Thomas started working as a social lawyer immediately after university. “Within a few weeks, I was already in court arguing a case.” At the offices in the Amsterdam financial district, Zuidas, young lawyers often do not get enough trial experience during their training. They do more advisory work. That is why large firms have them do internships at social law firms. “With us, they often find themselves arguing in court, and they have to write a lot of procedural documents.”

Work with a big impact

In general, Thomas assists a person with, for example, issues concerning housing, benefits, facilities or shelter. “But I also deal with rulings that impact a large group of people. These are the more principled issues, such as whether the criteria for shelter in Amsterdam are by the Social Support Act. You don’t have that when you work in commercial law.”

He finds it unfortunate that the media often focuses on the lack of funding in the social advocacy sector. “As far as I’m concerned, it should be about the interesting issues you are confronted with and the complexity of the work. You can make a difference on an individual and group level. Social advocacy is highly specialized work with a major impact.”

International law

Thomas specializes in fraud cases and international law, among other things. “There are all kinds of systems in the Netherlands where you might wonder whether they are conform certain international treaties. One reason The childcare benefit scandal arose is that people could not defend themselves against a decision in which a certain advance payment amount was adjusted. This was because the Council of State found that national legislation did not provide scope for applying proportionality (the consequences of a decision must be proportional to the goal, ed.) or deviating from legal regulations. In contrast, international law did provide that possibility. An advance payment was not seen as a property right because it was not a definitive right.

In a recent case, a woman received an advance on her WIA benefit. In this case, the Central Appeals Tribunal ruled that the advance can indeed be a protected property right. If this ruling had been made during the benefits affair, people might have been able to invoke international law earlier with the Council of State."

He enjoys being the government’s "thorn in its side". "The government knows something can’t be done but does it anyway. Then I stand up for my client and say: this can’t be done. That is exactly the position I always wanted to be in. If this appeals to you, you should do what we do."

Reassessment of funding

Making ends meet as a social advocate is possible, but there are differences between the various areas of law. "I own a house in Amsterdam, and my children play field hockey. In my field of administrative law, the pay is better than in immigration law and personal and family law. These areas should be better compensated because that has consequences for the influx of new lawyers. The social advocacy sector has long suffered from cutbacks. Partly spurred by the benefits scandal, the government realized that something had to be done. The Van der Meer Commission was established to investigate the compensation system. The compensation has already been increased based on an initial report. A new report will follow in the spring, in which the financing system will be reevaluated."

“The problem for many young social lawyers is that they cannot be employed. When you start as a young social lawyer, you usually begin as a trainee entrepreneur. That is quite uncertain because does the profession suit you? You enter a trajectory with heavy vocational training; you have to buy in somewhere at an office. I imagine you would be reluctant if you had little financial support. It worked out fine for me because we set up our office efficiently. Social lawyers could better convey what they do and how they have organized it.”

Working visit

Former minister Franc Weerwind paid a working visit to Advokatenkollektief Oost. “I cannot separate that visit from what he did later for the social advocacy profession while there was little political support for allocating extra funds. State Secretary Teun Struycken, a former partner at NautaDutilh, said in a recent interview that social advocates should work more efficiently. But the majority already work very efficiently. Come and see how we do things. I understand it is difficult for ministers to shadow a lawyer for 5 days. But it is a very important part of your case.”

Societal costs

Thomas explains why he thinks better compensation should be for personal and family law and immigration law. “In personal and family law, for example, the question is asked: why does the government play a role in this? Surely it is a civil matter? That is very short-sighted when you see what a good personal and family lawyer does. You see aggression, damaged children, that kind of thing. If these are not properly dealt with, the social costs are higher than one lawyer's. It is difficult to measure, but it should be a reason to better compensate for those cases.”

Ageing population

There is an ageing of the social advocacy profession. “If you don’t compensate for this loss of knowledge, problems will arise. Divorces are no longer properly settled, and the countervailing power to the government disappears.” The new influx also includes an outflow. “That has more to do with more than just money. People don’t understand what it means to be a social advocate. The work demands a lot from you. At the offices on the Zuidas, you don’t often meet people who want to end it all because they have ended up on the street. As a social lawyer, you offer your clients a future perspective. You translate that into something concrete in the courtroom. You do substantive legal work and represent all kinds of interests.”