QUALITY RANKINGS OF CURAÇAO LAW FIRMS AND LAWYERS IN INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS

March 31, 2011 6:58 AM

Every spring legal publishers present their view on the global market for legal services. In their so called “legal directories”, they provide information for potential buyers of legal services, ranking law firms and their individual attorneys according to their credentials and experience.

The largest and one of the most reputable of legal publishing houses, independent publisher Chambers and Partners, kicked off with its annual global ranking of Dutch Caribbean law firms in its publication Chambers Global 2011 in March. Practical Law Company’s “Which Lawyer?” guide followed immediately thereafter. Other publishers limit themselves to a list of names and contact details for the region’s lawyers, such as Martindale and Hieros Gamos.

For twenty years, Chambers and Partners publishes the leading directories of the legal profession. In their process they select firms based on three steps: submissions put forward by law firms upon request of the publisher; client interviews seeking feedback and lawyer interviews providing peer reviews, both administered by seasoned and objective researchers; and, finally, database research. As a result, law firms and individual lawyers are ranked in Bands from 1-6, with 1 being the best.

The law firm VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne is considered to be the leader of the pack. Chambers ranks the largest firm of the region in a stand-alone position as band 1 firm. This reconfirms the firm’s ranking by PLC as the sole “Leading firm” for Corporate matters in the Dutch Caribbean. Moreover, four out of nine recommended individual lawyers on Curacao are partners of this law firm.

Chambers writes:“Band 1: VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne: […]. Clients praise the lawyers’ “proactive and attentive” client service, saying: “We trust them completely.” The firm has an excellent reputation amongst international law firms seeking local counsel for mandates regarding offshore funds and for hospitality matters.

Chambers further mentions in Band 2: HBN Law as a “well-established practice that has been handling civil law matters within Curaçao and the surrounding islands since 1938. A very strong litigation practice lies at the heart of the firm, handling commercial cases as well as administrative disputes.”; Spigthoff Attorneys at Law and Tax Advisers as a “team specializing in matters relating to taxation, corporate law, finance and litigation.”; and STvB (formerly Smeets Thesseling van Bokhorst), noticeable “for its strength in corporate advisory work, and also has considerable expertise in capital markets, tax and real estate matters.”

See below a full overview of recommended individuals:

(Source is Chambers and Partners webpage)

30 March 2011