To all of you who – for private or professional reasons – are, or will find yourself, dealing with personal injury cases.

Today it is 500 years ago that Martin Luther posted his 95 theses on the door of the church in Wittenberg. These theses were written in protest against the state of affairs at the time within the Catholic church. Ultimately, they led to significant reformations.

I not only share a first name with Martin Luther; I also share his drive to do things differently. As a gift to the world of personal injury (being injury and death cases), I have come up with 95 theses with which I hope to spark a broader discussion, and that contain a message for all persons and institutes involved. The underlying message behind these theses is the need for (i) greater empathy for the victims and their survivors, (ii) better communication and (iii) more and better collaboration. This way, I hope to contribute to a more balanced, more efficient and – above all – fairer adjustment process.

Being the victim or their survivor is not an enviable position. From one day to the next, their world is turned completely upside down and they are expected to adapt to their new reality. The creed is: “placing the victim on centre stage” – yet we still often lose sight of the victims and their survivors. Furthermore, I am of the opinion that many institutes and professionals approach the situation too one-dimensionally; based only on their own field of expertise.

By definition, personal injury cases require a more holistic approach. As there are several fields of expertise that come to bear in a personal injury case, the approach should focus more on collaboration. Only through collaboration will we be able to help the victims and their survivors attain new goals, which will stimulate a return to autonomy. It is from this perspective that I have drawn up these theses.

The aim of my theses is not only to make suggestions aimed at improving the state of affairs when it comes to compensation for personal injury, but are also to bring an appeal to end certain discussions, and to give impetus to others. As this is a multidisciplinary matter, these theses are an appeal to a variety of persons and organisations, including representatives.

If the shoe fits…

Spread the word!

Maarten Tromp

You will find the statements here: 95 statements. 

Afterword

Above 95 theses are not only meant to stimulate empathy in the world of personal injury, but also to make people more aware of the multidisciplinary nature of a claims settlement – with the idea of encouraging the parties to work together instead of against each other. Furthermore, in practice, we continually run into theoretical limitations to which we have been demanding a solution for years now.

Back to Martin Luther. It is said that the impact of the reformations inspired by his theses was far greater than he himself had thought possible at the time. Even if my suggestions led to modest reformations, I would be very thankful.
Please feel free to approach me should you wish to discuss these theses in more depth. You know where to find me.

Rotterdam, 31 October 2017

Maarten Tromp & the team of Maarten Tromp Advocaten