matters very well.’
- ‘Najib Muslem and Floris van der Bult are very good lawyers and give practical advice.’
- ‘Team is very proactive and has good understanding of our specific market.’
- ‘Pragmatic approach, willing to listen and understand the client's issues and think creatively on solutions rather than a 'copy paste' advisory approach.’
- ‘Floris van der Bult brings a calm and confident approach to dealing with even complex matters. He presents as knowledgeable, pragmatic and approachable, is prepared to admit where is is less comfortable and engages his team actively in discussions.’
- ‘Floris van de Bult is an excellent, creative and critical lawyer. He brings legal matters to the next level.’
- ‘As a client, what sets Clifford Chance’s Netherlands employment team apart for us is how consistently pragmatic and solutions‑driven they are. They move quickly, give clear, usable advice, and calibrate their approach to our risk profile.’
Key clients
- Aalberts N.V.
- Accell Group B.V.
- ACT Group
- Adevinta Iberica S.L.
- Adyen N.V.
- Aegon Ltd.
- Allego N.V.
- Barentz Holding B.V.
- Beko B.V.
- Blue Sky Group
- BME | Building Materials Europe B.V.
- Chane Terminals Holding B.V.
- CVC Advisers Limited
- Deliverect NV
- dsm-firmenich AG
- Enstall Group B.V.
- Equinix (EMEA) B.V.
- Getir B.V.
- HERA United
- IMC Trading B.V.
Work highlights
Advised Adevinta on strategic employment law matters in the Netherlands and across Europe.
Advised Mitsui OSK Lines on its strategic multijurisdictional acquisition of 100% of the membership rights in LBC Tank Terminals Group Holding Netherlands Coöperatief for $1.715bn.
Advised HERA United on a pro bono basis since its inception, assisting in its journey to become the first women-only professional football club in the Netherlands.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Leading associates
Leading associates with regular involvement in their team's key work, and recognition from peers or clients as being ones to watch.
Practice head
Floris van de Bult
Other key lawyers
Sanne Blankestijn; Najib Muslem; Astrid van Ommeren