Bart Fleuren

As counsel in the Amsterdam Litigation, Arbitration and Investigations practice, Bart assists clients in the area of financial law, company law, competition law, class actions and (international) arbitration before all Dutch courts, including the Supreme Court. Bart has more than 10 years of experience in the Supreme Court litigation and handled some of the most impactful cases in the Netherlands.

For example, Bart acted in a landmark case in Dutch financial law, in which the Supreme Court ruled that property that has been transferred conditionally can be pledged. As a result, Dutch lenders obtained an estimated € 20 billion in extra security on a yearly basis, which enhanced the provision of credit to Dutch companies. In 2020, Bart represented a bank in Supreme Court proceedings regarding the assignment of a credit portfolio with a nominal value of approximately € 400 million, which led to a landmark ruling impacting the Dutch securitisation practice.

Bart also acted before the Supreme Court in a dispute on the enforcement and setting aside of three arbitral awards rendered under the Energy Charter Treaty with a value of in excess of $ 50 billion on behalf of the former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil. Previously, Bart acted successfully in a case before the Supreme Court on the control over the Dutch branch of the former Yukos Oil and in other notable cases in the energy sector. In addition, Bart has handles pro bono cases before the Netherlands Supreme Court, including on the freedom of expression of journalists. 

Work highlights 

In the last years Bart has acted on, among others, behalf of the following clients:

• the former majority shareholders of Yukos Oil in a dispute on the enforcement and setting aside of three arbitral awards of $50 billion;
• an energy company in the (worldwide) enforcement of an arbitral award of approximately $200 million in a post M&A dispute; and
• a Dutch bank in a dispute on the validity of the assignment of a credit portfolio with a nominal amount of approximately €400 million.
• the shareholders of Devas Multimedia in a dispute on the enforcement and setting aside of an arbitral award rendered against the Republic of India;
• Sina Hong Kong Limited in a setting aside case before the Netherlands Supreme Court in against a commercial arbitral award; 
• Zimmer GmbH, Zimmer Biomet Nederland B.V.: advising on a large number of product-liability claims in relation to Metal-on-Metal hip prosthesis manufactured by Zimmer entities, in relation to some of which litigation has been initiated.

Bart started his career at De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek in 2010, focusing on (Supreme Court) litigation. 

Between 2016 and 2022, Bart acted as lead associate on complex international disputes, including the Yukos case.

Next to his litigation work, Bart also advised banks and investment firms on compliance with Dutch and EU financial markets regulation (CRD IV, CRR and MiFiD). In 2015, Bart was seconded to a Dutch bank advising on the worldwide regulatory approvals necessary for a merger process.

Prior to his career as a lawyer, Bart gained experience in lecturing at Leiden University. 

Bart has contributed to legal journals in the field of financial law, international law, EU law and ESG.

Bart is admitted to the Netherlands Supreme Court bar.

Bart completed an LLB and LLM (cum laude) in Dutch law at Leiden University and an LLM in Company Law at Nijmegen University.

Bart also completed a B.A. Hons. in Liberal Arts and Sciences (cum laude) at University College Utrecht, including an exchange programme with St. John's College, Cambridge University.

Bart is fluent in Dutch and English, and has basic proficiency in French and German.

• ‘Het Shell-vonnis bezien vanuit internationaalrechtelijk perspectief: UN-soft law als potentiële bron voor afdwingbare rechtsplichten voor bedrijven?’, in: J. van Bekkum, K. Spruitenberg, C.M. Harmsen e.a. (ed.), Geschriften vanwege de Vereniging Corporate Litigation 2022-2023, Wolters Kluwer, Deventer 2023, p. 421 e.v.
• 'HR 10 juli 2020: de cessie van kredietvorderingen en haar gevolgen voor de bancaire zorgplicht', in D.F.H. Stein and R. de Graaff (ed.), Het pleit beslecht, Boom Juridische Uitgevers, The Hague 2020, p. 113.
• 'De bijzondere zorgplicht van de bank jegens de particuliere aspirant-borg: waar ligt de grens?' MvV 2016/6.4.
• 'De Bankenunie – rechtsbescherming bij het Single Supervisory Mechanism', FR 2013/7/8