A day in the life of a law student!

In this interview, I am taken into the life of law student Daan. Daan is 21 years old, from the Netherlands. He studied Dutch law for the past three years and currently, he’s doing his minor German law at LMU now.

What are the differences between Dutch law and German law?

It’s not really different, because the Dutch legislator gets inspiration from the German legislator. Some differences are significant, such as in the Netherlands it’s very easy when you own a piece of land and you own a house that’s on top of it, to separate those two properties. So let’s say you own the grounds, and I own the houses on top of the grounds. In the Netherlands, we have had this system for 500 years now. In Germany, they have had it for 3 years now, so it’s interesting that in Germany they never felt the need to have this.

Which way do you want to go in law?

I study notary law. This means a normal lawyer is fighting in court. In notary law, you make sure you don’t end up in court. So notary makes contracts in order to make sure everything is settled and you don’t get into problems. Because I personally feel, if you want to be a lawyer you have a certain drive and appreciation of conflicts, and I don’t have that. I’m a conflict avoidance person, and that means that I would rather work on the preventive side.

Which company do you want to work for in the Netherlands?

If you want to be a Dutch notary, you’ve to work on Dutch grounds. I would like to work at a big company. I’m going to do an internship on the Zuidas. The Zuidas is what Manhattan is in New York, and what people from Londen say ‘’I work in the city’’, so it’s a district with high buildings with bankers, investors, lawyers. I first want to get experience and a chance to work on my career. Later I want to work in the east of the Netherlands, like cities as Arnhem and Nijmegen.

How will you use your minor in the future?

Ah, that’s quite interesting! Because before I went to Munich, I had to get to know a big law company. I always thought that understanding German law wouldn’t add anything, because companies just will call their department who’s in Berlin, Frankfurt, or Munich. Then I spoke to some men who are working for big law companies and he said that they also find it important to have someone in the company who can understand both laws, so it’s actually valuable. It makes the communication between different departments of the company a lot easier.

Where do you see yourself in five years?

I probably still work on the Zuidas, because when you become a notary lawyer you’ve to work for at least six years in order to be a pointed lawyer. For the first three years, you’ve to follow an educational program. This educational program is really expensive, but the company you’re working for pays for it. So you usually work for at least three years for the same company, then the company decides if they want you or not. Many Dutch companies hire for the first three years 19 people, and after the three years, 13 people get into the company.

Do you think communication is important in your field?

It’s very important! Not only in between offices but also with client contact. The clients you get as a notary lawyer are not the usual people. It’s multinationals, who are also having in-house lawyers, so you work with professionals all the time. So I think professional communication is really important.

The last one. What’s your life motto?