Olaerts, M (Mieke)

Mieke Olaerts is Professor of Comparative and National Company Law at Maastricht University. she is also a Professorial Fellow and Academic director at the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies. She  publishes, teaches and supervises students in the field of European and Comparative Corporate Governance, Company Law and Corporate Regulation.

Mieke is a member of the editorial board of Ondernemingsrecht and European Company Law. She is of Counsel at a lawfirm DVDW and appointed together with Rob Bauer to the Elverding Chair on Sustainable Business, Culture and Corporate Regulation. She is also a member of the board of the Ius Commune Research school.

 

Expertise

- Comparative and European Company Law
- Corporate Governance

- Company Groups

 

Career History

In January 2003, Mieke joined the Faculty of Law of Maastricht University as a Phd researcher (Junior researcher) at the department of Private Law. In that same year she was awarded the Ius Commune Prize 2003 for her paper on the debt for equity swap, a comparative research into Dutch, Belgian, French, English and Swiss law.

In 2007 Mieke successfully defended her PhD on the topic of Corporate restructuring in case of financial difficulties; the position of shareholders and directors which focused on the division of powers and responsibilities between company organs when it comes to determining the future strategy within companies in financial difficulties.

After her PhD Mieke worked for several years as Assistant and later as Associate Professor within the Private Law Department of Maastricht University. In 2017 Mieke was appointed  Professor of Comparative and National Company Law and in 2019 she was, together with her colleague Rob Bauer, appointed to the Elverding Chair on Sustainable Business, Culture and Corporate Regulation. Mieke is also the Academic Director of the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies (ICGI) and PhD Counselor within the Graduate School of the Faculty of Law.

Mieke is a member of the editorial board of several journals amongst which European Company Law and TvOB. She is the programme leader of a research programme on legal persons in Europe within the Ius Commune research school and is Of Counsel at the law firm DVDW Advocaten.

Research Profile

Over the past years Mieke has conducted research mainly in the area of (European) (and comparative) company law and corporate governance. Her present and past research is embedded in the research program of ‘Legal Persons in Europe’ of the Ius Commune Research School. Her studies of various areas of (European) company law and corporate governance have resulted in several publications as well as contributions to books and conferences. Her research mainly focusses on governance issues with a special attention to governance aspects in company groups. She has also lectured at various Universities abroad such as the Central University of Finance and Economics (Bejing, China) and Gadjah Mada University in Indonesia.

Mieke is also the Academic Director of the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies and a member of the Centre for European Company Law.

Research Projects

Over the past years Mieke has been involved in various research projects for external parties such as the International Bar Association and the European Commission.

Teaching

Mieke is the coordinator of the Master courses Comparative Company Law and Comparative Corporate Governance. She is also involved in the Company Law Course and teaches in various post graduate programmes.

 

Work for third parties

  • Redactielid at Ondernemingsrecht
  • Director at vereniging voor corporate litigation
  • Board member at Ius Commune Research School
  • Bestuurslid at Stichting Grotius
  • Lid redactie Tijdschrift voor Ondernemingsbestuur at Tijdschrift voor Ondernemingsbestuur
  • Bestuurslid at Stichting WONO
  • Redactielid SDU Commentaar at SDU Commentaar

Other activities

Mieke is a member of the editorial board of European Company Law and of a Dutch journal on corporate law called Ondernemingsrecht.

She is a board member of the Ius Commune research school, board member of a Foundation (WONO) which is involved in company law related research activities and a board member of the Grotius Foundation and the Association for Corporate Litigation.

Of Counsel DVDW Advocaten.

Additional roles & tasks

Professor of Comparative and National Company Law

Elverding Chair in Sustainable Business, Culture and Corporate Regulation. The chair is sponsored by DSM, Q-Park, De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB), ING and Broadview. 

Academic Director of the Institute for Corporate Law, Governance and Innovation Policies

PhD Counselor

Of Counsel DVDW