Van Traa 125 years!
"I swear fidelity to the King, obedience to the Constitution, deference to the judicial authorities, and that I will not recommend or defend any cause, which I do not believe in good faith to be just."
December 1898, Rotterdam. Willem Anne van Traa takes the oath as a lawyer. The history of Van Traa begins.
Van Traa is founded in December 1898 by Willem Anne van Traa (1874-1948) and settles at the ‘Wine Harbour’ in Rotterdam. The firm gradually expands. Willem Anne’s son, Hans van Traa (1908-1982), follows in his father's footsteps. In 1932 he takes the oath as a lawyer too and joins the law firm Van Traa. Van Traa’s office was already located at the ‘Wine Harbour’ for over forty years, when Rotterdam got severely bombed on May 14, 1940. Twenty-five thousand homes and six thousand stores and offices were destroyed, including the building of Van Traa. But being a positive person and entrepreneur at heart, Willem Anne van Traa decided to immediately start over and build up his practice with two partners in the current building (Minerva House II) on the Meent.
The “Van Traa” brand becomes firmly established in the postwar period of the Netherlands. Hans van Traa in particular, manages to build an excellent reputation in the legal transport practice. From the 1990s Van Traa starts to specialise more and more in Insurance & Liability in addition to International Trade, Transport and Logistics. Currently, Van Traa employs almost 60 dedicated professionals, including more than 30 lawyers. Through pure focus and interest for their clients in these sectors, the delivery of tailor-made legal services and the continuous investment in knowledge and training of the next generation lawyers, Van Traa Advocaten N.V. has been at the top of the Dutch Legal market in these fields for years.
In the newsletters of 2023 we will address the history of Van Traa with contributions about Willem Anne and Hans van Traa, the Minerva House II, and of course the clients and people who make Van Traa the firm it is today. Want to more? Subscribe here.
