A renowned expert on distribution, franchise and agency agreements, Tessa de Mönnink has over twenty years’ experience in commercial contract law. She provides strategic advice to numerous well-known clients – many of them drawn from the retail, fashion, FMCG, food and drink, beauty and healthcare sectors, but including others from fields as diverse as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and industrial manufacturing – on setting up and unwinding international and domestic distribution networks. Tessa also regularly advises on licensing, collaboration agreements and related commercial contracts.

Valued by clients for her deep, sector-specific knowledge and experience, Tessa’s hands-on style and approachable manner also bring her many plaudits. “Being a lawyer can be an adventure,” she says, “you never know what the next day will bring.” But, while Tessa relishes the unpredictability of her role, her aim is always to make her clients’ lives smoother, by identifying challenges that others miss and resolving problems before they emerge. She does this by taking a profound and genuine interest in all aspects of their businesses, allowing her to identify the ‘pain points’ that can emerge in any distribution network, create workable solutions, and communicate them clearly.

These skills were in evidence recently when Tessa helped a large retailer to branch out, developing an international franchise chain that spanned the Middle East, South America and elsewhere. Her strategic advice and her firm coordination of all aspects of the process were vital in making the project a success. However, Tessa’s help has been just as important to international companies setting up franchises in the Netherlands, or to clients who need help resolving disputes swiftly and painlessly.

Tessa founded Parker Advocaten in 2013, before which she worked for more than 11 years at global law firm Allen & Overy. Having graduated with a master’s from the University of Amsterdam, she studied at New York University School of Law in 1998, subsequently completing a postgraduate programme at Grotius Academy, Nijmegen University. Tessa is the chairwoman, and a co-founder, of the Dutch Association for Distribution, Franchise and Agency Law (Vereniging DFA), as well as being the Dutch Expert in Franchise Law for the International Distribution Institute (IDI). She is an active member of the Dutch Franchise Association (NFV) where she participates in several committees.