After a period of travelling abroad, mostly in Italy, I took my degree at Maastricht University. I subsequently completed internships at Boden De Bandt De Brauw Jeantet Lagerlöf & Uria and at the European Commission (DG IV, Competition – Financial Services, Insurance and Banking Unit) before taking a job at Houthoff in 1999. I first worked at Liedekerke Simeon Wessing Houthoff in Brussels and thereafter at Houthoff Buruma’s property division in Amsterdam and later Rotterdam. This was an amazing period in which I was able to get a taste of interesting cases such as early-stage DBMFO (design build maintain finance operate) projects for the Montaigne school and the construction of the N31 motorway.

In 2004 I transferred to a central government position advising the Legal Department of the Netherlands Competition Authority (now the Netherlands Authority for Consumers & Markets) on rail transport and energy. Later I was seconded to the Competition Division of the Ministry of Economic Affairs to work on a project to draft the Public Enterprises (Market Activities) Act. In 2004 I completed a course in general administrative law at the Grotius Academie. I started at Paulussen Advocaten in 2006. That turned out to be a great decision, and I’ve been a partner here since 2012.

So what do I do here? My advisory and litigation practice centres on procurement, state aid and public and private enterprises, on the one hand, and on construction and projects, on the other. I also teach courses and publish articles on related topics.

Working with my colleagues and clients, I focus on devising workable strategies – plans that will get things up and running and help Limburg move forward.