While most students spend years in school, Nikki van de Laar (18) from Liempde already did an internship at the court in Den Bosch this year. That is special, because she had not yet attended law school. This makes Nikki the very first student to be accepted in this way. Partly because of this, she was named Student of the Year 2025 at Koning Willem I College.
“I’ve known for years that I wanted to work at the court,” says Nikki. “Most people think of criminal cases, police cases and prison sentences when they think of the court. I also thought that at first. But when I started delving into the law, I discovered that it is much more than that.”
Nikki now focuses on family law, with divorces and juvenile cases, and commercial law with bankruptcies and debt restructuring. “Many things in daily life have a link with justice. What makes me curious is why rules are the way they are and how that works in practice.”
Yet Nikki did not immediately choose to study law. “I wanted to do an internship at the court, but that is often only allowed from the age of 18 because of the intense files.” That is why she started her MBO business services course at the age of sixteen. “That way I had knowledge of everything and was able to move on to law later.”
“At first I thought: what am I doing.”
After two years she obtained her diploma and started studying law this school year. Because she had completed her secondary vocational education, she was allowed to immediately enter year two. Second-year students have to do an internship and Nikki immediately took a risk: she applied for a job at the court, which is located in the courthouse in Den Bosch.
“This is my dream. When I saw the vacancy, I really wanted it,” she says laughing. “I had already been accepted to five or six other internships, but I turned them all down.”
It is striking that Nikki was chosen over five or six students with more knowledge. “It was a busy year in our department and we were looking for someone who learns quickly and can work independently. We had that confidence in her, even without her prior knowledge,” says Miriam Versteeg, manager at the clerk’s office.
That turned out to be correct. “At first I thought: what am I doing? I didn’t understand all those terms such as petitions and summons. But after two weeks the penny dropped,” says the student. “And because I work with it every day, a lot of the teaching material is already familiar to me, while my fellow students are only now learning it at school.”
“You read intense files and sometimes sympathize with the people.”
De Liempdse ensures that the counselors and legal assistants have all the information needed and sends out rulings. “You sometimes read intense files and sympathize with the people, even if you don’t know them. But as soon as I walk out the door, I leave it behind me. In this profession you have to be able to do that.”
The fact that her choice for the court turned out well did not go unnoticed. Because of her story, Nikki was named Student of the Year 2025 at the Koning Willem I College in Den Bosch.
And her internship at the court has also given her something else: she can work at the court from February. And she combines it with one day of school a week. “My wish came true sooner than I thought. And ten months of full-time school no longer felt logical. I learn this trade best by just doing it,” Nikki says proudly.
In the last days of the year, Omroep Brabant has a series ‘The year of…’ This focuses on people for whom 2025 was an important year.