Dr. Willem Visser 't Hooft

Advocaat / Attorney at law

Willem completed his degrees in Dutch Law and Japanese Language and Culture at the University of Leiden in 1992. 

He was researcher at the University of Tokyo and the University of Leiden whilst writing his PhD thesis titled: “Japanese Contract and Anti-Trust Law, A Sociological and Comparative Study” (Routledge Curzon – London/New York, 2002). Willem has lived in Japan for three years.
As Attorney-at-Law Willem previously worked at a small Dutch law firm after which he joined Van Mens & Wisselink in 2004.

Willem works nationally and internationally in the field of Corporate and Employment and Arbitration Law. He heads the Japan Desk at VMW providing legal advice to Japanese companies doing business in the Netherlands. He also regularly advises Dutch companies doing business in Japan. Additionally he has a wide experience in legal proceedings and regularly acts for his Japanese clients in court. 

Since 2000 Willem acts as guest lecturer on modern Japanese law at various Dutch universities. He publishes regularly in law journals. Willem is a sworn translator in Japanese.

Willem is a speaker at many fora. His memberships include the Inter Pacific Bar Association, the Dutch Japanese Round Table, the German-Japanese Association of Jurists and the Netherlands Association for Japanese Studies. He has been appointed as a member of the Advisory Board of the SieboldHouse Foundation  

Languages: Dutch - Japanese - English - French - German