Alumnus Jan Joosten: ‘New Amsterdam seemed more exciting than old Amsterdam’
Jan Joosten studied civil and tax law in Leiden from 1985. After periods studying abroad and an internship, he became infatuated with the United States. He is now a partner and co-founder of a new law firm in New York: Pierson Ferdinand.
During your studies, you studied abroad a few times, even though it wasn't common back then. Why did that seem so interesting to you?
Students were even discouraged from going on exchange. I was actually interested in studying abroad even before I came to Leiden, because I'd already spent a year in high school in the United States after completing Dutch secondary education. When I finished my first year at Leiden University, I was still thinking about it. My study advisor told me at the time that there was no point in studying abroad, since I was studying civil and tax law, and not international law.
A few years later, the first exchange programmes were set up. Some were advertised in the university newspaper Mare, which I responded to. I managed to get a place at the Institut d'études politiques in Paris for civil law, and for tax law I got a place at the University of Florida in Gainesville. In the end, I was able to combine both opportunities.
Later, you had the opportunity to do a masters' degree at Harvard. Did you notice many differences from studying in the Netherlands?
I was able to study at Harvard through the Houthoff-Harvard scholarship. I think I was only eligible for that because I'd done previous exchanges in Paris and Gainesville. Those were very important stepping stones for me to eventually get to Harvard. That's why I always advise students to go abroad while you're studying.
Studying abroad is very different. In the Netherlands, of course, you have the infamous culture where the aim is to scrape through exams with just a pass, something I'm also guilty of. With all four of my exchanges, I noticed that the level of ambition was a lot higher in the US than I was used to in the Netherlands. At Harvard, that was definitely the case. It's interesting to see that when you surround yourself with people who excel, you start doing the same yourself.
After your studies, you worked at law firm Houthoff in Amsterdam for three years. However, you chose to work in New York again. Was the attraction of the US irresistible?
The deal with the Houthoff-Harvard scholarship was that I would work at Houthoff for three years. I did just that. Although those three years were an incredibly instructive and useful experience, I was still keen to return to the US. New Amsterdam seemed more exciting than old Amsterdam.
The Bar Exam is a notorious phenomenon in the US. How did that go for you?
The Bar Exam is a big deal. Everything I'd learned over a period of six years in Leiden, I had to have mastered – but now I also had to add American law to the mix. You get two months to learn everything by heart, because you're not allowed to use a law book. All areas of law, from civil to criminal and criminal procedure, are examined over a two-day period. That's really intensive and very different from how it was tested in Leiden.
What's your fondest memory from your student days?
I really enjoyed my time in Leiden. On top of my studies, I was a member of Minerva, where I had a great time. I loved the combination of the village feel of Leiden, where everyone knows each other, and the variety of studying abroad. Student life in Leiden is very nice, but very inward-looking. I also enjoyed looking beyond that and discovering what else there was to see and do outside Leiden.
This year, you became partner at a firm you founded yourself, Pierson Ferdinand. Why did you choose that?
For years, my standard working day was from 10 am to 10 pm or even later. Meanwhile, I have young children and noticed that I never saw them during the week. At best, I managed to get home just before eight so I could still put them to bed. When Covid came along, suddenly everyone was forced to work from home and that proved easy. That had so many advantages that I joined a fully remote office even during the corona pandemic. With a large group of lawyers, we split from this other company early this year and founded Pierson Ferdinand.
Pierson Ferdinand is a law firm without a physical office; everything is arranged from home. This fantastic, new concept eliminates high office costs, allowing clients to benefit from significantly lower fees. Our partners have at least a decade of experience at a large firm, so clients are assured of expertise and competitive rates. And I have dinner at home every evening with my wife and our children.
The Netherland-America Foundation (NAF), in which you are involved, offers a number of scholarships offered to Leiden students. Can you tell us a bit more about that?
The NAF is a foundation that has existed for more than 100 years with the aim of improving ties between the Netherlands and America. One of the things we focus on is educational exchange. Studying in the United States is an expensive business. By providing scholarships, we hope to also give less wealthy students the chance to experience this unique opportunity. We're running a pilot this year with Leiden Law School to make the exchange with US law schools as widely accessible as possible.
What would you like to pass on to current students?
I'd definitely say to students that they should also study abroad. It's a fantastic experience, whatever you end up doing later in your career. To fully understand another country, you need to study there for a while. And that's definitely true for a country like the United States.
Text: Wouter Geerts
Photo at top: Eleonora Digirolamo via Unsplash
Interested in doing an exchange?
Interested in doing an exchange in autumn 2025 or spring 2026? Register by midnight on 15 January 2025.
More information is available here!