"My specialist fields are corporate law and partnership law. Including contract law, corporate acquisition and insolvency law. All involving highly complex legislation. The more complex, the more businesses need assistance. You could say I make a living out of the complexity of trading.
Read moreIn my practice I prefer preventing problems to resolving them. Preventing a problem means that I have protected my client from mistakes and problems. To do this I need to be able to understand my client's business and imagine myself in his position and I believe these are my greatest strengths. In business terms this has clear advantages: preventing problems for my clients ensures that my clients lead me to new clients. They like the fact that I explain matters clearly and tell them where the pitfalls lie; and they pass this on.
Contracts are central to my work. If you record agreements correctly you know exactly what you're getting into in the event that a conflict arises. And the person with whom the conflict has arisen knows that too. That's why I start every new matter by making a list of all the important issues. Then I choose the right construction to deal with each issue. I do this by listening attentively to my client and thinking myself into his situation. The contract has to fit his situation and wishes perfectly. It's like making a tailor-made Italian suit. This way, many court proceedings can be avoided and if it ever does turn out to be necessary to go to court my client will have a much stronger position.
I started out as an attorney in January 1998, I was hired because they were looking for someone with excellent command of both the English and the German language. That is why I always had clients from both English and German speaking countries. I joined ‘SMART Advocaten’ as a partner in January 2010. Before I joined ‘SMART Advocaten’ I worked as deputy judge for a while. An exciting and enriching opportunity for a lawyer, but for me the role doesn't have enough personal involvement with the people concerned. As a lawyer acting for companies and individuals, I enjoy the personal involvement and the interaction that form part of the profession. Standing next to someone and thinking up solutions together and getting matters sorted out properly, for me those are the things that make my profession the best profession there is."
Personal information
Martijn de Schepper has more than 14 years of experience in legal practice, including more than 13 years as an attorney. He was also a judge for a time. In 2006 he successfully completed the specialist training "Insolvency law for insolvency practitioners" and in December 2007 he completed the Grotius training course in Partnership Law and Corporate Law with an equally successful result.
His roles outside work have included, to mention but a few: formerly a member of the committee for objection notices and ombudsman matters in Eindhoven and currently a member of the successor objection notices committee as chairman of the public order assembly. In addition, Martijn De Schepper has served as a city councillor in Eindhoven and carried out various roles within the political party D66, including chairman of the Eindhoven local branch and the De Kempen local branch. He was also chairman of the customer committee for Waalre district council and of the works council for the law firm where he trained and is currently chairman of the Image Culture foundation and a member of the board of the Eindhoven Legal Society.
Martijn de Schepper is registered as an attorney with the Dutch Bar Association (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten). See here.
Qualities and attributes
- Friendly and puts other people at ease;
- customer-focused;
- caring and genuinely interested;
- can explain complicated issues simply;
- good listener;
- gives constructive criticism;
- pragmatic and focused on finding solutions;
- team player;
- finds creative solutions and constructions.
Some success stories of
Mr. Martijn de Schepper
A turbulent takeover
A businessman for whom I had worked previously came to me because he wanted to help a friend who was having difficulties with his business partner. He tried to intervene when the partner attempted to eject his friend out of his own company. He even offered to buy the company. The other
Fingers burned in the ashes of a house
A man telephoned me in a panic because his house had just burned down and an insurance expert was on his doorstep asking him all kinds of strange questions. The expert then produced a report suggesting on various grounds, both comprehensible and incomprehensible, that the man had set fire
An efficient share sale
An American group with a number of Dutch subsidiaries wished to sell shares back to a fellow shareholder. As the approval of the American parent company was required, I drafted the share purchase agreement in English, to save time and aid efficient communication. The buyer wished to pay
Post-insolvency restart organised in advance
A client with two companies in two different cities realised that one of the two locations was not doing well; the economic situation had caused a drop in sales. His business operated in a sub-sector of the construction industry. He had found a buyer for some of his activities and was keen
Even a generous payment arrangement can’t be open-ended
A German client was faced with a customer who failed to pay. First the customer avoided my client, then he invented excuses and finally he admitted that he owed money but said that he was unable to settle the debt in a single payment. He wanted to arrange to pay in instalments. What should
The unreliable partner
My client, who specialised in the import of local beer originating from his native country in Central America, had entered into a joint venture with a Dutch man in order to finance his business. The parties had set up a general partnership as the basis for their joint venture, though they did
Driver pays for his dishonesty
Some years ago a German couple came to me for assistance. While holidaying in the Netherlands, a Dutch man had driven into their car. Luckily they were unhurt. However, the costs of repairing their car (removing the dents and partial re-spraying) were significant. Immediately after the
The director facing a liability claim
When a foundation doing community work became insolvent, a really nice guy (our client) decided to continue the foundation’s activities through a limited company and purchased the foundation’s fittings and equipment etc. from the liquidator. The community benefited enormously, but
Disagreement between partners
A business partner who frequently takes all the money out of the bank account and transfers it to his own company, refuses to discuss anything and fails to pay tax assessments. These are just some of the problems that my client came to me to seek help with. The partner claimed that he
Keeping a business afloat when the trust is gone
Someone I had encountered earlier in my legal career came to me because of disagreements with his business partner. They had an online shop that was doing very good business, but they no longer trusted one another. From the accuracy of the sales figures to the choice of suppliers, each
Lawyer from famous legal family forced to pay up in the end
Some time ago, I used a bankruptcy application to collect a debt owing to a client by a lawyer who is a member of a well-known family of attorneys. A court judgment had been issued granting the debt claim and no appeal was made, establishing that the debt claimed was due. One of the supporting
Partner’s withdrawal not such a smart move!
If you don’t have enough money to fund your business yourself, there are various ways to obtain the necessary capital. One of these is to set up a limited partnership. This is a partnership with one or more general partners, who are actively involved in running the business, and one or
Enforcing a judgment that should never have been issued
A Dutch company I represented had provided services to a German customer. The invoice that was sent to the customer for this work was not paid. As my client’s standard terms and conditions stated that the services were carried out in the Netherlands, under European legislation we were
Employee refuses termination settlement offered and ends up with less in court
My client was dissatisfied with the performance of one of her employees. A programme of coaching failed to bring about the desired improvement, so she believed that there was no solution but to terminate his employment contract. When my client discussed the situation with the employee, he
The misleading estate agent
My client owned a house together with his wife who was terminally ill. They could not pay the mortgage anymore. One day, my client walked past an estate agent's office. The estate agent accompanied my client to his house, viewed it in five minutes and made an offer, which my client was to
Paid website for antique furniture dealer
A communication agency in the Eindhoven area built a complicated website for an antique furniture dealer. Because the dealer refused to cooperate in providing certain data the website could not be completed. On the basis of the recorded order agreements, the communication agency decided to