Lawyer Rob van der Pas from Ulvenhout was suspended for three months because he has not acted with integrity in the case between Indonesian nurses and the Breda Hogeschool Avans+. The disciplinary council believes that Van der Pas consciously tried to prevent Avans+ from appealing.
Van der Pas is a lawyer of several students who had a conflict with Avans+. In the internship agreement of these students, the Hogeschool promised to pay them a relocation allowance, which was paid over several years. But according to the students, they did not receive this reimbursement. To resolve this conflict, Van der Pas made a proposal to the Hogeschool to arrange. The students worked for, among others, Zorggroep Drenthe.
The ruling of the Council of Discipline states that Van der Pas did not indicate exactly who he assisted and not what amounts the university would have to pay. Even after several requests from Avans+lawyer, Van der Pas still did not say this.
The lawyer of Avans+ then submitted a complaint to the Bar Association, who then ended up at the Discipline Council. He believes that Van der Pas should have made clear in his claim who he assisted and what amounts he demanded. “By not doing this, even after the lawyer of the University of Applied Sciences had explicitly asked about this, the defendant did not behave as that may be expected from a decent lawyer,” the ruling states.
Van der Pas says about this: “The moment the complaint was filed against me, I had already given the names of the students I bijta to the lawyer. I had also indicated that to the Council of Discipline. I added that it could have been more careful and made. But I think nobody is insulted or blown.”
It is not known exactly how much money Van der Pas demanded on behalf of the students he assisted. But the disciplinary board says that it seems that Van der Pas consciously has initially demanded low amounts from the university, so that it could not appeal. It is not possible to appeal against a judgment if the claim is lower than 1,750 euros.
Shortly after the suggestion of the University of Applied Sciences, the amounts were increased. Van der Pas “did not act as that may be expected from a decent lawyer,” says the ruling.
Van der Pas looks back on this and says: “When submitting the claim, we first thought that we could claim the relocation allowance for only the months that the students had followed the training. Later it turned out that the students would receive the full relocation allowance, also over the months that still had to come or if they returned to their native country.”
In December the case eventually came to the court in Breda. During this session, the university and lawyer Van der Pas had to write down an amount that they found most reasonable to arrange the case. It is not known what amount the students demanded or what Avans+ was willing to put down, but the judge ultimately opted for the amount of around 7,000 euros per student.
The disciplinary board concludes that Van der Pas acted with integrity in the case against the Hogeschool ‘. With that he has violated the confidence in the legal profession and only a heavy measure fits in with that. ” The disciplinary board takes into account that Van der Pas was previously convicted of disciplinary and believes that a mild punishment is not sufficient. It is not known what the earlier conviction was about.
Van der Pas is suspended for twelve weeks, four of which are conditional with a probationary period of two years. The lawyer says he will appeal against the decision.