The history of the office goes back to September 7, 1894. On that date Mr. Hendrik de Visser was registered as a lawyer at the Groningen court. He started his office at the Grote Spilsluizen (house number unknown).
On December 5, 1919, Marcus (Max) Koppius was sworn in. He had his office at 37 Ubbo Emmiussingel. Koppius was co-founder of the football club 'Voorwaarts', which later became GSAVV 'Forward', a sub-association of the Groningen Student Corps Vindicat Atque Polit.
At a time that can no longer be determined exactly, De Visser and Koppius started a practice in the office on Ubbo Emmiussingel.
In November 1929 Mr. Pieter Dorhout was sworn in. He joined De Visser and Koppius in the office.
In addition to practicing law, Dorhout was active in local politics and held various administrative positions. From 1970 to 1975, Pieter Dorhout was dean.
When De Visser ended his career as a lawyer in 1940, Koppius and Dorhout continued his practice as a partnership. The need to go into hiding made their work more difficult, but did not lead to insurmountable problems. Koppius retired from the legal profession in 1950. Dorhout continued the practice under his own name at number 8 Oude Ebbingestraat. In 1964, his son mr. Marten Dorhout joined him, after completing his internship at Dutilh in Rotterdam. In 1968, son mr. Johannes Dorhout also came to work for them, after his internship at De Vries Robbé & Kuijpers in Arnhem. In the meantime, the office had been moved to Oude Ebbingestraat 91.
From 1968 to 2005 - a period in which many RAIOs did their outdoor internships at Dorhout - the office gradually grew. Until further expansion at the former location in the city center was no longer possible.
On 1 June 2005, Dorhout cs Advocaten merged with Rollingswier Advocaten.
Rollingswier had been created three years earlier through a merger of two relatively young Groningen law firms Rollingswier & Breuker and Blokzijl & Lettinga Advocaten.
Located in a stately villa in the Zuiderpark, on the edge of the old city center of Groningen, Rollingswier Advocaten was increasingly involved in the commercial practice.
The office had seven lawyers. The objective was to grow within five years into an office with fifteen (commercially specialized) lawyers. But the size of the building did not allow for that expansion.
In 2005, both offices decided to work together, so that the set goals could be achieved. The joint name became Dorhout Advocaten and the address the current one.
On March 14, 2011, the former partnership was converted into a public limited company with retroactive effect from January 1, 2011; Dorhout Advocaten NV The current partners are mr. Kastelein , mr. Lettinga , mr. Breuker and mr. Koenders .
As lawyers in corporate law, we advise and assist entrepreneurs. We know the practice, the pitfalls and pitfalls in contract law and liability law, so that we can assess your risks together with you and limit them where necessary. Both by drafting contracts, drawing up accurate general terms and conditions, and by advising on the right business form. But we are also your partner outside the strict legal framework, at a strategic level.
We also help you if disputes arise with trade relations or partners (collaborations, shareholders, partnerships). And also in legal proceedings – including those before the Enterprise Chamber of the Amsterdam Court of Appeal – and arbitrations.
Our services extend to, among other things:
If you are looking for a law firm that specializes in insolvency law and restructuring, then Dorhout is the right place for you. A number of our lawyers are regularly appointed by the court as receivers in bankruptcies of various sizes or as administrators in suspension of payments. You can also engage them yourself, for example to prevent you from going bankrupt. Think of a restructuring, a WHOA process or an extrajudicial debt restructuring.
Our lawyers know the ropes and deal with all possible aspects of insolvency law. For example, they can advise and, if necessary, litigate about (preventing) directors' liability and act prudently. They can also assist you if you are involved in an insolvency, for example as a director, financier, (potential) buyer of the company or assets or creditor (with or without a retention of title or right of recovery). They do this with a thorough, practical and result-oriented approach.
Our employment lawyers are experts in the many disciplines of employment law.
In employment law, for example, it is important to arrive at a proper written record of the rights and obligations that apply between the parties. This applies to employment contracts, but also to specific regulations and protocols. You can think of regulations regarding the use of e-mail and the internet, sexual harassment, discrimination and aggression, reporting and control regulations in the event of illness and the use of company resources. We draw up these contracts, regulations and protocols according to the latest state of affairs in case law and legislation.
In addition, we have a lot of experience in recording competition, relationship and confidentiality clauses and we are happy to help you with disrupted employment relationships and dysfunction. We offer guidance in tackling this, in which we try to arrive at a workable situation in which the parties continue to work together. But we are also there for parties that fail to do so and where the situation must lead to a dismissal procedure.
Our lawyers also advise and assist with (collective) reorganizations where employees have to be made redundant. We can provide support not only in dismissal procedures themselves, but also in the notification of collective dismissal and consultation with the works council or trade unions.
In addition, we advise in the event of incapacity for work, absenteeism of employees and the (financial) consequences thereof. We are aware of the latest developments in the field of reintegration obligations of employers and employees.
Finally, we can advise you on the rights and obligations of works councils and employers in decisions requiring advice or consent and on social security law, such as the Unemployment Insurance Act, the Sickness Benefits Act and the Work and Income according to Labor Capacity Act.
At Dorhout, we have specialist knowledge of real estate, construction and tenancy law. Ranging from civil construction law to easements and neighbor law. Our specialists review agreements, draw them up, provide advice and, where necessary, assist you in proceedings before the civil court and various arbitration institutes.
Our knowledge and activities cover a wide area. Some examples:
