On 1 January 2022, Linklaters launched its Dutch Supreme Court litigation practice with the arrival of Bart Fleuren (counsel).

As part of a global offering, Linklaters has a high-end dispute resolution practice in the Netherlands, led by Daniella Strik (Partner, Litigation) and Gerard Meijer (Partner, Arbitration). With the addition of a Supreme Court litigation practice, Linklaters is able to offer its clients a ‘one stop shop’ for the most challenging litigation matters at every state court in the Netherlands.

Bart Fleuren is an expert in financial, company and competition law, in addition to, class actions and (international) arbitration before all Dutch courts. He has more than 10 years of experience in Supreme Court disputes and has acted in more than 50 cases before the Supreme Court of the Netherlands.

An example of the high-profile Supreme Court proceedings that Bart has been instructed on includes, a landmark case in Dutch financial law, in which the Supreme Court ruled that property that has been transferred conditionally can be pledged. As a result, Dutch lenders obtained an estimated € 20 billion in extra security on a yearly basis, which enhanced the provision of credit to Dutch companies. In 2020, Bart also represented a bank in Supreme Court proceedings regarding the assignment of a credit portfolio with a nominal value of approximately € 400 million, which led to a landmark ruling impacting the Dutch securitisation practice.

More recently, in 2021, Bart acted before the Supreme Court in a dispute on the enforcement and setting aside of three arbitral awards rendered under the Energy Charter Treaty with a value of in excess of $ 50 billion on behalf of the former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil. Previously, Bart acted successfully in a case before the Supreme Court on the control over the Dutch branch of the former Yukos Oil and in other notable cases in the energy sector.

Daniella Strik, partner and Head of Linklaters’ Dispute Resolution practice in the Netherlands, comments:

“Since the Dutch Dispute Resolution Practice was founded in 2010, Linklaters has become an established player in the high-end Dutch market for the resolution of complex international cases for our global clients. Our work has varied from the representation of Ageas in billion-euro disputes with the Dutch State, and ABN AMRO regarding the nationalisation of Fortis, to the defense of Steinhoff against billion-euro claims regarding accounting irregularities. I very much look forward to the expansion of our practice with the addition of our Supreme Court offering.”

Gerard Meijer, International Arbitration partner at Linklaters, states:

“Since large arbitrations increasingly lead to state-court proceedings, including Supreme Court proceedings, the addition of a Supreme Court lawyer with specialist expertise in this field is of great value.”