Mr. Suzanne van Dijsseldonk

“Before I became an attorney - at – law at SMART Advocaten I worked a few years for a legal aid firm. I worked about 300 cases per year and got a lot of training on the job. This was a great preparation for my work as an attorney and I handled a lot of procedures for the sub-district court. My specialisms became contract law and employment law; this deepened my knowledge of these law fields. As an attorney I specialised further on these terrains and got a lot more court experience.

It is very satisfying when you force an insurance company to pay up after someone’s home has burned down to the ground. I also get a very good feeling if I help someone to get through a divorce or arranged a good settlement when an employment is ended. People that enter a law firm full of frustrations and then continue to the next chapter in there live feeling relieved, that is what I do it for. To fight for the interest of a client and to make the difference, this gives me a lot of energy.

SMART Advocaten is a good place to build my future. It is a medium size law firm that allows me to pick up a broad area of cases. I am pleased to be able to apply my specific knowledge and experience and to expand it further. Of course I am specialising more and more; business law, family law and liability law. Within the firm there is a huge amount of expertise and a culture of sharing that knowledge.

To me, this broad scope is one of the great things about our profession. Though for me the emphasis is on labour law more and more. As the head of the labour section me and my team aim for a high quality of service, again every time. This deepens our knowledge of the field as well. The satisfaction of our clients is the best test for an attorney to know where he stands.

A lot is expected of me, as it is of everyone here, but the importance of a healthy work-life balance is not forgotten. The flexibility is there when you need it. You could say that I work in a modern organisation with modern employer – employee relationships. The law is a highly stressful profession. Luckily I can handle this well. I am good at planning and organising my work, which helps.

Outside work, football is my passion. In my profession, I get passionate about the statutes, the law. I know the law intimately and use my knowledge to fight for my clients. Among my football teammates and colleagues I am known as a fighter and I want to do justice to that reputation with all my clients. Fighting for a good result is a fair way to describe the motivation that drives me.