Thijs van Zanten is a partner with the firm and heads the Supreme Court Litigation section. He advises and litigates in disputes in the areas of insolvency law, corporate law, contract law and liability law, including directors’ and professional liability. He appears before the fact-finding instances and in cassation and preliminary reference proceedings before the Supreme Court. Thijs also offers assistance in proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights and the Benelux Court of Justice. He is a law professor at the University of Groningen.​

Critical and solution-oriented
Thijs is an optimistic and creative lawyer with advanced linguistic skills. He challenges everything, often leading to unexpected insights and regaining momentum in stalled cases. Each day, his goal is provide the best quality possible. “I enjoy working with a team of motivated Supreme Court lawyers, exploring the limits of the law and achieving the best possible results for our clients.”

Expert in insolvency law
Thijs regularly publishes articles and gives lectures, in particular with regard to insolvency law. In 2010 he was awarded the first Publication Prize of the Netherlands Civil Law Association .

Professional Activities & Memberships

  • Professor, holding a chair in Contract and Security at the Faculty of Law of the University of Groningen
  • Editorial board chair, Tijdschrift voor Insolventierecht (insolvency law journal)
  • Editorial board member, Wessels Insolvency Law Series
  • Member, Advisory Committee on Insolvency Law of the Netherlands Bar Association
  • Regular lecturer, INSOLAD/Grotius specialist program
  • Member, INSOLAD Committee on Preliminary Questions
  • Editor, Text & Commentary on Insolvency Law
  • Fellow at INSOLAD and member of INSOL Europe
  • Member, VCCA - Dutch Association of Supreme Court Civil Litigation
  • Member, Dutch Association for Procedural Law

Academic Background

  • Supreme Court Civil Litigation Law, postgraduate legal program, 2014, Leiden University
  • PhD, ‘The Contract in Insolvency Law’, 2012, University of Groningen
  • Dutch Law, 2003, Utrecht University

Representative Practice

  • Please refer to the cases in the Supreme Court Litigation section.

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

  • Supreme Court litigation (Civil)
  • Insolvency law (Bankruptcy, Suspension of payment, Debt Restructuring (Natural Persons) Act)

Based on this registration, he 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.