When newly minted Dutch lawyers work in English, there is a tension between two opposing factors. On the one hand, making mistakes (and being willing to make mistakes) is essential to learning. But on the other hand, law firms and clients do not easily accept that lawyers make mistakes, especially when the lawyers bill out… Read more
The time pressures on a busy lawyer are enormous. But when it comes to working in English, these time pressures will affect the quality of your work. Try to find the time. There is no choice but to slow down and become more careful when practising law in English. It is frustrating at the start,… Read more
Which category do you belong in? The Crawlers. Some Dutch lawyers are only occasionally faced with the task of doing something in English. For the lawyers in this group, their skills are not really up to it. They do not work in English at all or do so only rarely. Lawyers in this group have… Read more
When it comes to working in English, every Dutch lawyer has a different history, different aptitudes, different interests and different skills—not even to mention a different area of law and different clients. Each of us has our own style. We enjoy learning in different ways, and we each experience language in different ways. This is… Read more
