Profile
Position
Counsel (Restructuring & Insolvency)
Career
Karien specialises in insolvency law and restructurings. She is particularly interested in international restructurings, such as the restructuring of Agrokor d.d. in Croatia. In addition, Karien is regularly appointed as a bankruptcy trustee by the Amsterdam District Court and is the liquidator of Lehman Brothers' Dutch division. She was also involved in various capacities in proceedings based on the Court Approval of a Private Composition (Prevention of Insolvency) Act (Wet homologatie onderhands akkoord, or WHOA). Karien advises directors, companies and creditors in diverse insolvency situations. As such, Karien covers the full breadth of the restructuring and insolvency fields.
Karien is a member of the Insolvency Practitioners Association (INSOLAD), INSOL Europe, INSOL International, the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI) and the International Women's Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC). She was also admitted as a NextGen member to the International Insolvency Institute (III). Karien publishes the annual WHOA chronicle in the Tijdschrift voor Insolventierecht insolvency law journal and also regularly lectures on insolvency law.
Languages
Content supplied by Houthoff
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
‘Very creative and the best in their field of expertise.’
‘The Houthoff team has great general breadth and can include additional experts at very short notice giving you confidence that you will be safe in any unexpected development. They interface well with other top-tier firms in other jurisdictions.’
‘Christiaan Zijderveld is not only a great lawyer, he is also a calm consensus-builder and true team leader for his colleagues. Having worked closely with him on high-stakes and high-stress transactions over the years, the guy does not quit. Paul Sluijter provides great insight. In the courtroom setting, Jan Willem de Groot is really a heavyweight combining great legal acumen with persuasiveness in arguments.’
‘One of the best teams in the Netherlands with an in-depth knowledge of insolvency law, WHOA and restructuring techniques. They are leading with an excellent team. My go-to firm for restructuring. An excellent reputation with the courts too.’
‘Frédéric Verhoeven is a leading lawyer - user-friendly, pragmatic and excellent in the cross-over of commercial fix and legal implementation. His partner Christiaan Zijderveld has a similar profile, is a very bright technical lawyer with an excellent knowledge of insolvency law.’
‘The team is smart, pragmatic, reliable and, in particular, creative.’
‘An excellent combination of diversity in terms of seniority, communication and personal styles. Much more warm, personal and empathetic compared with other firms. Besides that, they are best in class concerning knowledge.’
‘A more than excellent level of industry knowledge and experience. Strategy, communication, process management and personal attention stand out from David Heems and Nadir Koudsi in particular.’
Key clients
- Steinhoff International Holdings N.V.
- Fortenova Group
- HPS Investment partners LLC
- Loyalty Ventures Inc.
- Brand Loyalty Group
- BC Partners
- Dümmen Orange
- DSB Bank
- Lehman Brothers
- Goldman Sachs
- ING Group
- CBRE
- AIG
- Supervisory Board Imtech
- Sogestran Shipping
- Indofin
- Amvest
- ABNAMRO
- Bomo (Hotels van Oranje)
- Directors of Fortress Group
- Lumileds Group
- Farfetch Group
- Unigel Brazil