Fieldfisher’s Dutch unit has appointed two new co-managing partners as the firm completes five-years of operations in the Netherlands.

Finance partner Marinus de Waal and corporate partner Frans-Jozef Crousen replace restructuring and insolvency lawyer Marcel Willems, who has been in the post since the launch of the firm’s Dutch business in 2017. Fieldfisher Amsterdam’s practice offering spans corporate, finance, commercial, governance and litigation, with employment, IP, privacy and IT expertise added over the past five years.

De Waal said: “In addition to our excellent position in the Dutch legal market, the wider firm has carved an eminent reputation as one of Europe’s leading law firms. This is an exciting new role for me and I hope to continue to enhance the reputation of our office in our specialist areas and expand our capabilities further.”

De Waal has been at the firm since its Dutch launch, joining from national firm Kennedy Van der Laan where he spent just over five years. He also worked at Dutch peer Van Doorne, joining in 2007 after six years of military service in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, according to his LinkedIn page. He specialises in financial matters involving loans, investments, real estate funds and securities.

Crousen also joined Fieldfisher from Kennedy Van der Laan and Van Doorne, having worked at PwC before that. He has more than 30 years of experience advising on corporate transactions including M&A, management buyouts and joint ventures, with a particular focus on tech and renewables.

Crousen said: “We are proud to have played a key role in Fieldfisher’s European expansion by providing the firm with an effective foothold in the Netherlands for the past five years.”

The Amsterdam office has seven partners from a total headcount of 25. The firm currently has 26 offices across 11 countries.

Earlier this month Fieldfisher said it had doubled its graduate training-programme intake at its Belfast legal support centre to 10 after the five graduates in last year’s pilot scheme secured permanent roles with the firm.

Also this month, tech lawyer Robert Shooter succeeded Michael Chissick as the firm’s managing partner after a decade in the role, a move that was first announced last October.