Mediator & Senior Associate | Attorney at law
Employment & Employee Participation & Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation
Ernst is recognised as an experienced consultant/mediator specialising in assisting directors and works councils of large international corporations, as well as many non-profit organisations such as orchestras, museums and provincial authorities. As a former musician himself (trumpet player), he provides advice to many in the arts. He is also a mediator to medical partnerships of professionals, based on his previous role as a dean. Ernst is regularly sought out as a business mediator and arbitrator through parties such as the Netherlands Arbitration Institute (Nederlands Arbitrage Instituut).
After completing his school education at the Stedelijk Gymnasium Leiden, Ernst studied Civil Law at Leiden University and classical trumpet with the principal teacher of trumpet at The Hague Conservatory.
In 1983, Ernst became an attorney alongside the eponymous Paul de Clercq, with whom he went on to form the partnership De Clercq and Van Win Lawyers in 1987. He became a registered and certified business mediator in 1996. Ernst was one of the initiators of the Grotius Employment Law specialist course and has lectured in this, as well as in rules of conduct at the Professional Law School. He joined the Supervisory Council in The Hague in 2006, in the role of ‘Leids Deken’ (Dean of Leiden). In 2009, he was elected as ‘Haags Deken’ (Dean of The Hague) and held this supervisory and administrative position until 2012. He has been a member of the Lawyers’ Conduct Review Committee, and performs various administrative and supervisory roles in the art, museum and healthcare sectors.
Ernst handles matters and disputes on behalf of directors and supervisors, and provides boardroom advice on complex organisational changes. He deals with conflicts in partnerships and in behavioural and disciplinary law, and with employment and employment participation law matters, including in the art world. Ernst provides advice relating to Codes of Conduct and ethical issues.
Mergers of museums and orchestras
Provided advice on the employment and employment participation law aspects of proposed mergers and their finalisation.
Arbitration relating to the performance of a pension fund’s administration agreement and on a dispute involving an international partner of one of the big four accountants with his firm.
Guiding and settling of the dismissal of a director/shareholder in a rapidly growing start-up company
Negotiation and purchase of one of the oldest Rembrandts on behalf of Museum de Lakenhal in Leiden
Providing employment law guidance for professional musicians
Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation
8 January 2026
In 2025 as well, courts have regularly ruled on issues relating to employee participation. In this blog, we discuss the most notable judgments on the basis of five (recurring) current themes.
Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation
6 January 2026
In this section, each month we introduce a colleague from the Labour, Employee Participation & Mediation team. This month it is the turn of Renate Vink-Dijkstra, partner and lawyer within the Labour & Employee Participation team. Curious about her story and what drives her? Then read on quickly!
Employment, Employee Participation & Mediation
5 January 2026
Works councils have influence, under various laws, over decisions that directly affect employees. The right of consent under the Works Councils Act (WOR) is one of the best-known and strongest rights in this respect. Less well known is the right of agreement. However, this right does not stem from the WOR, but from other laws such as the Working Conditions Act, the Working Hours Act and the Work and Care Act, and sometimes from collective labour agreements (CLAs). Both rights differ fundamentally in their operation and impact. It is therefore important to know exactly which right you are dealing with.