Mediation and Other Forms of ADR

Articles - Lawyers occasionally wonder how the law ended up as it is. We had that experience after the Dutch Supreme Court’s decision of 1 July 2022 (Rabobank/Ten Berge q.q.; ECLI:NL:HR:2022:984), regarding the possibility or impossibility of pledging a claim. The Supreme Court decided that claims that have been made non-transferable under property law in a contractual agreement between a creditor and a debtor, cannot be pledged either.

Seminar - On 21 June 2021 at 2 pm, Stibbe partners Nicolas Résimont and Oliver Stevens host a webinar on pathological clauses and collaborative law for the members of the Practice Group Effective Dispute Resolution of IBJ/IJE.

Articles - On 1 January 2019, the legal provisions on collaborative law (sections 1740-1747 of the Belgian Judicial Code) entered into force. Collaborative law is essentially a specific type of confidential negotiation between parties assisted by their respective counsel.

Short Reads - Dutch law provides for an extension of the limitation period in relation to claims that were “deliberately hidden” from the creditor (article 3:321 (f) Dutch Civil Code). The extension also applies if the debtor deliberately hid the fact that the claim had become due and payable (upon fulfilment of a certain condition, for example). It is, however, unclear what kind of conduct qualifies as deliberate hiding. 

Inside Stibbe - Our Brussels office is honoured to have won four awards at the annual Benchmark Litigation Europe Awards ceremony last night. These awards celebrate the leading litigators and most impactful disputes across Europe.

Seminar - Op 8 juni 2021 spreken David D'Hooghe, Linde Bevernaege en Bastiaan Schelstraete op een webinar georganiseerd door het Instituut voor Bedrijfsjuristen over bemiddeling als vorm van geschillenbeslechting voor conflichten met de overheid. 

Short Reads - In Dutch legal practice, contracting parties often agree on provisions including an arrangement in which they waive their right to invoke the nullity of the contract in question. By doing so, the parties intend to exclude an eventual contractual annulment arising from error, duress, fraud or undue influence.

Short Reads - Two recent decisions from the Amsterdam Court of Appeal have confirmed that litigation vehicles cannot come empty-handed to the court, and should provide documentation regarding the assignments of claims they submit. The Dutch legal system allows companies and individuals to assign their claims to a “litigation vehicle” or “claims vehicle” that bundles those claims into a single action. In its decisions of 10 March 2020, the Court of Appeal ruled that it is up to litigation vehicles to prove that the assignments can be invoked against the debtor.