Complaints regulation
If you are dissatisfied about the quality of our service or the amounts stated on our declara-tion(s), you may present your objections verbally or in writing to mr. J.P.M. (Joop) van Zijl.

The handling of your complaint is subject to our internal complaints regulation. You should present your complaint within three months after the moment you became aware of, or could reasonably be expected to have become aware of, the action or omission leading to your com-plaint.

Our office will always confirm a solution for the problem that has arisen within four weeks of receiving your complaint. If you feel our office has not dealt with your objections satisfac-torily however, you may submit a complaint to the Netherlands Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession (in Dutch: ‘Geschillencommissie Advocatuur’).
This option is open to you if our office does not settle your objections in writing within four weeks of their submission.


Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession
The Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession handles the case in accordance with the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession Regulation which applies at the moment the complaint is submitted to the disputes committee. This regulation may be obtained on request from the:

Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession
Postbus 90600
2509 LP ’s-Gravenhage
Telephone: (070) 310 53 10
Fax: (070) 365 88 14

You may submit your complaint to the above address over a period of up to twelve months after the written response from our office. After that, this option is no longer open.

Our office may also submit unpaid declarations for collection to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.
The Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession makes its decision in the form of an arbitra-tion award about a professional service. If the service in question is to a private client the regulation provides for a binding third-party ruling unless the client turns to the normal courts within one month after settlement of the complaint by our office. In the event of collection of a claim on a private client, the recommendation is only binding if the client has deposited the outstanding amount with the Disputes Committee. If he has not done this, the sum to be col-lected is also subject to arbitration.

The Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession is competent to adjudicate on complaints concerning the quality of the service of the lawyer and the amounts of every type of declara-tion. It is also competent to adjudicate on damage claims up to a maximum amount of € 10,000. You may only submit larger claims to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profes-sion if you limit the amount of the claim to a maximum of € 10,000 and explicitly renounce the rest. In other cases the civil court remains competent to adjudicate on your damage claim.

Decisions of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession about the quality of the service provided are not regarded as irrevocable judgements in any judicial proceedings before a normal court concerning damage claims of more than € 10,000. This means that in any legal action before a normal court for a damage claim in excess of € 10,000, you cannot invoke a decision of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.

The Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession adjudicates to the exclusion of the normal court. No higher appeal is possible against a decision of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession.


Client satisfaction survey
“Our office aims to provide a high quality service to all her clients. In our view this quality depends not just on a high level of expertise in legal and tax matters or the application of that expertise in the interests of the client. We believe that the way the client experiences our ser-vice is just as important, if not more so. To monitor and improve the quality of our service we therefore conduct an ongoing survey among our clients to ascertain their experience of that service.”