T h e T- s h a p e d

Lawyer and
B e y o n d Rethinking legal
professionalism
and legal education
for contemporary
societies

ELAINE MAK
What role, skills, and ethics should legal
professionals have in order to contribute
meaningfully to the challenges of contemporary
societies? How should universities prepare
students for their future roles as lawyers,
judges, or legal scholars?

In her inaugural lecture, Elaine Mak discusses

the origin and the emergence of the T-shaped
lawyer perspective, which has become a
prominent topic of debate in law schools
and legal practice. She demonstrates how
organisational demands for public management
reform and a societal demand for digitalisation
and globalisation have prompted an emphasis
on technological awareness, interdisciplinary
skills, and social responsiveness of legal profes-
sionals. Based on a critical analysis, Mak argues
that contemporary legal education should
encompass three main elements: differentiation
to allow for generalists, specialists, and inter-
disciplinary legal professionals; Bildung to
develop a critical view on the legal professional’s
role; and training aimed at handling profes-
sional ethical dilemmas.

The T-shaped Lawyer and Beyond is essential

reading for legal professionals, students,
and university teachers and managers.
This lecture will also appeal to a broader
audience interested in developments regarding
professionalism and higher education.

ISBN 978-94-6236-798-2

9 789462 367982
THE T-SHAPED LAWYER AND BEYOND
 THE T-SHAPED LAWYER
AND BEYOND
Rethinking legal professionalism and legal education
for contemporary societies

Elaine Mak

Inaugural Lecture
for the Chair of Jurisprudence at Utrecht University
delivered on 19 June 2017
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Table of contents

1 Introduction 7

2 Changing images: the emergence of the T-shaped

legal professional 11
2.1 What professional role and in what context? 11
2.2 How did the T-shaped legal professional emerge? 13

3 Balancing depth and breadth: the incorporation of

the T-shape in legal education 21
3.1 How T-shaped are we? 21
3.2 How should law schools educate the legal
professionals of the future? 28

4 Beyond the T-shaped legal professional 33

5 Acknowledgements 35

Appendix: Answers to the test ‘How T-shaped are you?’ 39

5
Dear Rector Magnificus, dear Dean,
dear colleagues, family, and friends,
1 Introduction

The term ‘T-shaped lawyer’ seems to be the buzzword in discus-

sions about the skills that legal professionals should have today.
The term has become prominent in debates in legal practice
and in law schools. When considering the responses that I have
received to the invitation to today’s lecture, a variety of impres-
sions can be gleaned. There were messages from self-proclaimed
T-shaped professionals, caught up in busy contemporary lives.
There were colleagues sharing their personal thoughts on the
topic and references to academic literature. Finally, there were
more playful remarks about T-bones and T-zones, and about
lawyers who wear T-shirts underneath their robes. The person
who evoked this last image expected some ‘deeper thoughts’ in
this lecture, so that is what I will strive for this afternoon.

Like so many other phenomena, the idea of the ‘T-shaped lawyer’

has its origins in the United States.1 There, the call for a new type
of legal professional has emerged some years ago in response to
the challenges of technological developments, changes in the
market for legal services, and new ethical dilemmas for lawyers
in a complex society.2 The T-shaped lawyer, it is argued, is able
to cope with these challenges based on deep legal knowledge
and skills – the vertical column of the T – combined with broad
knowledge of other disciplines and academic skills, allowing for

1 M. Maathuis, ‘Lessen uit Amerika’, Advocatenblad, March 2014, p. 34-38, at

p. 38.
2 R. Amani Smathers, ‘The 21st-Century T-Shaped Lawyer’, Law Practice Maga-
zine, 2014, 40(4), www.americanbar.org.

7
collaboration – the horizontal column of the T.3 Moreover, so
the argument goes, current legal education does not sufficiently
prepare law school graduates to master the competences concen-
trated in the horizontal column of the T. Therefore, reforms of
university curriculums could be in order.

What does this discussion entail for legal practice and legal edu-
cation in the Netherlands? Taking the image of the T-shaped
lawyer as a starting point, in this lecture I aim to critically assess
the current debates. Firstly, I will address the question: where
does the image of the ‘T-shaped legal professional’ come from
and is it really a new one? I will outline how ideas about the
meaning of legal professionalism have transformed over time
in response to changes regarding the organisation of the legal
professions and the increased complexity of societies, culminat-
ing in the image of the T-shaped legal professional. The term
‘legal professional’ in this question refers not only to lawyers
– that is: members of the bar – but to those active in the legal
field more generally, including also judges and legal scholars.
Following this conceptual analysis, I will address the question
of how deep and how broad the competences of the T-shaped
legal professional should be. To this end, I will present a rough
sketch regarding the presence of T-shaped competences in our
contemporary society. This empirical aspect can be connected
with questions regarding the adequate design of academic edu-
cation for the legal professionals of today and tomorrow. Finally,
I will dig deeper and address the question that is fundamental
to the debates. After all, the real choices will have to be made
by the legal professionals of the future. How can we – meaning:

3 Ibid., citing a 1991 London newspaper editorial on computing jobs as the orig-
inal source of the term ‘T-shaped person’.

8
universities, legal practice, and others in society – guide stu-
dents in deciding what kind of legal professional they want to be
and in acquiring the competences for their desired future role?
In clarifying these issues, I aim to provide you with an outlook
on the essential contribution that legal professionals can bring
to changing societies and on the main elements of an academic
legal education that guides students in becoming such legal pro-
fessionals.4

4 Compare B. van der Zwaan, Higher Education in 2040. A Global Approach,

Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2017, p. 229-230.

9
2 Changing images: the emergence
of the T-shaped legal professional

What is ‘legal professionalism’ and to what extent has our idea

of what it means changed over time? In a general way, this term
refers to the qualities that legal professionals, such as lawyers,
judges, and legal scholars, should have in order to fulfil their
roles. Following Aristotle, this concept can be said to encompass
expectations regarding the knowledge, competences, and ethical
mind-set of legal professionals.5 What should they know, what
skills should they have, and how should they decide on their
conduct when faced with difficult moral questions?

2.1 What professional role and in what context?

A challenge is of course that there are many different types of

legal professionals, who provide a variety of services to a mul-
titude of audiences. Consider for example a corporate lawyer,
advising a multinational company on its legal strategies, and a
legal aid lawyer, assisting a citizen in a criminal trial. Or con-
sider a sub-district judge, striving for conflict resolution in an
employment case, and a highest court judge, involved in guar-
anteeing the uniform interpretation of laws for the system as
a whole. Consider, finally, a legal scholar in civil, criminal, or

5 See M. Ahsmann, ‘De juridische opleiding en de T-shaped lawyer: hoe leiden

universiteiten goede juristen op?’, in: Stichting ter bevordering der notariële
wetenschap (ed.), De kwaliteit binnen het notariaat, Deventer: Wolters Klu-
wer, 2016, p. 7-25, at p. 11; M. Loth, ‘De goede jurist’, in: J. Kole and D. de
Ruyter (eds.), Code en karakter. Beroepsethiek in onderwijs, jeugdzorg en recht,
Amsterdam: SWP, 2009, p. 113-126, at p. 114.

11
administrative law, analysing recent developments in case law,
and a jurisprudence scholar, analysing the legitimacy or effects
of such legal developments.

Still, it is possible to identify a common denominator, expressed

in a single image of legal professionalism. Notwithstanding the
diversity, commonalities can be identified when we focus on the
core activity or role of specific types of legal professionals. In
this regard, the lawyer, judge, and legal scholar represent three
distinct roles. The lawyer, firstly, is an advisor and representative
of interests for clients, in counselling and in legal procedures.
The judge, secondly, is a public decision-maker, invested in the
satisfactory settlement of disputes in individual cases against
the background of the legal system as a whole. The legal scholar,
finally, is an analyst, engaged in clarifying the meaning of laws
and case law and sketching possible or desirable legal develop-
ments for the future.6

Besides this typology of roles, it is important to notice that legal

professionals do not operate in a vacuum. Therefore, we should
consider the context in which they perform their tasks and take
this context into account when defining ‘legal professionalism’.
Regarding lawyers, judges, and legal scholars, we can say that
they will make professional choices based on an assessment of
three contextual perspectives: the societal demands regarding
their specific role, the constraints imposed by the professional
organisation in which they work, and a personal ideology on

6 Dutch academic debate on the roles of legal professionals in recent years

has addressed in particular the nature of legal scholarship. See, inter alia,
C.  Stolker, ‘“Ja, geléérd zijn jullie wel!” Over de status van de rechtsweten-
schap’, Nederlands Juristenblad, 2002/15; J. Vranken, ‘Exciting Times for Legal
Scholarship’, Law and Method, 2012, www.lawandmethod.nl.

12
what ‘good’ lawyering, ‘good’ judging, or ‘good’ legal scholarship
means.7 These perspectives might not always fit well together, for
example when the goals of the organisation clash with the legal
professional’s personal moral views.

The image of legal professionalism, it thus becomes clear, con-

cerns the definition of general professional qualities in connec-
tion with a specific role in the legal field, and with contextual
influences from one’s organisation and from society. Based on
this conceptual clarification, we can now take a closer look at
the development over time of the idea of legal professionalism.

2.2 How did the T-shaped legal professional emerge?

In this regard, two major shifts become apparent. One con-

cerns a change in organisational demands, the other a change
in societal challenges that affect the work of legal professionals.
Three successive but overlapping images of legal professionalism
emerge in connection with these changes: the lawyer-statesman,
the rational legal professional, and the T-shaped lawyer.8

In the classic model, the legal professional is someone who

serves the public good based on generalist knowledge regarding
all areas of the law.9 This legal professional does not only have

7 Compare Loth (n. 5), p. 115.

8 Regarding classifications of legal professionalism, see also A.J. Kwak, The Legal
Junction. The Complex Promise of Modern Legal Professionalism (dissertation
Rotterdam), 2005, repub.eur.nl/pub/6973; Y. Buruma, Wat is een goede rechter?
Een mentaliteitsgeschiedenis (1900-2020) (inaugural lecture Nijmegen), Nijme-
gen: Radboud Universiteit, 2016.
9 A.T. Kronman, ‘The Law as a Profession’, in: D.L. Rhode (ed.), Ethics in Prac-
tice. Lawyers’ Roles, Responsibilities, and Regulation, Oxford: Oxford Univer-
sity Press, 2000, p. 29-41. See also A.T. Kronman, The Lost Lawyer: Failing
Ideals of the Legal Profession, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993.

13
intellectual skills but also perceptual and emotional powers, that
is: ‘the capacity for judgment’. Moreover, he or she is aware of the
inherent connections of legal practice with the past and future
development of the law, embodied in an important manner in
case law.10 This so-called ‘lawyer-statesman’ has obtained legal
competences in an education aimed at learning to ‘think like
a lawyer’.11

The three roles of legal professionals are very similar to each other
in this classic image. Lawyers, judges, and legal scholars are all
generalists. Legal research connects closely with the questions
put forward by legal practice.12 Because of this closeness, the
knowledge and competences of legal scholars overlap to a high
degree with those of lawyers and judges. In the performance of
each of these three professional roles, the lawyer-statesman has
a strong orientation on the central ideals of the law, which con-
cern the realisation of justice and the rule of law in the national
society.13 When confronted with ethical dilemmas, the classic
lawyer, judge, or legal scholar will rely on his or her own moral
compass.

A first shift in the image of legal professionalism has occurred

with the rise of new organisational values for the legal profes-
sions in the second half of the 20th century. Under the influence

10 Kronman (n. 9), p. 33-34.

11 Ibid., p. 33.
12 See S. Taekema, ‘Relative Autonomy. A Characterisation of the Discipline of
Law’, in: B. van Klink and S. Taekema (eds.), Law and Method. Interdisciplinary
Research into Law, Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 2011, p. 33-52, at p. 34-37.
13 See W. van der Burg, ‘De professionalisering van Juridische Beroepen. Over
het verlies aan Rechtsstatelijke Oriëntatie’, in: N.J.H. Huls (ed.), Ongedeeld in-
teger, Den Haag: Boom Juridische uitgevers, 2009, p. 17-27, at p. 19; S. Taekema,
The Concept of Ideals in Legal Theory, Den Haag: Kluwer Law International,
2003, p. 188.

14
of theories of New Public Management, the rule-of-law-based
orientation of legal professionalism had to be combined with
economic values, concerning the effectiveness, efficiency, and
transparency of professional performance.14 In this new image,
organisational awareness and competition have entered the pic-
ture. The legal professional’s status depends on the deployment
of ‘a body of genuine, specialized, socially valuable, knowledge-
based skills’.15 In this image, law firms become bigger and
develop specialist services, in particular in the areas of civil and
commercial law.16 In the judicial system, concentration of cases
and the training of specialist judges increase in order to keep
up with growing substantive complexity, for example in intel-
lectual property law or economic criminal law.17 Legal scholar-
ship starts moving away from legal practice under the effects of
a demand for more ‘scientific’ research, which favours external
perspectives on law, such as law and economics, or law and psy-
chology.18 In this image of the so-called ‘rational legal profes-
sional’, professional autonomy is reined in by the demands of the
organisation. Lawyers, judges, and legal scholars need to adapt
their performance to the targets of their organisations, in terms
of profit, good and fast procedures, and high-quality research
output respectively. Legal skills are still central, but legal profes-
sionals need to be aware of relevant non-legal information when

14 E. Mak, De rechtspraak in balans. Een onderzoek naar de rol van klassiek-

rechtsstatelijke beginselen en ‘new public management’-beginselen in het kader
van de rechterlijke organisatie in Nederland, Frankrijk en Duitsland (disserta-
tion Rotterdam), Nijmegen: Wolf Legal Publishers, 2007, p. 23-52.
15 R.A. Posner, The Problematics of Moral and Legal Theory, Cambridge, MA:
Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999, p. 190.
16 Kronman (n. 9), p. 38-39.
17 E. Mak, ‘Balancing Territoriality and Functionality. Specialisation as a Tool
for Reforming Jurisdiction in the Netherlands, France and Germany’, Inter-
national Journal for Court Administration, 2008, 1(2), p. 2-9, at p. 3.
18 Taekema (n. 12), p. 37-38.

15
advising clients, judging cases, or analysing legal issues. This
has become apparent, for example, in the increased awareness of
insights from cognitive psychology regarding the judicial assess-
ment of evidence in criminal cases.19 When faced with ethical
dilemmas, the guidelines of one’s organisation lead the way in
deciding on a personal course of action.20

A second shift in the image of legal professionalism has occurred

with the increasing complexity of society, especially since the
year 2000. We currently live in a world where everything and
everyone is connected with each other. In this network society,
the trends of digitalisation and globalisation have introduced
drastic changes to the types of legal questions that arise and to
the way of approaching these questions. Firstly, developments in
the ‘digital age’ raise new questions, for example regarding the
use and protection of personal data by governments or compa-
nies like Google and Facebook.21 Moreover, territorial proximity
of services is becoming less important in a world where citizens
can search for those services online and choose from a broad
range of options. This change has introduced a new degree of
competition in the ‘sharing economy’ of for example Airbnb and

19 B.L. Cutler (ed.), Conviction of the Innocent. Lessons from Psychological

Research, Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2012.
20 The global proliferation of codes of judicial conduct, in particular in the last
two decades, forms a clear expression of this new image. On this development,
see G. Di Federico, ‘Judicial Accountability and Conduct. An Overview’, in:
A.  Seibert-Fohr (ed.), Judicial Independence in Transition, Berlin: Springer,
2012, p. 87-118, at p. 93.
21 See, for example, J. Lane, V. Stodden, S. Bender, and H. Nissenbaum (eds.),
Privacy, Big Data, and the Public Good. Frameworks for Engagement, Cam-
bridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014.

16
Uber,22 but also in legal practice.23 Secondly, the network society
is also visible in the expansion of European, international, and
trans-border legal issues and rules. In this regard, the function
of law as a ‘lever’ for realising change in society24 is receiving a
new and influential meaning in the global context and under the
effect of values that have become more prominent there, such as
social justice and sustainability.25 The Urgenda case, decided in
June 2015 by the District Court of The Hague, is illustrative of
this development. The Court ordered the Dutch government to
respect aims that the government had set previously with regard
to the reduction of the emission of greenhouse gasses in order to
effectively prevent climate change.26 This case is representative
of a category of public interest litigation with a transnational
dimension, which emphasises our belonging to a current and
future global society.27 With regard to this type of cases, legal
professionals are challenged to consider complex societal issues

22 Regarding the legal implications of this development, see, for example,

V. Mak, ‘Private Law Perspectives on Platform Services. Airbnb: Home Rentals
between AYOR and NIMBY’, Journal of European Consumer and Market Law,
2016, 5(1), p. 19-25.
23 See R. Susskind, Tomorrow’s Lawyers. An Introduction to Your Future, Oxford:
Oxford University Press, 2017 (2nd edition).
24 Compare T. Koopmans, ‘De rol van de wetgever’, in: H.C.F. Schoordijk et al.
(eds.), Honderd jaar rechtsleven. De Nederlandse Juristen-Vereniging, 1870-
1970, Zwolle: Tjeenk Willink, 1970, p. 221-235.
25 On social justice and law, see, for example, C. Mak, Justice through European
Private Law (inaugural lecture Amsterdam UvA), Amsterdam: Universiteit
van Amsterdam, 2016. On sustainability and law, see, for example, C. Backes,
Law for a Circular Economy (inaugural lecture Utrecht), The Hague: Eleven
International Publishing, 2017.
26 Hague District Court, 24 June 2015, Urgenda Foundation v. State of the
Netherlands (Ministry of Infrastructure and the Environment), ECLI:NL:
RBDHA:2015:7196.
27 An interesting initiative in this regard is the Public Interest Litigation Project
(PILP) under the auspices of the Dutch Section of the International Commis-
sion of Jurists (NJCM), which explores the possibilities for strategic legal pro-
cedures relating to the protection of human rights. See pilpnjcm.nl/en.

17
from a more ‘holistic’ perspective, which integrates knowledge
from different academic disciplines and which adopts a broader
societal outlook.

These contemporary demands come together in a new image,

which focuses on the qualities of technological awareness,
non-legal competences, and social responsiveness of legal pro-
fessionals. This image incorporates existing elements from the
preceding ideas of legal professionalism, but places its own
accents. Firstly, this image emphasises the need for broader
knowledge and skills as well as a more human-centred attitude.
A central claim is that legal professionals cannot do without
interdisciplinary competences in order to deliver legal advice,
judgments, and research that are tailored to the needs of individ-
ual citizens as well as the wider society.28 Furthermore, investing
in relations with clients, persons involved in court procedures,
or other research groups is essential in order to remain relevant
in a larger and more competitive market for legal activity. In this
regard, sound knowledge of the law and other disciplines needs
to be matched with social skills, such as empathy.29 Secondly,
a public orientation has come back into the picture with the
emphasis on collective interests, and values such as sustainabil-
ity and social justice. This entails that legal professionals should
be aware of the plurality of moral and social values existing in
society, and address this plurality whenever it is relevant in the
performance of their legal role. Finally, the increased organ-
isational pressures on lawyers, judges, and legal scholars have

28 Amani Smathers (n. 2).

29 H. Mesters, ‘T-shaped lawyer: kennis is macht, empathie is meer?’, insights.
abnamro.nl. See also the contributions by Heuff, Van de Luytgaarden, and
Couwenberg in: N. van de Pasch (ed.), The T-shaped Lawyer. Kwaliteit is breder
dan diepte (conference proceedings Jonge Balie Congres), 2015.

18
induced a reclaiming of professional autonomy,30 which is vis-
ible, for example, in the development of professional standards
by the Dutch judiciary.31 In this regard, legal professionals are
prompted to develop an ethical frame of reference in order to
prepare for personal choices of conduct in challenging moral
circumstances. And so, the T-shaped legal professional has
entered the stage.

30 Loth (n. 5), p. 119-122.

31 See www.rechtspraak.nl.

19
3 Balancing depth and breadth:
the incorporation of the T-shape
in legal education

It is hard to imagine arguments against legal professionals who

possess excellent legal knowledge and competences combined
with a thorough insight into other disciplines, such as econom-
ics, sociology, and psychology, and well-developed analytical
and argumentative skills.32 Indeed, the merits of T-shaped pro-
fessionalism do not seem to be the bone of contention in current
debates in legal practice and in universities. Rather, the difficulty
is, first of all, to establish consensus regarding the desired depth
and breadth of the T-shape and, secondly, to translate such a
consensus into a design for academic education and training.
I will address the factors involved in making choices regarding
these two matters. However, before doing this, a reality check
seems in order.

3.1 How T-shaped are we?

Despite a steady stream of criticism from ‘angry citizens’, some

media, or some research institutes,33 many legal professionals in
the Netherlands seem to be performing quite well. Firstly, our
country hosts a large number of internationally competitive law

32 Compare M. Laemers, ‘Hoe verhoudt de T-shaped lawyer zich met het civiel
effect?’, in: Van de Pasch (n. 29), p. 37-43, at p. 43.
33 In the latter category, a report that has drawn considerable attention is
M. Barendrecht, K. van Beek, and S. Muller, Menselijk en rechtvaardig. Is de
rechtsstaat er voor de burger?, The Hague: HiiL, 2017. Criticism of this report
was expressed, inter alia, by F. Hammerstein, ‘Rechtsstaat slecht voor de bur-
gers?’ (blog post CPO Nijmegen), 24 May 2017, www.ru.nl/cpo.

21
firms, and despite pressure on the availability of legal aid there
are still many lawyers dealing with cases pro bono as well.34 Sec-
ondly, public trust in the judiciary is relatively constant at about
70 per cent35 and the judicial system is considered of high qual-
ity in comparison with its equivalents elsewhere in the world.36
Finally, the law schools do relatively well in assessments and
rankings of legal research and education.37 So, does this mean
that lawyers, judges, and legal scholars live up completely to the
current image of the T-shaped legal professional?

Time for a test! Not just the legal professionals, but also everyone
in the audience is invited to participate. After all, some specialist
and interdisciplinary knowledge is probably helpful for everyone
who wants to survive in a contemporary society. The question to
be analysed is a simple one: how T-shaped are you? We will ana-
lyse this on the basis of a self-test, which I have designed with
input from fellow members of the Utrecht Young Academy,38

34 Regarding the types of legal services used by citizens in dispute resolution,

see, inter alia, M. ter Voert and C.M. Klein Haarhuis, Geschilbeslechtingsdelta
2014. Over verloop en afloop van (potentieel) juridische problemen van burgers,
Den Haag: Boom Lemma, 2015.
35 Sociaal en Cultureel Planbureau, Continu Onderzoek Burgerperspectieven,
www.scp.nl.
36 See, for example, J. Jackson et al., Trust in Justice. Topline Results from Round 5
of the European Social Survey (ESS Topline Results Series, issue 1), 2011, www.
europeansocialsurvey.org.
37 Several worldwide rankings of universities are available, for example: QS
World University Rankings, www.topuniversities.com; Times Higher Educa-
tion World University Rankings, www.timeshighereducation.com; Shanghai
Ranking: Academic Ranking of World Universities, www.shanghairanking.
com.
38 Many thanks to Angela Sarabdjitsingh, Annemarie Kalis, Borja Martinovic,
Brianne McGonigle Leyh, Daniel Oberski (and Erik-Jan van Kesteren), Fran-
cien Peterse, João Trabucho Alexandre, Joas Wagemakers, Lars Tummers,
Liesbeth van de Grift, Linda van Laake, Madelijn Strick, Martijn van den
Heuvel, Rianka Rijnhout, Sanli Faez, Susanne Knittel, Tessa Diphoorn, and
Wim Otte.

22
a new platform for collaboration between young academics at
Utrecht University.39

Readers are invited to take the test ‘How T-shaped are you?’
at www.elainemak.com. The answers to the test questions have
also been included in the Appendix at the end of this booklet.

The test is composed of six sets of two images, with each image
depicting an academic discipline or sub-discipline. Following
the presentation of each set, I will ask you to answer a multiple-
choice question: which out of a list of three disciplines was
not included in this set of two images? In order to see how this
works, we will do a try-out with a different topic: American
newspaper comic strips.

Try-out question: which comic strip is not included: Calvin and

Hobbes, Garfield, or Peanuts?

We will now continue with the actual ‘T-shape test’. Just two
disclaimers before we get started. Firstly, despite an effort made,
not all images are completely gender-neutral.40 Apologies for
this. Secondly, any mistakes in the design of the test can be
blamed on me and probably tell something about my T-shaped
competences. All ready to go?

Question 1: which discipline is not included: international crimi-

nal law, private law, or legal theory?
Question 2: which discipline is not included: history, memory
studies, or religion studies?

39 See www.uu.nl/en/research/utrecht-young-academy.
40 This concerns in particular the images depicting private law and depicting
psychology.

23
Question 3: which discipline is not included: anthropology, philos-
ophy, or psychology?
Question 4: which discipline is not included: public governance
studies, social psychology, or statistics and data science?
Question 5: which discipline is not included: molecular cardiol-
ogy, neuroimaging, or neuroscience?
Question 6: which discipline is not included: organic geochemis-
try, physics, or sedimentology?

Once more, thanks to the members of the Utrecht Young

Academy for their help. And now, let’s consider: what do the test
results tell about your T-shaped competences? Based on your
score, the following applies:

0 correct answers: even without any knowledge, there are still

some jobs for which you might apply successfully (e.g. in politics).
1 correct answer: you are a specialist, bringing valuable knowl-
edge and skills for answering questions in a specific professional
field.
2-4 correct answers: you are moderately T-shaped, able to think
outside the box and connect with different disciplines.
5-6 correct answers: you are in an excellent T-shape, ready to
address global challenges from a holistic perspective.

Of course, recognising central aspects of different academic

disciplines might still be relatively easy.41 Yet, consider how
many of the depicted disciplines you would have identified
correctly if this had not been a multiple-choice test. Moreover,
expectations of T-shaped professionals are higher. They should

41 The test results during the inaugural lecture were relatively good. However, the
reader should bear in mind that the audience that was present at this lecture is
not representative of the Dutch society as a whole.

24
be able not only to recognise different disciplines, but to formu-
late research questions and apply research methods connected
with such other disciplines.42 The issue then is: what exactly
should the T-shaped legal professional know and master?

To start with, some say that the inclusion of T-shaped elements

in legal education is nothing new. At a conference for young
lawyers in 2015, bar association president Walter Hendriksen
recalled that there were already courses on legal philosophy
when he studied law.43 His more ‘timeless’ advice to young law-
yers is this:

Only do those things in the job that you master. Create a working environ-
ment in the office where you can admit mistakes to each other. … When
you get a new case, ask yourself why it was given to you. If you do not have
an answer, maybe you shouldn’t do the case.44

As much as this practical approach makes sense, it does not

address the issue of how to deal with the demands of our dig-
italised and globalised society, where more holistic approaches
to legal questions are expected. In this regard, there is increasing
awareness of the basic need for legal professionals in the ‘digital
age’ to become more acquainted with technology, data analysis,
and protection of data.45 Legal professionals who are able to ana-
lyse ‘big data’ might in the future have an advantage over their

42 Compare De Zwaan (n. 4), p. 228-229.

43 J. Rietbroek, ‘Jonge Balie Congres: “De T-shaped lawyer een hype? Dat is
een  status quo bias”’ (online article Advocatie), 12 November 2015, www.
advocatie.nl. See also Charlotte’s Law, ‘Waarom de T-shaped lawyer een
non-discussie is’ (blog post Legal Coffee), 8 January 2016, legalcoffee.nl.
44 Ibid.
45 L. van der Wees, ‘Column: T-, TT- of TTT-shaped juristen?’ (online column
Recht.nl), 26 January 2016, www.recht.nl.

25
peers who can solely rely on classic legal knowledge and skills.
Indeed, there are already examples of law firms in the United
States that employ big data analysis to predict the most likely
outcome of cases and use this information in deciding whether
to accept a new case or not.46

Furthermore, the concern for broader competences has been

recognised already longer ago in connection with the emer-
gence of rational legal professionalism and its demands regard-
ing the use of insights from other disciplines. As an example: in
connection with erroneous convictions in criminal cases, such
as the Schiedammer Parkmoord case or the Lucia de Berk case,
psychologists have drawn attention to the impact of cognitive
biases on judicial thinking.47 Based on this discussion, initi-
atives in judicial training were developed in order to enhance
awareness of psychological biases and, in this way, contribute to
the prevention of ‘tunnel vision’.48 In a similar vein, it has been
acknowledged that insight into human behaviour can help to
improve legal advice and judgments in other areas of the law, for
example private law.49 Or, insight into experiences of procedural
justice can help to improve dispute settlement procedures.50 In
this regard, academic scholarship is able to inform and assist
legal practice.

46 M. van Rijmenam, ‘How Big Data Can Improve the Practice of Law’ (blog post
Datafloq), 23 August 2015, datafloq.com.
47 W.A. Wagenaar, H. Israëls, and P.J. van Koppen, De slapende rechter, Amster-
dam: Uitgeverij Bert Bakker, 2009; T. Derksen, Lucia de B. Reconstructie van
een gerechtelijke dwaling, Diemen: Veen Media, 2006. See also Cutler (n. 19).
48 See the course programmes of the Training and Study Centre for the Judiciary
(SSR) in the Netherlands, ssr.nl.
49 W. van Boom, I. Giesen, and M. Smit (eds.), Civilologie. Opstellen over empirie
en privaatrecht, Den Haag: Boom Juridische uitgevers, 2013.
50 K. van den Bos, Kijken naar het recht (inaugural lecture Utrecht), 2014, njb.nl/
kijken-naar-het-recht.

26
In sum, legal professionals seem able to cope quite well with
changing societal demands. However, a responsive attitude is
required in order to keep up with further developments. Indeed,
this is of primary importance when we consider that legal pro-
fessionals play key roles in our institutions of government.
They stand at the basis of the guarantee of democracy and the
rule of law in our societies, including the safeguarding of fun-
damental rights of citizens. This is illustrated, for example, by
the role of federal judges in the United States, who have struck
down the executive orders on immigration issued by President
Trump.51 Interestingly, the President’s response – in which he
labelled one of these federal judges a ‘so-called judge’ – was crit-
icised by Trump’s own Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch,
who in this way demonstrated perception and professional
autonomy, matching the current image of legal professional-
ism.52 Closer to home, we can think of the already mentioned
Urgenda judgment, in which the District Court of The Hague
acted as a counter-balance against the government in establish-
ing the required action with regard to the prevention of climate
change.53 This judgment also underlines the significance of an
understanding by legal professionals of knowledge generated
by other disciplines, such as scientific reports. Finally, with the
increased power of private and international actors, having an
impact in national societies, it becomes even more important
to ensure that legal professionals have adequate knowledge and

51 A. Gomez and R. Wolf, ‘President Trump’s travel ban struck down by second
appeals court’ (online article USA Today), 12 June 2017, www.usatoday.com.
52 A. Killough, ‘Gorsuch: Criticism of judges – including Trump’s – “disheart-
ening”’ (online article CNN), 22 March 2017, edition.cnn.com. Still, Gorsuch
later stated his agreement with the implementation of the travel ban. See
D. Fears, ‘Gorsuch would have supported Trump’s full travel ban’ (online arti-
cle New York Post), 26 June 2017, nypost.com.
53 See above, section 2.2.

27
skills, but also an ethical frame of reference. The question then
remains how law schools can assist the legal professionals of the
future in preparing for their roles.

3.2 How should law schools educate the legal

professionals of the future?

Regarding the content of education and training, the challenge

is to transfer thorough knowledge and competences relating to
the legal discipline, while combining this with a broader edu-
cation in other disciplines and academic skills. Within uni-
versities, this requires decisions regarding the place of legal,
legal-theoretical, and interdisciplinary elements in educational
programmes. Discussions about choices in this regard reveal
that conflicting interests are involved. From legal practice, CEOs
of big law firms have called for the education of more ‘T-shaped
lawyers’.54 At the same time, the Convenant inzake civiel effect
signed by the Dutch law schools and key players in legal practice
emphasises a thorough education in positive law as a prerequi-
site for students to be admitted to the bar, the judiciary, and the
public prosecutor’s service.55

In this regard, different suggestions have been presented regard-

ing the focal points of T-shaped legal education. First of all,
the T-shape can be ‘filled’ in two ways: a three-year bachelor
degree in law combined with a master programme in another
discipline or, the other way around, a bachelor degree in liberal
arts or a non-legal discipline combined with a one-year legal

54 M. Snoep, A. Croiset van Uchelen, J. Rijlaarsdam, M. Ulrici, and B.B. Visser,

‘Opleiding jurist moet breder’ (opinion piece NRC Handelsblad), 17 March
2014.
55 See M. Ahsmann (n. 5); M. Laemers (n. 32).

28
master programme.56 Secondly, suggestions for more complexly
shaped programmes have been advanced. One option concerns
the π-shaped legal professional, who simultaneously follows
legal education and education on effective conflict manage-
ment, before engaging in broader interdisciplinary training.57
Another option is to educate the TTT-shaped legal professional,
who is creative in his or her legal thinking, asks the right ques-
tions based on an adequate frame of reference, and invests in
the building of client relations. An educational programme will
then need to combine training in legal knowledge and skills,
conflict management skills, and social skills.58 Finally, in more
general reflections regarding the future of university education,
suggestions have been made for an ‘unbundling’ of courses. This
means that students can establish their personal educational
programme and, for example, follow online and campus-based
courses in different places. In this scenario, universities will
have to compete with each other based on the uniqueness and
quality of their courses.59

This lecture is not the place to present a definite answer to this

matter of educational design. Instead, I will discuss three main
elements that are to be taken into account in the adaptation of
legal education to the demands of contemporary societies. These
elements relate to the conceptualisation presented in the first
part of this lecture regarding the knowledge, competences, and
ethical mind-set of legal professionals.

56 Snoep et al. (n. 54); Ahsmann (n. 5), p. 8.

57 J. Maassen, ‘Advocaten van de toekomst: liever π dan T-shaped?’ (online article
Advocatie), 6 October 2014, www.advocatie.nl.
58 Van der Wees (n. 45).
59 De Zwaan (n. 4), p. 235.

29
Firstly, as a nuance to the image of the T-shaped legal profes-
sional, we should recognise that general, specialised, and inter-
disciplinary knowledge and skills can all be valuable. Training
in digital skills should be a basic element of education for all
students in the current era. But beside that, not all legal profes-
sionals need to become fully T-shaped. After all, some future
lawyers, judges, or legal scholars might still focus primarily on
tasks connected with the images of the lawyer-statesman or
the rational legal professional.60 However, those who do want
to address global challenges should be able to follow a suitable
programme to prepare for this, for example including interdis-
ciplinary courses. In this context, universities are called upon
to provide programmes that cater for the different ambitions of
students with regard to all possible future roles that they could
fulfil.61

Secondly, students should be taught to be perceptive and critical,

based on awareness of the context in which they will operate as
legal professionals and self-awareness regarding the future role
that they envisage for themselves.62 This is expressed in a gen-
eral sense in the renewed attention for ‘Bildung, social engage-
ment and citizenship’ in universities as a countertrend to the
focus on output in terms of the number of students obtaining
their degree.63 For legal education, this entails that the study of

60 Compare B. de Graaf, ‘Leve de specialisten!’ (column NRC Handelsblad),

12 May 2017.
61 Compare De Zwaan (n. 4).
62 See, inter alia, B. van Klink and U. de Vries (eds.), Academic Learning in
Law. Theoretical Positions, Teaching Experiments and Learning Experiences,
Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016; B. van Klink, B. de Vries, and
T. Bleeker, ‘Recht in context. Naar een brede academische vorming van juris-
ten’, Nederlands Juristenblad, 2017/773.
63 Remarks by the Dutch Minister for Education Jet Bussemaker (TV talkshow
Buitenhof, 17 May 2015), referred to by Ahsmann (n. 5), p. 11.

30
positive laws and case law needs to be combined with a critical
reflection from different perspectives, including normative per-
spectives available in legal theory and legal philosophy, and
empirical perspectives available for example in sociology and
psychology.64

Finally, ethical training deserves a more prominent place in

legal education. An introduction to philosophical theories about
ethics and exercises in reflection about ethical dilemmas can
clarify how different choices are justified, for example if focus is
on the fulfilment of moral virtues or duties – such as: telling the
truth – or, by contrast, on the consequences of one’s actions –
such as: the impact of a specific legal strategy on profit, repu-
tation, or matters of public interest.65 Ethical training further
requires contact with the reality of legal practice or scholarship,
for example through traineeships in law firms or courts,66 or
a job as a research assistant. Furthermore, reflection can take
place based on sources that address the law in context, such as
films, documentaries, and literature.67

This leaves us with one further point for reflection. Do the

universities have the ‘right’ kind of teachers to provide both
deep and broad education for future legal professionals? Some
authors doubt that law schools can manage interdisciplinary
teaching, and argue that students should be offered more space

64 At Utrecht University, these perspectives are addressed already in the first year
of the bachelor programme in law in the courses Grondslagen van Recht and
Perspectieven op Recht.
65 This proposal has been inspired by a teaching module for master students in
law at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, developed by dr. Margreet Luth.
66 Ahsmann (n. 5), p. 11.
67 See, inter alia, W. Witteveen and H.S. Taekema, Verbeeldingsmacht. Wat juris-
ten moeten lezen, Den Haag: Boom Juridische uitgevers, 2000.

31
to follow minors in other faculties or that more double-degree
programmes should be established.68 Certainly, it is clear that
there are still steps to be taken in order to connect the supply
and demand sides of legal education. However, there seems to
be great potential in the staff at the law schools in the Nether-
lands, which quite often consists of a mixture of experts in fields
of positive law, legal theorists, and sometimes also academics
who study the law from different disciplinary perspectives.
Still,  cooperation between these different types of experts can
be improved.

In the design of education for future legal professionals, law

schools could, in particular, further develop research-based
teaching. The advantage would then be that substantive exper-
tise can be used in order to enhance the critical outlook of stu-
dents on relevant topics, while paying attention to methodol-
ogy too. From my own perspective, I am thinking for example
about research insights regarding the realisation of effective jus-
tice systems for society.69 I would be very interested to further
explore options for collaboration on this topic, and to cooperate
with colleagues in the law school, and in other departments and
faculties as well. But for now, it is time to conclude.

68 D. van Toor, ‘De toekomst van het rechtswetenschappelijke onderwijs. Recht in

context’, Nederlands Juristenblad, 2017/1123.
69 Together with PhD candidates Niels Graaf and Erin Jackson, I am currently
conducting research relating to this topic in the framework of an NWO Vidi
project on European judicial cultures. See also E. Mak, The Possibility of a
European Judicial Culture (inaugural lecture Rotterdam), The Hague: Eleven
International Publishing, 2015.

32
4 Beyond the T-shaped legal
professional

The image of the T-shaped legal professional has been useful to

raise discussion about legal professionalism and legal education.
This discussion is necessary, as it instils awareness regarding the
responsiveness that legal professionals should display in rela-
tion to changing organisational and societal demands. This dis-
cussion is also fruitful, as it provides legal professionals with a
frame of reference for developing personal ideas about their role,
competences, and ethical mind-set.

However, there are at least three ways in which we should look

beyond this image of the T-shaped legal professional. Firstly,
the world of contemporary legal professionalism is much more
nuanced than the T-shape suggests. It encompasses ‘old’ and
‘new’ aspects, and should leave space for generalists, specialists,
and interdisciplinary legal professionals. Secondly, the image of
the T-shaped legal professional might be useful for now, but not
necessarily for the long term. The further development of soci-
ety will certainly raise new questions about the role of the legal
professions and connected knowledge, skills, and ethical reflec-
tion. Finally, the core question that legal professionals of today
and tomorrow need to consider is what kind of role they see for
themselves, taking into account developments in the profes-
sional organisations and in society, and what kind of education
and training they require to prepare for this role. It is up to stu-
dents, teachers, and university managers together to shape the
academic environment of the future, in close interaction with
legal practice and the wider society.

33
And to bring these ‘deeper thoughts’ back to a simple, practi-
cal advice: the T-shaped legal professional could already take a
course on data science, do some soul-searching regarding his or
her personal beliefs, and wear a T-shirt made out of biological
cotton.

34
5 Acknowledgements

I end this lecture with some words of thanks. Dank aan het
College van Bestuur, het bestuur van de faculteit REBO en van
het departement Rechtsgeleerdheid, voor het in mij gestelde
vertrouwen en het warme welkom in Utrecht. In het bijzonder
veel dank aan Annetje Ottow en Ton Hol.

De Encyclopedie en Rechtstheorie behoren tot het basispak-

ket van iedere jurist, meer nog in een wereld die vraagt om
‘T-shaped’ professionele kennis, vaardigheden en ethiek. Ton –
jij hebt op indrukwekkende wijze invulling gegeven aan deze
leerstoel, zowel in je wetenschappelijke werk als in de rechts-
praktijk. Het is een eer om jou te mogen opvolgen. Tegelijk ben
ik blij dat je de komende jaren nog gewoon hier bent.

Dank aan alle collega’s van de afdeling Staatsrecht, Bestuurs-

recht en Rechtstheorie. Allereerst dank aan onze afdelings-
voorzitter Remco Nehmelman. Remco – dank voor jouw colle-
gialiteit en de manier waarop je de ‘bloedgroepen’ bij SBR met
elkaar verbindt. Dank ook aan onze afdelingssecretaris Corrie
van Rooijen en aan de dames van het secretariaat, zonder wie
mijn eerste jaar hier een stuk chaotischer zou zijn geweest. Ver-
der een speciaal woord van dank aan de collega’s van de ‘bloed-
groep’ Rechtstheorie. Jullie inzet, betrokkenheid en enthousi-
asme voor het onderwijs zijn inspirerend en ik heb mij vanaf
het begin heel welkom gevoeld. Ik kijk ernaar uit om samen de
Utrechtse rechtstheorie nog meer op de kaart te zetten.

35
Aan de studenten – de kennismaking met het Utrechtse onder-
wijs en met jullie is intensief, maar plezierig geweest. Ik wens jul-
lie mooie studiejaren toe, waarin je ontdekt welke rol als ‘jurist
van de toekomst’ bij jou past. Mijn rechtstheoretische missie is
geslaagd als je daarbij de wijde wereld in trekt met kennis van
het recht en van de context waarin het recht functioneert, een
kritische professionele blik, en aanknopingspunten voor het
maken van beroepsethische keuzes.

In Utrecht heb ik een bruisende en inspirerende interdiscipli-

naire onderzoeksomgeving aangetroffen. Ik kijk ernaar uit mijn
rechtstheoretische, staatsrechtelijke en empirische inbreng te
leveren, in het bijzonder in het strategische thema Institutions
for Open Societies en het Montaigne Centrum. Thanks also to
my fellow members of the Utrecht Young Academy – I look for-
ward to continuing our collaboration on matters regarding aca-
demia, policy, and society, and to becoming more T-shaped in
the process. Working with you is inspiring and fun. These last
words also apply to the collaboration with the PhD candidates
who conduct their research under my supervision. Petra, Vera,
Jim, Lisa, Niels, and Erin – together you are a very T-shaped
bunch of people, and I am learning at least as much from you as
you are (hopefully) learning from me.

Heel veel dank aan de voormalige collega’s van de Erasmus

School of Law. Ik kijk terug op bij elkaar zestien geweldige
jaren in jullie midden. Aan het bestuur, Suzan Stoter en Fabian
Amtenbrink – dank voor de geboden kansen, specifiek de Trust-
fonds-leerstoel over de empirische studie van het publiekrecht
en de mogelijkheid leiding te geven aan de Erasmus Graduate
School of Law. Thanks also to all of the PhD candidates and
to the graduate school team – I miss the vibrant atmosphere

36
at EGSL, but it is great to keep on receiving your news, and I
am glad that the direction and coordination of the school are
still going strong. Voormalige collega’s van de sectie Sociologie,
Theorie en Methodologie – dank voor alle jaren van prettige
samenwerking in Rotterdam en fijn dat we, mede dankzij een
inmiddels levendige transfermarkt, nog zo veel met elkaar in
verbinding staan.

Tot besluit, veel dank aan mijn lieve vrienden en familie. Fijn
dat jullie er ook deze keer weer bij zijn, zeker nu het vorige
feestje pas 2,5 jaar geleden was. Extra leuk is natuurlijk dat twee
familieleden in de tussentijd een bijpassende outfit voor in de
Aula hebben weten te bemachtigen. Tot slot gedenk ik op deze
plaats mijn vader, een T-shaped lawyer avant la lettre, en dank
ik hem en mijn moeder voor de juridische lessen en levenslessen
die zij mij hebben meegegeven.

Ik heb gezegd.

37
Appendix: Answers to the test
‘How T-shaped are you?’

Try-out question: Garfield.

Question 1: international criminal law.
Question 2: religion studies.
Question 3: anthropology.
Question 4: social psychology.
Question 5: molecular cardiology.
Question 6: sedimentology.

39
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