The history of Holla

Without history no future

The history of Holla Advocaten dates back to 1879, but our law firm owes its success to many fathers.

One of them was Herman Jan van Leeuwen, In 1879, he opened an office in ’s-Hertogenbosch. Until that year, he had practised law in a partnership in Eindhoven with Pastoors, As a result of an amendment to an Act of Parliament, lawyers had to be sworn in at the court in which they litigated. Van Leeuwen and Pastoors did want to litigate in ’s-Hertogenbosch, but having an office there did not appeal to both of them. They solved the problem amicably and fairly by flipping a coin. Van Leeuwen went to ’s-Hertogenbosch.

In 1989, 110 years later, the firm Van Leeuwen and Noordijk, which was then run by the last lawyer descendent of the family, Cees van Leeuwen, merged with the highly reputed law firm in ’s-Hertogenbosch Van der Eerden & Van der Flier to form Van Leeuwen Van der Eerden Advocaten. The firm was based in the majestic house of the De Gruijter family in Julianaplein. When the offices really had become too small, the firm relocated and followed the Law Courts to the Paleiskwartier. After the merger, all the lawyers’ offices were located in Stationsplein.

In 1951, H.B.S. Holla, and L.W.M. Knitel, founded a partnership in ’s-Hertogenbosch. M.P.C.A. Mol, joined in 1965. The partnership continued under the name Holla, Knitel & Mol until 1989.

After steadily expanding, the partnership merged with J.L. Brens c.s., a law firm from ’s-Hertogenbosch, in 1986. The name remained Holla, Knitel & Mol until the beginning of 1989 when the firm merged again; this time with the Eindhoven-based law firm Van Dooren c.s. At this time, the firm’s name was changed to Holla & Van Dooren. The last merger – between Holla & Van Dooren and Poelman Denneman Bruinsma Advocaten with offices in Tilburg and Eindhoven – was completed in 1999. Shortly afterwards, the offices were relocated from Parklaan, where the firm had been based since 1969, to Stationsplein, a short distance away from the Law Courts of ’s-Hertogenbosch.

In 1962, A.J.M. Poelman, started a law firm in Tilburg. Due to circumstances, he had to take over the entire case-load of his former employer P.K. van Ginneken, shortly afterwards, which led to the foundation of the partnership Van Ginneken and Poelman. The partnership subsequently became the law firm Poelman Denneman Bruinsma Advocaten, which grew steadily and soon had to open offices in Waalwijk and Eindhoven. After being based in Nieuwlandstraat in Tilburg for years, the firm relocated to spacious and modern accommodation in Apenijnnenweg in 1997. The move was partly initiated by a client who broke off relations with the firm after having to drive at a slow crawl for more than half an hour behind a dustbin lorry on the way to Nieuwlandstraat. Because the firm’s lawyers regularly experienced the same problem, finding an easily accessible office was given additional priority. The client has incidentally returned to the fold. In 1999, the merger with Holla & Van Dooren took place and the firm became Holla Poelman Advocaten.

Another of our founding fathers was A. Jurgens, who became Dean of the ’s-Hertogenbosch District Bar Association after practising law in Eindhoven for many years. In the 1950s, R.B.M. van Dooren became his partner and gave his name to their firm after Jurgens’ death. After Van Dooren died in September 1987, his associates, including his son R.F.L.M. van Dooren, continued to practise law in Paradijslaan in Eindhoven. In 1989, the firm merged with Holla, Knitel & Mol in ’s-Hertogenbosch to become Holla & Van Dooren Advocaten. In 1994, Holla & Van Dooren Advocaten subsequently merged with L.E.M. van Boxsel, who had been running an independent firm together an associate in the preceding sixteen years.

A second branch on our Eindhoven family tree started to grow when P.G.J. Wertenbroek opened a branch office of Poelman Denneman Bruinsma Advocaten in Stadspoort in the city on 1 February 1987. Because of the office’s rapid expansion, it relocated to the charming presbytery of the Steentjeskerk in St. Antoniusstraat in the beginning of 1991. After the merger with Holla & Van Dooren in 1999, the office in the presbytery was kept on. The firm’s growth necessitated another move and, in April 2001, the lawyers packed up their files and went to a spacious new building in Beukenlaan, the current location of the Eindhoven branch of Holla Advocaten.

In 2007, the two firms, Holla Poelman Advocaten and Van Leeuwen Van der Eerden Advocaten, continued under the name Holla Poelman van Leeuwen Advocaten. Today, we are still registered under this name, but most people simply call us Holla. This made the board decide to carry out a complete rebranding operation, which led to the foundation of Holla Advocaten in 2009. At Holla Advocaten, we take things ‘highly’ personally and this a key feature of our approach to work. With more than 135 years of legal experience, Holla lawyers remain keenly involved with their clients and business relations.