The pitch by Zwartbol Advocaten: cherry picking on the pretext of “best of both worlds”.

"I believe there will be a market for many years yet for small to medium-sized firms with demonstrable, niche expertise. General counsel of even the largest of organizations often indicate that they welcome deep expertise and personal service even if offered from modest-sized firms.",

prof. Richard Susskind OBE on his new book 'Tomorrow's Lawyers' in The American Lawyer, February 2013.

Zwartbol Advocaten is frequently asked by (larger) companies to participate in pitches. Whereas ten to fifteen years ago corporations still engaged selected ‘home lawyers’ to deal with all legal topics, these days they seek to engage lawyers whose specialisation marks them as the most competent to deal with a specific legal issue or case. To the extent that the dynamics and scope of a case require (multidisciplinary) teams of legal experts, such lawyers might be selected from major law firms. In very many cases (litigation, contracting and advertising), however, this is not at all necessary, and clients opt for legal counsel by one of Zwartbol Advocaten’s lawyers. Zwartbol Advocaten regularly represents large Dutch or international clients in cases in which the stakes are considerable and in which the opposing party relies on the counsel of large, mainly foreign, law firms. Sometimes the financial implications of a case are somewhat less drastic, for which reason the choice for Zwartbol Advocaten, with their hands-on mentality, short communication lines and cost-conscious approach, also makes perfect sense.

If we feel that a case is not in tune with our scope of activities, we inform the client, in consultation with whom we then either arrange for additional expertise or decide not to take on the case in question. We are also realistic.

However, for any case in which we can assist a client, the choice for Zwartbol Advocaten is an excellent one. We shall do everything we possible can to justify that choice in every single case we deal with. Numerous large companies already rely on Zwartbol Advocaten to represent them in an equally wide variety of cases.

Due to its highly specialised legal practice, Zwartbol Advocaten does not employ trainee lawyers in dealing with business law cases. And should they ever be employed, they will under no circumstances be assigned to a client without close prior consultation with the client in question, and even then only to cases or questions of law that justify their involvement.

Relating to their pitch, Zwartbol Advocaten has published a booklet in Dutch aimed at interested (larger) companies, entitled “How to pick a cherry”. This book can be requested with Bas Ort at ort@zwartbol.eu.