Bob van der Goen
Bob received his degree in Dutch law from Universiteit van Amsterdam in 1969. During his studies he founded a press agency for court reporting from Amsterdam courts (Persubreau Archos); after his studies he interned in law firms in Amsterdam and Utrecht and then served as a company attorney for Philips (1972-1973) before starting his law practice in Soest (1974-2010). He has been legal advisor to the Dutch Grower’s Association (1975-1980) and the Dutch Organization for Local News Media (NNP) (1974-1990). He was the founder and first chairman of the Contract Center for Advisors of Industry, a foundation. He has founded and been involved in the management of nine branches of law firms in the Netherlands and one in Zurich, Switzerland. In the legal realm, he has published on franchising, growers’ rights and legal auditing, among many other areas; he has also written published pieces on modern art. He has been the presenter of many seminars on collection law, was the founder and first president of the International Association of Practising Lawyers (with attorney members in 34 countries). He has served as the supervisory director of family companies. He introduced a system of legal auditing (legal “check-up” for business clients) in the Netherlands, and participated in the organization that marketed the licensed system for the Practising Jurist by means of licensees, and also carried out training and knowledge management for that system. As a speaker, he has been invited to lecture at seminars and business events. He is a former member of the Board of Representatives of the Dutch Bar Association. Under his pseudonym “Nemon” he has written several novels, including, most recently, Safari naar de Hel (available in English as: “Safari to Hell”).
In 1977 he represented victims of the air disaster on Tenerife in the first case in which relatively high amounts of compensation were paid to victims. In 1995 he became known internationally for his representation of the victims of the Bijlmer plane crash, and in 2011 he handled claims in connection with the Flight 771 air crash in Tripoli.
Other matters that he has handled that have attracted international attention include:
in 1989, his legal representation enabled Xaviera Hollander (one of the world’s best-selling authors) to return to the United States; in 1999, he represented the victims of the outbreak of legionellosis at the Holland Flowers Festival; in 2000 he represented the claimants against World Online and Nina Brink; in 2002 he represented Prof. Bob Smalhout in his defamation case against Paul de Leeuw; later, he represented actress Anneke Grönloh, likewise against Paul de Leeuw, for the defamatory nature of her characterization on his show; in 2003 he represented claimants who had suffered damages resulting from the government’s measures to fight the outbreak of bird flu; in a high-profile case involving a ten-year-old boy who died under hospital care, he represented the victim’s family; in 2004 he defended a businessman who had been falsely accused by a business partner of raping women in an African country; in 2006 he represented injured police officers in their damages claims against football hooligans who had assaulted the officers and their horses, and obtained significant sums for his clients; he represented the victims of convicted fraudster the “tennis guru” René van den Berg; he represented over 1,000 victims of the Probo Koala’s dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan, Ivory Coast (the biggest environmental disaster ever to occur in Africa); he acted for the victims of the Queen’s Day attack in 2009; he represented victims of the Baumgartner & Baumgartner investment fraud case in Curaçao; he represented the victims in the “Lekker Leven” case, in which a Belgian executive was arrested on suspicion massive financial fraud totalling millions of euros; he litigated in an international case involving property fraud in Turkey.