Theater college by Wim Anker

I went to the theatre tonight with colleague Richard to attend a college by the wellknown Dutch lawyer mr. Wim Anker, of the Frisian law firm Anker & Anker in Leeuwarden.

It was very interesting to hear him speak about the insides of his firm and about the 5 principles he and his twin brother Hans Anker apply and work by.

1. They have specialized in criminal law only and do not take on any other case.
2. They only defend suspects of a crime and never victims and/or relatives of the victims.
3. Their third rule is that they always keep control and never let their client tell them what to do.
4. They assist every suspect (regardless of their crime), provided there is time to do so within the team of lawyers.
5. They do not take into consideration whether the client has financial means or not. They will assist anyway.

Working by those principles often doesn't make them popular. The examples of the (death)threats they receive were horrible.
But the man being a Frisian, I am convinced, he and his brother do not skip any of these principles ever.

It was a great evening, with lots of humor too.


"I once defended a murderer who had buried his wife in his own backyard. After a few years he moved. That is not a wise thing to do given the circumstances.
By the way, my brother Hans, already lives in the same house for over 44 years."


" I am often asked why I am the one who talks to the press and not my twin brother. My answer is that that has aestethic reasons" 

Here's a link to a documentary about him and his brother: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EX6IebdvD8c
Great to watch.