This spring a series of strange phone calls were made between the top partners of the Netherlands’ elite law firms. The source of all this activity were unusually strong rumours that Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer would close its Amsterdam branch. Journalists were called by lawyers, lawyers called lawyers and clients started asking questions. The rumours persisted and Freshfields had to do something.
Corporate partner Richard Norbruis took to the phone himself to inform his peers at, among others, Allen & Overy, Nauta Dutilh and Stibbe that nothing was about to happen and that his firm would stay in business. Freshfields also decided to announce that two new partners were to be made up and bought advertisements in leading Dutch newspapers solely to confirm to the legal community that the firm was alive and kicking. As the man himself said: “They were the strangest calls I ever made… We had no choice but to fight the rumours.”
