Besides their day-to-day activities as lawyers, Tjeerd van Veen and Kees van Dijk also form the VVA Experience Desk. Together, they have been in the legal profession for more than 75 years and as such they are among the most experienced lawyers in the Netherlands.
Logically, both Tjeerd and Kees are often asked to take an extra critical look at a case or to spar with a business owner or a supervisory body. That is why Tjeerd and Kees collectively use the experience they have gained as lawyers, mediators, arbitrators and deputy judges. These are the ways in which they do that:
- second opinions
- pre-litigation advice
- arbitration
- mediation
- sparring
- drinking coffee.
Second opinion
You may have doubts about advice given by a lawyer or by another service provider, you may question his or her approach or you may just want someone else to have a look at it too. In that case, a second opinion may help. Tjeerd van Veen and Kees van Dijk issue a joint opinion because two heads are better than one ...
Pre-litigation advice
You have a problem and you are wondering about litigation. What are your chances of success? What about the costs? Do they outweigh the benefits, if any? Should you or shouldn’t you appeal a judgement imposed on you? The VVA Experience Desk can offer you transparent advice about this too.
Arbitration
Disputes can also be resolved without a regular court order. A judgement from one of more appointed arbitrators has the same power as a court ruling. Both Tjeerd van Veen and Kees van Dijk can be appointed arbitrator, together or with one or more others. This may involve various types of disputes. The advantage of arbitration over court decisions is that it is possible to achieve a solution to the dispute very fast during confidential proceedings. Furthermore, arbitrators can make a judgement based on fairness. This means that they are not always bound by the statutory provisions. It also makes it possible to call in experts from this branch of industry fast. On a closing note, arbitration may lead to alternative (non-judicial) solutions for the existing dispute. At the start, agreements are reached about the procedure to be followed. You can provide a lot of the input for those agreements yourself.
Mediation
Both Tjeerd van Veen and Kees van Dijk are professionally trained mediators with extensive experience in this field. They prefer a directive form of mediation. No lengthy meetings but actively coming up with ideas for solutions. The mediation may be offered by either one or both of them.
Sparring
A growing number of SMEs hire a corporate lawyer who often works alone and sometimes as part of a team. Obviously such a legal expert has his or her own network, but we know from experience that some of them also need a lawyer outside their own network to spar about topical and specific legal subjects every now and then. When requested, Tjeerd van Veen and Kees van Dijk can act as individual and collective sparring partners and they can help to develop the vision and approach of the legal expert during a meeting or test it against their own experience and risk assessment.
Drinking coffee
As a director, supervisory director or regulator, you are often faced with strategic issues that require choices to be made that may also have legal consequences. Tjeerd van Veen and Kees van Dijk can be of help when you have to prepare and make such choices. During a meeting, they can use their experience gained as lawyers, partners/business owners and in various executive positions to help you make the right assessments and take the right decision. Aspects other than strictly legal aspects may also be involved in your decision. This is all done with a low-threshold approach. At Zuidas, they call it boardroom counselling; we call it enjoying a cup of coffee together.
Costs
Thanks to the VVA Experience Desk, you can achieve a rapid breakthrough in disputes that may be complex and may have been going on for years. You can use the vast experience of both lawyers at a fee that has been agreed with you in advance. Please enquire about your options by sending an e-mail to ervaringsdesk@vanveen.com or by calling us.
