Jan Janssens' first 100 days as a board member

Groningen notary Jan Janssens has been a member of the KNB board since March 1st, where he's a familiar face to some. Janssens served as board secretary at the KNB at the beginning of this century. His first 100 days as a board member are now over. How does he look back and what does he aspire to? Time for a closer look.

All the way from Groningen: how do you like traveling to The Hague?
Luckily, I don't hate driving, although I do hate the train, so I don't take it very often. On Tuesday evenings, I have a leisurely meal at home and then get in the car to Noordwijk. We've had a mobile home there since the coronavirus pandemic. When I get there, I still have two hours of vacation. Normally, I only work for the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNB) on Wednesdays, but I never quite manage that. I also regularly work on weekends or in the evenings.

Why did you choose a board position?
I couldn't do it anymore, haha. This is the only role I haven't held yet at the Royal Dutch Bar Association (KNB). I've been secretary to the board, served on the members' council, visited the district boards in The Hague, Drenthe, and the Northern Netherlands, and worked at various offices where the notary held a position at the KNB. In short: I have a history here. Last year, I got talking to Annerie and Hans, and that's when the itch came back. I enjoy doing other things outside of work, and I think it's important to be relevant to our profession.

What will you be working on?
Digitization in the notarial profession is a key issue, and I'm responsible for it together with Isabelle Cox. I'll also be focusing on stakeholder management and contacts with partners in the chain, such as the Land Registry and the Tax and Customs Administration.

What do you want to change in the notary's office?
I'd like to get rid of the overflowing vaults of paper deeds in notary offices. We really need to be able to store deeds in a digital vault from now on. The technology is there; we can already establish a private limited company (BV) digitally, so it's definitely possible. We have all the ingredients; the law just needs to be changed. So it's good to include this in the revision of the Wna (Dutch Civil Code).

When will your term as board member be successful?
If there were a little more appreciation for the KNB office. I've known the KNB for years, of course, and I know how important the work is here. What happens here will ensure that notaries will still have jobs in 10 years. I'd like our members to be more aware of that.

Who is your biggest example?
Hmm, then I'd say Franc Wilmink, a civil-law notary and former chairman of the Royal Netherlands Notary Association (KNB). I worked with him at the KNB; we were a perfect match. After my time at the KNB, I also became a candidate civil-law notary again in his office. I admire how he accomplished things at the KNB, how he handles his profession, but also how he remains relevant to society outside the notary's office. "Exemplar" might be an exaggeration, but he's partly responsible for why I still enjoy my work as a notary.

If you hadn't become a notary, then...
Phew, I never really thought about that. I knew I wanted to study law: the legal side of things, the rules, that suits me. After my first year of law school in Groningen, I had to choose a field. Almost everyone chose Dutch law, so I didn't want to pursue that. I liked the impartiality, so I chose notarial law. When I mentioned it at home, my parents showed me a yellowed document proving my great-grandfather had been a notary in Antwerp. Maybe it's a bit in their genes after all. One of my daughters is now also studying notarial law, also in Groningen. I really had no influence on that!

CV Jan Janssens
Born: July 6, 1970 in Eindhoven
Marital status: married, 2 daughters attending college
Height: 1.89 m.
First job: working behind the bar at the tennis club
KNB member since: 1994, with an interruption due to a position at the KNB
Notary since: 2017
Guilty pleasure: sitting on the couch at home, opening a bag of chips (too) often and then having to eat them all

KNB board member Jan Janssens