
HBN Law is, with 25 civil law attorneys, the largest
and trough continuation also the oldest law firm in
The Netherlands Antilles and Aruba. HBN Law was founded
in 1938 when Mr. S.W. van der Meer established Law office
Van der Meer in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles.
At the end of the forties begin fifties of the 20th
century, Van der Meer associated with Mr. Ronchi Isa.
The name of the firm was changed to Law office Van der
Meer & Isa. In 1954 Van der Meer temporarily left
the firm in connection with his appointment as Minister
of Justice of the Netherlands Antilles. In 1959 Isa
was in turn appointed Minister of Justice of the Netherlands
Antilles and Van der Meer took up his old profession
as an attorney. In the beginning of the sixties of the
20th century, the firm changed its name to Van der Meer
and Govaerts, which name remained until 1965 when Govaerts
became a judge and later the President of the Supreme
Court of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in The Hague.
In the beginning of the seventies of the 20th century,
Van der Meer associated with Mr. Samfrits le Poole.
Van der Meer retired in 1974. Le Poole continued the
firm and associated with Mr. E. Zielinski. On January
1, 1978, the firm was continued under the name Zielinki
and Halley, which was due to the joining of Mr. Lucius
A. Halley as a partner in the firm. On January 1, 1991
Mr. Robert E. Blaauw became a partner in the firm and
the name of the firm was changed to Halley & Blaauw.
In 1993 the firm moved from its old offices in Pietermaai
to Huize Belvedere in Otrobanda, Curacao, at which time
Mr. Nelson N. Navarro joined as a partner.
The name of the firm changed to Halley Blaauw &
Navarro and in 1997 the firm opened offices in St. Maarten
together with its local partner Mr. J. Verzijl. In the
years following the firm opened further offices in Aruba
and Bonaire, and Mr. Eric R. de Vries joined the firm
as a partner. Subsequently Mrs. Mildred Schwengle became
a partner of the firm in Aruba and Mr. Maarten Le Poole
became a partner of the firm in St. Maarten. At the
end of 2005, and thus 67 years after being founded,
the firm changed its name to HBN Law.
HBN Law runs a general civil practice, mainly in the
areas of corporate law, commercial law, banking and
insurance law, telecommunication law, labour law, bankruptcy
law, trademark law and of course litigation in those
areas. The HBN Law practice further includes constitutional
and administrative law as HBN advises and represents
the federal and island governments in those areas on
several occasions.
HBN Law is associated with Pels Rijcken & Droogleever
Fortuijn, established in The Hague, the Netherlands,
which office of attorneys and civil law notaries is
the official legal counsel to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
HBN Law further maintains good working relations with
many national and international laws firm, including
the leading law firms in the world.
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