Shanna Derksen has been a practicing attorney since 2010 and joined the team at Wijn & Stael in 2016. She is managing partner at the firm. She focuses her practice on environmental, administrative and environmental law. She represents clients in environmental planning and enforcement proceedings and counsels and guides them in obtaining environmental permits. She is also an expert on the Environment and Planning Act, about which she regularly writes articles and gives seminars.

Pragmatic and Result-Driven
Shanna is a pragmatic attorney who relishes sinking her teeth into complex cases. She does not take anything at face value and keeps asking questions until she knows exactly what is going on. As a result, she’s able to give to-the-point advice and sway the judge to her point of view. “My goal is to offer clients solutions that will help them move forward. Hence, the high standards I set for my work and my relentless pursuit of new strategies to achieve even greater results.”

Strong in Public and Private Law
In addition to her practice area in administrative law, Shanna also has years of experience in private law, which allows her to advise across the full breadth of a case. She was also politically active and has extensive litigation experience.

Professional Activities & Memberships

• Member, Association for Administrative Law
• Member, Association of Construction Lawyers (VBR-A)
• Member, Nieuwe Amersfoortse Vastgoed Sociëteit (NAVS)
• Lecturer at the Institute for Construction Law (IBR)

Academic Background

• Law Firm School (2012)
• Dutch Law, Constitutional and Administrative Law, 2009, Utrecht University

Representative Practice

• Assisted an international food producer with the expansion of their industrial site, advising them on securing an amendment to the environmental plan. Worked with various parties to secure said legally sound amendment, addressing issues such as noise and noise limits, nitrogen emissions, protected flora and fauna, and concurrent environmental permits for activities beyond the scope of the environmental plan (referred to in Dutch as BOPA).
• Advised on and litigated matters involving planning permits for mental healthcare facilities.
• Counseled a food producer on the relocation of part of its production plant, including the rerouting of cables and pipelines. This engagement involved various legal areas, such as advising on environmental regulations and securing a zoning change and the necessary environmental permits.
• Counseled an institutional investor throughout the process of securing a zoning change in connection with the redevelopment of an office tower into a residential building in The Hague.
• Counseled various developers in zoning procedures. Represented a developer in proceedings to secure all required approvals for a new residential development, maintaining close contact with the municipality and neighboring companies concerned about potential impacts on their business operations. Drafted agreements with various stakeholders.
• Advised on and litigated a high-profile case involving alleged soil contamination.
• Advised one of the Netherlands’ security regions (a government body responsible for critical infrastructure and public safety) on maintaining its power infrastructure while complying with regulations protecting endangered and threatened animal species.
• Advised on and litigated a housing dispute with a municipality that could have far-reaching implications for Dutch legal practice and municipal powers, involving allegations of abuse of power.
• Regularly advises major municipalities across the Netherlands and various real estate developers.

Bar register of legal practice areas
Shanna has registered the following principal (and secondary) legal practice areas in the Netherlands Bar’s register of legal practice areas (rechtsgebiedenregister):

• Environmental and planning law (Environmental law, Planning and zoning law)

Based on this registration, she is required to obtain ten training credits per calendar year in each registered principal legal practice area in accordance with the standards set by the Netherlands Bar.