Dutch corporate law
We assist with down to earth legal structures in the Netherlands. We do corporate work such as M&A, legal mergers, demergers, incorporations, share transfers, share issue and securitisation for the business community. We also advise and create for professionals structuring new business for medical specialists in hospitals, dentists and structuring other law firms. We advise on and create Dutch public legal persons. We have advised seven foreign sovereign states, including a foreign head of state, on Dutch corporate law issues.
International corporate law
We design, install and maintain international structures, usually with a Dutch corporation or legal person at some level. The often innovative structures are created with an eye for the real needs of international business, governments or not-for-profit organisations. Examples include the design and installation of intercontinental joint ventures between Dutch and Chinese companies in the Netherlands, the maintenance of the Dutch branch of several multinationals, the design and installation of secure legal entities for governments who desire second tier presence in third world countries where diplomatic relations are not first rate, and the design, installation and maintenance of a global not-for-profit organisation licensed to collect IP rights all over the world for over a thousand production companies in the entertainment industry.
Outbound to China
We assist Western multinationals and Dutch companies who want to do business in China. After a -free of charge- interview, two out of three of these potential DCC clients are advised to reconsider their ambitious plans, simply stay at home or go to other places than China. A crucial question for us to answer is whether they are interested in China or whether China is interested in them. Examples of the one-third that did become our client include a multinational giant in the food industry who can popularise a food product that was successfully introduced in China by specialised premium brands and Dutch specialised companies in the shipbuilding industry.
Inbound to Holland
We assist Chinese companies in setting up business in Europe, through the gateway of the Netherlands. The assistance starts in China, giving Chinese management the opportunity to meet their European lawyer and staff. We have good connections with Tsinghua Law School, giving the opportunity to meet prospects in Beijing. The assistance we offer is broad: we help set up the legal structure and we make legal documents in a practical way, also sometimes by advising on general business topics. We work for big Chinese corporates and institutes (10,000 employees plus; listed on the Chinese stock exchange; state controlled) as well as privately held SME’s with just five hundred employees. In joint ventures we can assist both parties to work together harmoniously in Western Europe by explaining differences to both sides. We give related lectures in China on request.
Research and education
The research by DCC can result in internal memos or in external publications such as articles in law magazines or books. On average, one book per year is published or rewritten, and yearly several articles are submitted for peer review. Because the Dutch staff is relatively small, the allocation of resources needed for this academic output is not painless, but we believe the serious and on-going academic research done by our lawyers, who also handle everyday cases, will lead to better quality for our clients. On the one hand, education can be split into workshops for clients, giving training on specific subjects, e.g. practical aspects of setting up a JV with a Chinese partner, China investments inbound and outbound, new legislation for the trade register (for the trade register officials), and the Dutch cooperative as an alternative for a partnership or a BV (for other law firms). On the other hand, DCC staff educates beginners and more experienced lawyers as part-time staff members of Universiteit Leiden, Grotius Academy, et cetera.
Civil-Law Notary
As required by current Dutch law for lawyers that have been appointed by the Dutch Crown as “notarissen”, we oblige the general public by offering all traditional Dutch civil law notary basic deeds and documents. These include (in Dutch) hypotheken; testamenten; leveringsakten; verklaringen van erfrecht; legalisaties; samenleefovereenkomsten.
Pro Bono
Sometimes we earn big money and sometimes we give help for free. We happily spend hundreds of otherwise billable hours each year on previously identified pro bono cases in the Netherlands such as Enactus, the world’s best-known and most successful program helping university students to create community empowerment projects, and the Dutch female Olympic Bobsleigh Team. In China, nearly 1,000 hours are spent handing out free advice to prospects and giving lectures on “Going Global” in provincial towns with -for us laowai- unspeakable names.