We asked Principal Consultant John Andrews to share a market overview of the Benelux legal market.
Although the last 8 months have seen some quite significant economic shifts, it seems the Benelux markets have continued to be robust to these as they tend to have very mature economies and good geographical locations for cross-border work with other European jurisdictions.
Not just home to some of the best chocolate in the world, Belgium is also home to the European Commission, so it is natural for multinational law firms to enter this market in order to advise their clients on all elements of EU law. This is seen by 7 US firms setting up shop in Brussels in just the last 3 years alone. Earlier this year, the legal elite in Brussels was further increased by Davis Polk opening their doors in February 2023 with the onboarding of Jurgen Schindler and Frances Dethmer from Allen & Overy, who will be heading up their EU Competition department.
Mostly known for their canals and love of cycling, The Netherlands is also a strong hub for IT work, which saw a huge surge during the pandemic with the publics reliance on technology becoming even greater. The Netherlands has seen huge overseas investment from law firms that historically have strong focuses in the regulatory sectors such as Bird & Bird, NRF and a recent addition of Arnold & Porter who opened their doors in Amsterdam at the end of 2022 with the addition of two partners with a focus on life sciences and healthcare work.
Although Luxembourg is geographically small in size, they are seen as a largely significant jurisdiction for financial and investment services, with strong ties throughout continental Europe. In Q3 of 2022, we saw Pinsent Masons acquire Wildgen (one of the oldest independent Luxembourg law firms) to establish itself within Luxembourg and to further strengthen their client relationships in neighboring European jurisdictions.
Although it seems now is an economically unpredictable time one thing is for sure, the investment into the BeNeLux legal market doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon. For a lot of international law firms these European jurisdictions provide the perfect platforms to serve their European clients, particularly with growing sectors such as technology, investment management and competition law.
Alongside, the investment seen from overseas the domestic law firms within these jurisdictions also seem to be thriving. BeNeLux based firms such as Sitbbe, AKD and Loyens & Loeff have seen strong growth over the past few years and still plan to grow further, particularly in fields such as employment law, corporate and tax.
What does seem very apparent from an outside perspective, is that there are no signs that investment is stopping in these jurisdictions and this is an incredibly fruitful time in the market for any lawyers looking to explore new opportunities.
For more information regarding opportunities within the Benelux legal sphere, please be sure to connect with our team.
