Over 70% of General Counsel prefer Dutch government jurisdiction over arbitration.
General Counsel NL Litigation Survey 2021
At the end of April 2021, General Counsel Netherlands (GCN), the professional organisation for General Counsel (Heads of Legal Affairs), announced the results of the first General Counsel NL Litigation Survey.
General Counsel (GCs) within GCN have long indicated that they would benefit from a more strategic and structural approach to disputes. Litigation Strategy, Litigation Management and sometimes Litigation Tools help to make more informed decisions in the different phases of litigation. These topics therefore appear in this Survey.
A large group of GCs participated in this Survey and answered questions on:
- The type and extent of disputes
- Defining the legal position
- Trial and costs
- The results of the procedure
- Alternatives
Most remarkable conclusion: government jurisdiction scores high but….
72% of GCs prefer Dutch government jurisdiction over arbitration. At the same time, it is interesting to note that only 76% of GCs feel that the judiciary handles cases impartially, fairly and competently. So 24% have doubts about this.
Other notable results include:
- In 31% of the companies, the legal team actively monitors transactions and business processes to identify potential disputes at an early stage.
- In 4% of the companies, the (legal) position is determined by means of a standardised decision-making document. 72% do so on the basis of an estimate, based on experience.
- When determining the legal position of the company, the most important factors are: assessment of the legal position, value of the claim and side effects such as reputation damage and commercial interests. The length of the procedure and the costs play a much lesser role.
- GCs are especially annoyed by the long duration of procedures, followed by judges’ lack of branch-specific knowledge and negativity in general.
- According to the GC, in addition to the facts of the case, the outcome of the proceedings is mainly determined by the quality of the lawyers involved and the law itself.
You can download the complete General Counsel NL Litigation Survey 2021 here
The General Counsel NL Litigation Survey 2021 has been co-facilitated by Lexence advocaten & notarissen.
