About MAAK Advocaten

MAAK Advocaten is an independent commercial law firm in Amsterdam, founded in 2016 to serve international businesses that need Dutch-law advice without the layers, handoffs and overhead of a large full-service firm. Our clients are manufacturers, importers, distributors, commercial agents and their trading partners across the supply chain. We work in English, German and Dutch, clients reach the specialist handling their file directly, and fees are agreed in advance.

The firm is deliberately specialist rather than generalist. Our practice is built around four areas where our clients need certainty: commercial contracts, EU product compliance, commercial litigation, and liability and risk. Everything we do is shaped by that focus. We do not have a tax department, a real estate department or an employment department, and we do not pretend that we can cover every matter a business might encounter. For the things we do, we go deep.

For clients who are researching the firm because they are about to engage Dutch counsel, the quickest way to understand what we do is to read the page that fits your situation: our Dutch Law Firm for International Businesses overview, the Commercial Law Firm page for the full commercial practice, the Contract Law Firm page for the contract-drafting side, or the Litigation Law Firm page for commercial disputes.

Our focus: the manufacturing industry and international trade

MAAK Advocaten was founded to serve the Dutch maakindustrie (manufacturing sector) and the international businesses that buy from, sell to or partner with Dutch producers. The firm maintains three websites: this English-language site (law-firm.nl), maak-law.com for international clients, and maakadvocaten.nl in Dutch. That specialisation is the reason the firm exists. We work for foreign manufacturers selling into the EU through the Netherlands, for Dutch and international distributors and importers bringing products to market, for commercial agents handling Dutch or EU territories for foreign principals, and for industrial and technology companies with cross-border supply chains. The work clusters around the legal questions that these businesses actually face: commercial contract drafting, product compliance, disputes along the supply chain, and the termination of long-term trading relationships.

The firm is international in its client base and in its working languages. A substantial share of our work is cross-border, and most of our commercial contracts are drafted in English or German. For disputes, we represent clients before Dutch District Courts, the Netherlands Commercial Court (in English), and in international arbitration under NAI, ICC and UNCITRAL rules. For product compliance matters, we work across the EU regulatory framework from CE marking through to post-market surveillance and recalls.

Practice areas

Our practice runs in six integrated areas. Each has its own specialist focus, and they support each other in the way real commercial work does.

Commercial contracts and ESG. Drafting, negotiating, reviewing and enforcing commercial agreements under Dutch law. The agreements we see most often are distribution, commercial agency, franchise, sale of goods (both domestic and CISG), manufacturing and supply, licensing, and service agreements. We act both in drafting and in post-dispute enforcement, and the two sides of the practice inform each other. Increasingly, our contract work includes ESG-related obligations: EUDR compliance clauses, CSRD and CSDDD supply chain due diligence provisions, sustainability clauses, supplier codes of conduct and forced labour regulation requirements that flow through international supply agreements. See the Dutch Contract Law guide for the legal framework and the individual contract-type pages for the practical drafting points.

(EU) product compliance. Led by Martin Krüger, this practice covers CE marking, the General Product Safety Regulation (GPSR), the Machinery Regulation, sector-specific directives and regulations, technical documentation, market surveillance by the Dutch authority (NVWA), recalls, and product liability. This is one of the areas where our specialisation is most visible, and one of the reasons international manufacturers and importers come to us. The full practice description sits on the Product Compliance page.

Market access. International product compliance extends beyond the EU. We advise on market access requirements in the United States (FDA), the United Kingdom (UKCA marking), China, India and Australia, helping manufacturers and importers navigate the regulatory frameworks that apply when products cross borders outside the European Union. This practice works alongside our EU product compliance work to give clients a single point of contact for global market entry.

Commercial litigation. Representing clients before Dutch courts, the Netherlands Commercial Court, and in arbitration. Our litigation caseload is dominated by breach of contract disputes, distribution and agency terminations, product liability defence, supply chain disputes and commercial debt collection. For urgent matters we use summary proceedings (kort geding) and pre-judgment attachment (conservatoir beslag), which are two of the most effective tools Dutch law offers to commercial creditors. See the Litigation in the Netherlands guide for the procedural framework.

International trade and liability. Cross-border sale of goods, CISG, Incoterms, international distribution and agency, and the civil liability questions that arise along the supply chain. This work sits at the intersection of commercial contracts and litigation, and for many of our clients it is the reason they need a Dutch law firm in the first place. See the International Trade page for the firm positioning and the International Contracting page for the cross-border drafting practice.

Logistics, industry and trade. Transport claims, CMR disputes, logistics contracts, multimodal transport arrangements and related insurance and Incoterms questions. This practice serves logistics companies, freight forwarders and carriers alongside the manufacturers and importers in our core client base, and connects directly with our international trade and commercial contracts work.

The team

The team of MAAK Advocaten is led by three partners and consists of 15 further advocates (Dutch registered lawyers, members of the Dutch Bar), backed by a number of legal and operational professionals. The firm is organised so that every client file is handled directly by a specialist rather than delegated through intermediating layers.

Remko Roosjen (partner) leads the commercial contracts practice. Remko is a Dutch advocate with more than fifteen years of experience in commercial contract law and civil litigation. He studied law at Tilburg University and spent a period at the University of Helsinki. He is a member of the Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten and represents international businesses in contract drafting, negotiation, review and enforcement, in commercial litigation before Dutch courts, including the Netherlands Commercial Court, and in international commercial arbitration under NAI, ICC and UNCITRAL rules. Remko works in English, German and Dutch.

Martin Krüger (partner) leads the EU product compliance practice. Martin is a Dutch advocate and product compliance specialist advising manufacturers, importers and distributors on the full lifecycle of regulatory obligations, from pre-market design review and CE marking through to market surveillance, recalls and product liability defence. He is a member of the Dutch Bar Association and works in German, English and Dutch. For foreign manufacturers placing products on the EU market and for Dutch and international importers, Martin is the first point of contact at the firm.

Sander van Someren Gréve (partner) leads the litigation and arbitration practice. Sander is a Dutch advocate specialising in civil procedure, commercial disputes, domestic and international arbitration, seizure and enforcement law, and product regulation conflicts. He represents mid-market and large enterprises, listed companies, and their shareholders and directors before all Dutch courts including the Courts of Appeal, in summary proceedings (kort geding) and in domestic and international arbitration. Sander is registered with the Dutch Bar Association in civil procedure law and contract law.

All lawyers at the Dutch law firm MAAK Advocaten are advocaat, sworn in by the Amsterdam District Court, and registered members of the Dutch Bar Association (Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten) and comply with the continuing education requirements set by the Dutch Bar.

How we work

Three principles shape how we work with clients, and they are the things clients most often mention as the reason they stay with us.

1. Direct access to your Dutch lawyer

When you call or email us, you reach the specialist handling the file. There are no gatekeepers, no intermediating partners, and no slow onboarding. The lawyer doing the work is the lawyer answering the phone. For international clients working across time zones, this matters more than anything else.

2. Working languages that fit the client in the Netherlands

Our working languages are English, German and Dutch. Contracts, correspondence, meetings, strategy sessions and court submissions can all be handled in whichever language fits the matter best. For English-language proceedings we regularly appear before the Netherlands Commercial Court in Amsterdam. For clients in the DACH region we handle the full workflow in German.

3. Transparent fees agreed in advance under Dutch law

We work on fixed fees for defined projects, hourly rates for open-ended matters, and hybrid arrangements (defined scope at a fixed fee with a variable component for anything beyond scope) where that fits the work. There are no surprise line items and no hidden costs. We flag any development that would change the budget before we incur additional time. See our lawyer fees page for details.

Why Dutch and international businesses choose MAAK Advocaten

Impact through expertise. Full focus on the manufacturing industry and its supply chain, which means we understand the commercial and regulatory context from the first conversation.
Proactive approach. We monitor EU regulatory developments and anticipate new rules before they take effect, so our clients are prepared rather than surprised.
Sustainable relationships. We invest in knowing each client's business, products and markets, which makes our advice faster, sharper and more commercially relevant over time.
Integrated approach. Our six practice areas work together interdisciplinarily. A product compliance matter informs the contract drafting, a regulatory enforcement action feeds into the litigation strategy, and ESG obligations shape the supply chain agreements.
Personal involvement. Clients have direct contact with an experienced specialist from start to finish. There are no handoffs, no junior relays and no relationship managers standing between the client and the lawyer doing the work.
International network. When a matter requires foreign law input, we can coordinate with trusted foreign counsel immediately rather than starting a search.

Contact

A first conversation about a new matter is at no charge. If you are considering Dutch law in a contract, facing a dispute that touches the Netherlands, placing products on the EU market through Dutch operations, or simply looking for a Dutch law firm that understands how international businesses operate, we are happy to have that conversation today.

Call +31 20 210 31 38, email mail@maakadvocaten.nl, or visit our contact page. MAAK Advocaten is based at Kraanspoor 34, 1033 SE Amsterdam. For regulatory information about the firm, see our legal information page. For an overview of legal terms, see our glossary of Dutch legal terms.