High work pressure, low compensation and little perspective: why no one wants to become a social lawyer anymore

Bansta Blanckenburg (30) has his hands full at an emergency matter: a family threatens to end up on the street by arrears. He has to do everything to get it in an emergency shelter. For this, the Social Lawyer needs at least 35 hours, while the legal directive for these types of cases is 9 hours. The specific complexity does not change that. “Because I do this case, I have to pick up extra things again to make up for the lost hours.”

It is a well -known pattern in the social law: stopping one gap with the other. This continuous struggle with time and resources is one of the reasons why the profession is becoming less and less popular. The Dutch Bar Association (NOVA) calculated A decrease of 9 percent in the past five years, while the total number of lawyers increased (to 18,723 on January 1, 2025).

You will make sacrifices that you do not have to make in the commercial legal profession

Aging affects the entire legal profession. But nowhere do so many young people drop out as in the social law. In 2024, 307 stopped, more than half of whom younger than 35 years. This leads to increasing shortages, while there are too few lawyers to process the 350,000 annual applications. According to the Constitution, everyone is entitled to legal aid, but in some regions there is no longer even a social lawyer within a radius of one hundred kilometers.

In the new report of the Van der Meer II committee on the plight situation of the sector, presented on Monday, it states that 40 million must be added annually.

Alarm

It is not the first time that the alarm has been beaten. In 2017, a report from the committee also pointed to the need for extra support. As a result of which, in 2021 – partly due to the allowance affair – 154 million euros was released for the Social Advocatuur. But the shortage of young entrants and the too much of early outflowers only increased.

Why nobody wants to become a social lawyer anymore?

Under payment is an important reason. In contrast to their commercial colleagues, social lawyers receive compensation through the subsidized system of legal aid. People with an income under 33,200 euros per year – around 40 percent of the population – can rely on this. Usually it concerns things in which citizens are facing the government. Lawyers are paid on the basis of a point rate. Each case stands for a number of points: a point equals about an hour of work.

The system assumes 1,200 declarable hours per year and should in theory deliver 40,000 euros net per year. For example, a divorce case yields thirteen points, but social security cases often do not get any further than nine points. That makes lawyers picky. Blanckenburg: “A case like that of the family that threatens to end up on the street, almost no one wants to pick up anymore.”

One of the sectors where it becomes almost impossible to find a lawyer is the asylum and refugee law. Rudolf van der Ham (35), a former asylum lawyer, says: “I was mainly in people with those asylum applications. A first application does not yield much, but a second one, which is often legally more complicated, is only reimbursed for 25 percent of the original rate. I did it from a kind of noblesse oblige, but in the meantime you are completely empty. ” Within the asylum and refugee law, the exodus of lawyers is greatest: 31 percent are older than sixty, while nationally only one lawyer is under thirty active.

Overtime

Social lawyers usually make more hours than what the system goes from, partly because the often required extra efforts – such as contact with family, or consulting external experts – are not reimbursed.

Former social lawyer Nelleke Stolk (45), specialized in violent and sex offenses, assisted the victims of the shooting in Rotterdam, killing the sixteen-year-old Hümeyra. “There were twelve hours for that case, while only my conversations with the ministry, the police and the inspection on the security of the victims already seized. In total I spent a hundred hours on it. “

You have to learn the profession, take responsibility for your clients and learn to do business

This was one of the reasons for Stolk to say goodbye to the profession after twenty years and to become an public prosecutor. “My son said one day:” I’m not going to tell you, because you’re never there anyway. ” That made me think. I worked eighty hours a week, doing fewer business was not financially an option and if I wanted to do it right, I had to keep making those extra hours. ”

In her new position, the future of the Social Advocatuur will keep her busy. “As an officer I now regularly stand up in court, but unfortunately I rarely see young faces.”

Forced

Due to the case, there is little room to cover the costs of guiding young lawyers and not enough time to train trainees. Many young social lawyers do not find a workplace and therefore start as a self -employed person. Van der Ham also was forced to be forced as an entrepreneur at the age of 27. “No office had the financial room to be employed,” he says.

Van der Ham borrowed thousands of euros per year for matters such as office rental, reference works and vocational training (now there is temporary subsidy scheme for this). “The bank did not want to give me a loan because I already had a study debt and no income. So I also had to turn to my mother. “

Young lawyers often ask Van der Ham advice on their business plan. “It is a tough combination: you still have to learn the profession, bear responsibility for your clients and at the same time learn entrepreneurship.” He understands that many starters drop out. “Not everyone is waiting for such a financial and business risk at the start of their career.”

Financing

Can the report of the Van der Meer II committee turn the tide? Blanckenburg is skeptical about the political will to actually continue. “Van der Meer I lay on the shelf for years and was only introduced under the pressure of the allowance affair, which only temporarily led to extra financing. If we wait so long without really tackling the system, it can be too late. “

Stolk is also pessimistic: “I no longer see it going well, not even with extra money and therefore many people will soon be able to get their rights. The rule of law itself is now in danger. “

Yet the three lawyers continue to encourage young lawyers to enter the profession – albeit not without warning. “It is incredibly valuable work, but you really have to be 100 percent behind it,” says Blanckenburg. “In the first years you will make sacrifices that you do not have to make in the commercial legal profession. For me it was worth that, but it would not have to be that way. “

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