A jurist by occupation, Grapperhaus worked as a lawyer for the law firm Schut & Grosheide from 1984 until 1998 when he became a partner at the law firm Loeff Claeys Verbeke. In 1999, part of Loeff Claeys Verbeke merged with Allen & Overy (the other part continuing as Loyens & Loeff), and Grapperhaus became partner at the A&O branch in Amsterdam. He served as managing partner for the Amsterdam branch from 1 February 2015 until 1 September 2017. Grapperhaus has been an extraordinary professor of European labour law at the Maastricht University since 1 January 2005.[9] In February 2023, he became head of legal affairs of Deloitte Legal, the legal branch of accountancy and consultancy firm Deloitte, succeeding Frederieke Leeflang.[10][11] Since 1 June 2023, Grapperhaus is also appointed full professor of "Rule of Law, Society and Legal Practice" at Erasmus University Rotterdam.[12]
Politics
He served as a member of the Social and Economic Council 1 April 2006 until 22 May 2015. Following the election of 2017 Grapperhaus was asked to become Minister of Justice and Security in the Third Rutte cabinet. Grapperhaus accepted and resigned as a professor the same day he took office as the new Minister of Justice and Security on 26 October 2017. During his tenure, the name of his ministry was changed from "Ministry of Security and Justice" to "Ministry of Justice and Security", a move costing €2,000,000.
Controversy
As a response to parliamentary questions following the Argos documentary 'Shards of glass and dark rituals',[13] Grapperhaus said on 27 August 2020 that there would be 'no independent investigation into Ritual Abuse' of children in The Netherlands.[14] The Green Left, the Socialist Party and the Labour Party criticised the minister for his decision.[15] On the same day, Grapperhaus responded to public controversy when news media reported about the lack of social distancing at his own wedding amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the Netherlands.[16] He agreed to pay a 390 euro fine.
On the 26th of June 2021, Grapperhuis[17] sang a made up song on Dutch TV about throwing away protective face masks just as a further wave of infections of Covid 19 in the Netherlands was taking hold. Two weeks later there were 10000 cases per day recorded.
[18] On 13 October, the House of Representatives (Netherlands) approved a motion in which the PvdA, GL and the SP requested that an independent investigation be conducted into the nature and extent of "organized sadistic abuse of children", bypassing Grapperhaus' original refusal to investigate.[19]