No. of offices 5 No. of employees > 60 Headquarters Willemstad Number of offices 5 | No. of attorneys > 30 Date founded 1938 Founded 1938 | |
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Major practice areas General Practice: Corporate Law; Commercial Law; Banking & Finance; Insurance Law; Real Estate Law; Labor Law; Bankruptcy Law; Intellectual Property; Litigation and Dispute Resolution Key people Eric R. de Vries (Managing Partner) | ||
HBN Law is one of the largest law firms in the Caribbean part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is through continuation also one of its oldest law firms, having been founded in 1938.
With over 30 attorneys spread over its five offices in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and Amsterdam, HBN Law serves all Dutch Caribbean islands, including Saba and Sint Eustatius from its offices in St. Maarten. The firm furthermore serves Suriname from its Curaçao office. HBN Law has been operational in the Netherlands since July 1, 2015. The firm's Amsterdam location initially served as a Dutch Caribbean Desk located at the World Trade Center, advising its clients based in the Netherlands on Dutch Caribbean legal aspects in a wide range of corporate and finance related transactions and projects. As of July 2016, HBN Law's Amsterdam office operates as a full fledged law firm.
Since 2013, HBN Law has been a member of the Meritas network, a network of legal professionals which boasts a worldwide membership of approximately 7,000 attorneys.
HBN Law runs a general civil practice, mainly in the areas of corporate law, commercial law, banking and insurance law, telecommunications law, construction law, real estate law, labor law, bankruptcy law, trademark law and of course litigation in those areas. The practice of HBN Law further includes constitutional and administrative law as HBN Law frequently advises and represents the local governments in those areas.
History
HBN Law was founded in 1938 when S.W. van der Meer established Law office Van der Meer in Curaçao, then in the Netherlands Antilles. At the end of the forties begin fifties of the 20th century, Van der Meer associated with Mr. Ronchi Isa. The firm changed names over the years and became Halley & Blaauw in 1991, named after its partners Lucius Halley and Rob Blaauw.
In 1993 Rob Blaauw moved the firm’s office from Pietermaai to the newly restored historic Villa Belvédère in Otrobanda. Back then all law firms were concentrated around Pietermaai and Punda. Otrobanda was considered a poor area with no business opportunities. The firm however rapidly expanded and became leading on all Dutch Caribbean islands ever since.
Nelson Navarro joined the firm’s partnership in 1997 and the firm renamed into Halley Blaauw & Navarro. In 2005 the firm changed its name into HBN Law.