Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is a respected attorney in the field of privacy and data protection law. He has extensive experience in the field of internet and telecommunications law and the legal issues surrounding blockchain, the cloud, and sensor data. Gerrit-Jan uses his knowledge and expertise to advise trade associations, multinationals, start-ups, regulatory authorities, and many governments on digitisation.
Gerrit-Jan studied Dutch Law at Leiden University, where he also defended his doctoral dissertation "Belastingheffing en Informatieverplichtingen" [Taxation and Disclosure Obligations] in 1998. He is the Professor of Law and Digital technologies at Leiden University. Gerrit-Jan was a partner at Brinkhof and Bird & Bird before he joined Pels Rijcken in 2018. He has drafted a number of preliminary reports on digitisation for, among others, the Dutch Lawyers Association, the Association for Health Law and the Association for Education Law. He chairs the Netherlands Association for IT and Law (NVvIR) and the Association of Privacy Lawyers (VPR-A) and sits on the Board of the Privacy Law Association (VPR). He is also a member of the Constitutionality Advisory Committee of the Netherlands Bar Association, the Advisory Board of the National Archives, and lecturer and examiner in the VIRA-Grotius programme for ICT lawyers. Lastly, he serves as an editor (and author) of Tekst & Commentaar Privacy- en telecommunicatierecht, Concise European Data Protection, E-Commerce and IT Law, the Tijdschrift voor internetrecht, and Sdu Monografieën ICT-recht.
Recommendations
- "He is a great lawyer and a strong leader." - Chambers Europe, 2022
- Halll of Fame - The Legal 500, 2022
- "Gerrit-Jan Zwenne is an absolute authority in his field of expertise." - The Legal 500, 2022
- "Gerrit-Jan is the personification of an expert, he can reduce hugely complex matters to simple proportions with pragmatic solutions." - The Legal 500, 2022
- "I work with Mr. Gerrit-Jan Zwenne who in my opinion is the authority in the Netherlands with regard to privacy matters." - The Legal 500, 2022
- Recommended lawyer for Industry focus: Information technology - The Legal 500, 2022
- "Gerrit-Jan Zwenne has a leading reputation for data privacy matters, including representing clients in investigations and data breach notifications. He also acts for clients accused of violating personal privacy. One client enthuses that he is "smart, practical, hands-on, reliable and visionary." - Chambers Europe, 2021
- Leading Individual - Legal 500, 2021
- "We have a great relationship with Gerrit-Jan Zwenne as partner who supports us in many of our complex privacy related matters." - The Legal 500, 2021