Pitch Best Young M&A Lawyer 2022: Jacob Hoogslag, Hogan Lovells International

Company: Hogan Lovells International 
Job Description: Lawyer 
Age: 30 

What are the specialties of this talent? 
Jacob is a very talented transactional lawyer who gets deals done whilst maintaining excellent team spirit. Private equity and corporate clients like his style. His combination of both a commercial and legal skill set make that client love to work with him.  

A private equity client notes that “Jacob is always available when it matters and has a feeling as to when things must be accelerated”.  

Not only clients, but also the counterparty appreciated Jacob's good care and his endless commitment, which was not necessarily expected by them at this stage of his career. 

How does the talent distinguish itself from its peers? 
Jacob acts like an owner. He demonstrates a level of commitment to clients, his work and for the firm from day one. He is always keen to go the extra mile for our clients. He is pro-active and solution oriented. Jacob has excellent legal technical skills and he is consistently driving to improve his skillset. Next to his busy practice, he recently completed an M&A related post doc (M&A leergang at the VU Law Academy). 

What impact does the talent have within the organization? 
We are very pleased to have Jacob on our team. Jacob is always keen to support the development of more junior lawyers and acts as an important role model for them. Jacob really wants the people he works with to understand the bigger picture. He encourages his younger colleagues to learn beyond the legal technicalities. Our clients and colleagues appreciate that you can always rely on Jacob, he manages time tables and deadlines well, whilst maintaining a pleasant way of working. 

What impact does the talent have outside the organization? 
Jacob is very much engaged in various pro-bono matters of the firm. He demonstrates a keen interest of social economic initiatives outside his busy M&A practice. 

To what extent does the talent make the difference to clients? 
Clients appreciate Jacob’ high commitment, responsiveness and legal technical capabilities:  

Clients note that Jacob makes an extremely positive impression on them. One Client mentioned “Jacob travelling to Cologne for an in-person meeting – Jacob was the “perfect fit” and did a “really great job”. “Albeit that he acted as part of the team, the other side could see that Jacob has excellent drafting skills for his level of seniority and knows how to distinguish key issues from more peripheral issues”. 

Clients “appreciated Jacob's high involvement and professionalism”. Clients appreciate Jacob “being pro-active and to come up with pragmatic solutions”. Another Client noted “we feel that Jacob relieves them from issues they sometimes did not think of existed / could arise”. 

Why does the talent deserve this nomination? 
In summary, Jacob is a very talented transactional lawyer. He gets deals done. His style is liked by both private equity and corporate clients. Also under pressure, he manages to maintain an excellent team spirit. Our clients like that combination of skills and talents. He gets deals done while maintaining an excellent team spirit, even under pressure. By combining his transactional skills with his commercial, pro-active approach and his technical legal skills, he is able to make a difference for our clients. That is appreciated by both our private equity as well as corporate clients. 

Any references or recommendations from clients or (colleagues)? 
N.a.