Pro Deo Dutch legal drama series about social lawyers, Digi Mart USA News: Pro Deo is a new Dutch drama series about a social law firm, and it received three Golden Calf nominations before its release. Scenarioschrijver Lex Passchier said, “You could also take a job on the Zuidas, but these lawyers don’t do that.”
“It will be fine,” is the mantra of social lawyer Alex, played by Tjitske Reidinga, and her colleagues. Alex runs the small firm Sterkenburg Advocaten together with fellow lawyers Henry, played by Anne Prakke, and Layla, played by Madina Rashidi, plus office manager Jacqueline, played by Annet Malherbe.
Things do not always go well at the office, where the team helps clients who are often close to despair. Each main character also has personal problems and secrets, and the building where they all work late into the night is leaking.
Pro Deo, broadcast by BNNVara, is the Netherlands’ first real lawyer series in a long time. Filmed in The Hague and directed by Will Koopman and Norbert ter Hall, with scripts by Lex Passchier, Ilse Ott and Janneke Rinzema, it was nominated by the jury of the Nederlands Film Festival before its first broadcast.
The nominations were for the series in the best screenplay category, Tjitske Reidinga for best lead actress, and Brandon River Coene for best supporting actor. The nominations did not result in awards, but the jury praised the show’s bittersweet theme of sometimes winning and sometimes losing.
Passchier, born in 1976, said work on a new season has begun cautiously, though nothing has been confirmed. He has worked with director Will Koopman for 25 years, including on the successful series Oogappels.
Koopman was the one who suggested Pro Deo to him, wanting a series about social law that is not a social pamphlet but tells important stories well suited to drama. During research, the team spoke with social lawyers about why they choose this demanding, low-paid work.
Passchier said Pro Deo was inspired by the 1990s series Pleidooi by Maria Goos, as well as the American series The Practice and the hospital series The Pitt. The writers also worked with Meesters aan de Maas in Rotterdam to ensure the legal details were accurate, and social lawyer Hein Vogel reviewed scripts and suggested corrections.
Passchier noted that the series sometimes departs from reality for dramatic purposes.
Passchier said that a social lawyer needs both drive and a thick skin. He cited a case of a young woman with pregnancy complications who could not work, yet a UWV doctor said she could work 50 percent.
He also noted that nearly a third of current social lawyers will retire within ten years while few new lawyers are entering the field, and that ten million euros in additional funding was announced on Prinsjesdag, which he considers too little. He said he hopes viewers are moved by the authenticity of the series.
Pro Deo airs weekly on NPO 1 at 8:30 p.m. starting Wednesday, November 4, and the full series is available to stream on NPO Start.
