About me

This page was last updated in September 2020.

Fantastic that you read this page! Let me swiftly shine a light on my history, strengths and what I deem my possible prospects.

In a nutshell: I am a geek at heart, wishing to employ the legal system to exercise the rights one has. I love to study and keep improving and expanding my knowledge. I see a goal not as a finite stipulation of steps but as a process where the client is the key to success. Lastly, I am not just a lawyer; I am not just an engineer; I am something else, a Lawgineer.

History

Born and raised in Amsterdam, I started studying ICT at the University of Applied Sciences of Amsterdam, with a major in Software Engineering. During my study, I became more and more interested in the legal aspects of IT. So much so that I did a bachelor IT-Law and currently do a master’s in IT law. I want to make a difference; I want to enable people to enforce their rights so that it is clear what one another’s rights genuinely encompass. Especially in the world of technology, a world that never sits still, constantly innovates and requires a more dynamic and quickly adjusting legal system.

But my love for IT will never wane. In my heart, I will always remain a nerd who loves tech. I love innovation. I wish to understand it, use it, and possibly extend its appliance. I do not mind being an early adopter; it means trial and error, enjoying tech’s latest perks, and keeping a fresh mind and view of the world. It would be best if you kept moving forward.

Besides being a legal and IT professional, I enjoy sports, games, movies, and languages. I have done a multitude of sports for longer than two years. Namely Judo, Ice skating, rowing, tennis, horseback riding and swimming. Another area I like and hope to improve in is languages. In high school, languages were my worst subject. Now I enjoy enhancing and learning new languages. I continuously seek to improve my English. Currently, I am trying to learn the basics of Japanese. I hope to add Russian, Chinese and possibly Spanish to that list.

Strengths

Possibly my most significant strength is not definable. I do not like to be defined as one or the other. I am not your typical engineer. I am not your typical lawyer. I want to think about matters in multiple distinctive ways, and I like to understand the topic thoroughly, no matter the area of expertise (well, okay, with some exceptions).

Another strength of mine is the hunger and power to learn and adapt constantly. That is why I like practising law more than IT. Even though IT is continuously developing, the law is more flexible; it is both tangible and intangible. Law is neither true nor false; it is always a ‘maybe’. It requires persistence and eagerness to keep studying. And I love knowledge and expanding mine. Some see research as tedious. It is fun and a great tool to become a proficient lawyer or engineer.

I count my strengths at three to make a list not too long. So lastly, I like to think for a user or client. The end goal is not just winning a case, researching a topic or developing a system. The goal is to help someone or something. Sometimes, that someone does not know what the person wants. Or perhaps, the person’s wants might not be in their best interest. Or preferably, you give the person something they did not even know they wanted. Reaching a goal is a fluent process. We can achieve a plan in different ways. Therefore, keep your mind open to other approaches. Listen. Interpret. And try to understand.

Prospects

I see myself in the future being an intermediary between the world of lawyers and engineers. I will translate the wishes and matrix of facts into legal actions, strategies, and interpretations.

One of the significant fields I hope to pursue is intellectual property. It encompasses a sizeable legal portion of technology that never sits still. Especially patent law. There I believe that one must understand a patent before one can deal with the legal technicalities.

Besides intellectual property, I like almost anything in law, as long as it has direct meaning in the world of technology, whether it is about contract law, property law, or something else. Every case can be very different in such an innovative industry—a perfect challenge.

I like to do research. Keep learning something new. Even in a subject I believe I fully understand; there is always a left unturned. There is always something new on the horizon.