At The Bar - Back-to-back meetings

THIS trip to London is something of an experiment for Carel van Lynden. His regular visits to the UK usually consist of back-to-back meetings before jetting home to Rotterdam thoroughly exhausted. But not this time. After much cajoling from his wife, Carel has opted for a more leisurely trip, giving him time for a spot of lunch with The Maritime Advocate.

And it shows. Carel looks relaxed and thoroughly at ease when we meet at The Baltic Exchange Restaurant in the heart of the City. Seated at a quiet table by the window, we select a French Sancerre 2000 from the extensive wine list and get down to the important business of choosing what to eat.

No sooner have we decided than an appetiser of smoked cod and black pudding broth arrives, served in miniscule espresso cups, with dinky silver spoons. As we chase the black chunks around the cup, Carel explains how entering the maritime law field was something of a mistake. After college, against the advice of his father, also a lawyer, Carel joined his father's firm. The only vacancy at the time was in the maritime law department, and the seed was sown. "Once you start in the maritime field, you never leave," says Carel.

After six years, he moved to Nauta Dutilh where he worked primarily in admiralty law. Two years later he was approached by a colleague looking for people to join him in setting up a new practice. The lure proved too tempting for Carel. "We set up the three-man team with just one box of belongings each. It was hard work but great fun. We may have left behind the advantages of working for a big firm, but there was so much more scope for entrepreneurship," he recalls.

Today, after a series of mergers, Carel is a partner at Rotterdam-based law firm AKD Prinsen Van Wijmen, one of the largest law firms in The Netherlands. The last twelve months have been particularly busy at AKD. The maritime team has expanded significantly with the arrival of three partners and three associates from, ironically, Nauta Dutilh. At which point our starters arrive. Carel tucks into smoked salmon with lime pickle potatoes and charred asparagus tips as I tackle a sumptuous heap of sautéed chicken livers with a sweetcorn crepe, mustard sauce and rocket salad.

But it's not only AKD that has been undergoing a facelift. The arrival of a number of English law firms in The Netherlands has changed the legal landscape considerably - not necessarily for the better. "Five to ten years ago, the firm you started with was the firm you stayed with throughout your career. But now, with English firms driving up the hourly rates considerably, people have become more money- and materials-driven. While it is good that there are more opportunities for people, old values and loyalties have been lost along the way," says Carel.

Carel remembers the start of his own career only too well. While some people would consider making the national headlines as the peak of their career, for Carel it was just the start. A tanker had come into Rotterdam to discharge its cargo. The first mate, however, hadn't slept for 24 hours and began discharging from the middle of the ship. Inevitably the ship broke in two in the harbour and Carel, defending the first mate, found himself all over the front page of the next morning's papers.

As the restaurant begins to fill with lunchtime diners, our main courses arrive. The splendid arrangement of pan-fried sea bass with risotto nero and provencale relish halts the conversation for a few moments as our glasses are refilled and we tuck in. Looking to the future, one of the greatest challenges for Rotterdam's lawyers is winning new arbitration work. "While Rotterdam may still be the world's biggest port, getting the work to Rotterdam rather than London is sometimes difficult. Recent changes in the Dutch legal system, designed to dramatically speed up proceedings, should help, but some traditions die hard," says Carel.

Despite that, there is still plenty of work to keep Rotterdam's lawyers more than busy. Bypassing dessert and opting instead for a decaffeinated cappuccino, Carel explains how he still struggles to find the right balance between work and play. And work doesn't just include his role at AKD. He is also president of the Private International Law Commission of the UIA, a union of lawyers, chairman of the Royal Maas Yachtclub, and Honorary Consul to France in Rotterdam. This latter role has brought a slightly more gruesome slant to his daily life as his responsibilities include identifying the bodies of French people who die while in The Netherlands - all too often as a result of drug abuse.

Outside work, Carel's favourite pastime remains his family. And five sons aged between four and sixteen certainly keep him occupied, although he confesses, "I still spend too little time with them." A damaged achilles tendon put paid to his days as a hockey and tennis player some years ago, but thankfully Carel enjoys another, far less strenuous, hobby as bass guitarist in a rock band. Affectionately entitled The Midlife Crèche, Carel and his band regularly play at birthday parties and the like, specialising in 60s and 70s music, including The Beatles, The Stones and The Kinks. The perfect outlet after a long day at the office.

Having been safely ensconced in the peace and quiet of the restaurant, we prepare to head out into the bustle of the City. As we leave, Carel ponders on a friend of his, an established lawyer who set up his own business a few years ago. "He starts work at nine in the morning and finishes at five in the afternoon. I'm not sure which one of us made the best move," he says.