On Friday 30 September last, Norbert Hijmans, attorney at law at VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, was sworn in by the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curacao, St. Maarten and Bonaire, Saba and St. Eustatius in St. Maarten.
Norbert graduated in 1970 at the University of Groningen. From 1971 until 1974 he was a junior lawyer at the Dutch law firm Stibbe in Amsterdam. After moving to the east of the Netherlands he worked at various law firms, most recently at Damsté Lawyers and Notaries, where he was engaged in commercial practice and insolvency law, while he also led the commercial and corporate law division in later years. Since its establishment, Norbert has been actively involved in the specialized insolvency association Insolad, where he also served as a board member during a period of five years.
Norbert was a court appointed receiver in many bankruptcies in the Netherlands. Furthermore he was substitute judge in Almelo and vice-chairman of the Board of Arbitrators with the KNVB (Royal Netherlands Football Association). In addition, Norbert was a national teacher of bankruptcy law at the Dutch internship training.
In February 2011, Norbert moved to St. Maarten. Since July 1, 2011, he has been working with VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne, where he is involved in the start up of the office in St. Maarten.
VanEps Kunneman VanDoorne is a law firm with offices in Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao, St. Maarten and a Dutch Caribbean Desk in Amsterdam. With approximately 35 specialized lawyers, the firm provides legal services to businesses and governments, both transactional and litigation.