He is a full professor of corporate law since 1997 at the Radboud University Nijmegen, and member of the scientific board at Van der Heijden Institute, Research Department for Corporate Law of the Research Centre Company & Law (Onderzoekcentrum Onderneming & Recht), a research centre recognized by the Royal Dutch Academy of Sciences (KNAW). He is editor-in chief of Ondernemingsrecht, the leading Dutch corporate law journal and deputy judge in the Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, Sint Maarten and of Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba.

Gerard was a founding member and first president of the Corporate Litigation Association. He has written numerous textbooks and articles on corporate governance, corporate litigation, mergers and acquisitions (including a PhD thesis on cross-border legal mergers, 1994 cum laude), public bids and international corporate law.