Practicing Law in the Netherlands By Nancy A.

Matos I practice cross-border mergers and acquisitions at Baker & McKenzie, having started my career in Bakers Amsterdam office in 2003 and am currently on a secondment in the firms Chicago office. The story of how I, a New Jersey native and graduate of Rutgers School of Law, got licensed in the Netherlands all starts with my second year of law school. While in law school I became very interested in the idea of practicing overseas and getting involved in international law. When during my second year of law school I had the opportunity to participate in a semester abroad program with the University of Leiden in the Netherlands, I jumped at the chance. While in Leiden, I took a number of comparative law and European Community law courses and learned about the differences between civil law and common law legal systems. It was during my stay in Leiden that I discovered its top rated LL.M. program, a post-graduate degree in law. Back in the United States, I summered at a litigation firm in New Jersey and completed my third year of law school. The idea of going back overseas intrigued me and I attended various presentations on careers in International Law and looked into the possibility of doing an LL.M. At the same time I applied for a Rotary Scholarship. After graduation from law school in New Jersey, I took the New York and New Jersey Bar exams, and with my Rotary Scholarship in hand, I headed back to the Netherlands to do an LL.M. in International Business Law. During the last semester of my LL.M. in the Netherlands I interviewed at several local Dutch law firms. Although being licensed in the Netherlands was a requirement to practicing law in the Netherlands, I was able to find a few firms interested in hiring foreign qualified lawyers, and subsequently worked for one year at a local Dutch firm as a foreign attorney. Even though it was an incredible learning experience, after a year as a foreign lawyer I realized the limitations of not being licensed to practice in the country in which you work. During that time period, I met my husband, and because of my growing ties with the Netherlands, I decided to look into becoming licensed in the Netherlands. After checking with the Dutch Bar Association, I learned of EU Directives that granted reciprocity for European lawyers so that they could be licensed in other European jurisdictions. There were no such reciprocity rules for non-Europeans. I was told that the only way to become licensed in the Netherlands was to get a Dutch law degree. Since I was interested in staying in the Netherlands, I started researching various law schools and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that because of my LL.M. and U.S. law degree I qualified for exemptions for two out of the four years it took to complete a Dutch law degree. The degree program was all in Dutch, but by that time I had been in the Netherlands for two years and I had learned a good amount of Dutch. Doing the Dutch law degree was a wonderful experience. Of course studying Dutch law in a foreign language was challenging, but I also found it very rewarding because it allowed me to

learn about the culture and history of the Netherlands at a level that most foreigners normally do no experience. After graduating with my Dutch law degree, I started working for Baker & McKenzie in Amsterdam. In my third month at Baker, I was sworn into the Dutch Bar as a trainee. To become a full fledged member of the Bar, I had to complete the Dutch Bar traineeship program alongside my full time position at Baker: one year of classes and exams given by the Dutch Bar, moot court oral arguments, and real court experience that required me to appear in court at least 5 times. The last requirement, for a transactional attorney such as me, was not an easy task. However, I believe that experience made me a wellrounded attorney upon completion of my traineeship. As part of Bakers Associate Training Program (ATP), I am now in the Chicago office for one year building my U.S. legal practice skills, helping my practice group grow its business and improve client relationships with U.S. based clients.