Paul Gorsira was born in 1957. His documented life is centered in the Netherlands and the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao, where he studied and built his professional career.
In the Netherlands, the notarial profession is a public office. Notaries are appointed by the state but work separately from the ordinary government hierarchy, and they authenticate legal acts. Gorsira's training in notarial law placed him within this legal tradition.
Gorsira studied notarial law at the Rijksuniversiteit Leiden, known in English as Leyden University, and completed his studies in 1983. Leiden, founded in 1575, is the oldest university in the Netherlands and has a long tradition in legal education.
After his studies he moved to Curaçao as a candidate notary (kandidaat-notaris). At that time Curaçao formed part of the Netherlands Antilles within the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It became a constituent country of the kingdom in 2010.
Gorsira's career began in Curaçao, where he went after completing his studies as a candidate notary. He advised many foreign companies there, and his work came to concentrate on corporate law.
On returning to the Netherlands, he continued his career at Nauta Dutilh in Rotterdam. The firm traces its origins to a notary office that Adriaen Schadee opened in Rotterdam in 1724. Its present form took shape in 1990, after a series of mergers between Rotterdam and Amsterdam notarial and law offices. The firm focuses on Dutch, Belgian and Luxembourg law.
In 1995 he placed his corporate law practice under notary Van Wijk, and his association with Van Wijk Notarissen has continued since. The firm describes itself as a modern notarial office. Gorsira's work has since extended across the Netherlands, and international clients draw on his specialist knowledge. He practices in partnership (maatschap) with notary Mathijs Tacken. When Zwart & Partners began working with Van Wijk Notarissen, he continued to work from the Wassenaar office.
Since 2007 he has been a deputy member of the Kamer voor het Notariaat. The four chambers for notaries are independent disciplinary bodies housed at district courts in Amsterdam, Arnhem-Leeuwarden, The Hague and 's-Hertogenbosch. They hear complaints about notaries, deputy notaries and candidate notaries at first instance, and appeals go to the Amsterdam Court of Appeal.
He has also been a partner of Resident Associates.
