ICT Experts

SGOA sets high standards for the expertise and experience of these lawyers and experts. Indeed, the list includes professors, justices, academics, highly experienced ICT lawyers, EDP auditors, senior managers and directors in the ICT sector. An essential requirement is many years of experience working in ICT.

It is standard practice at SGOA to use co-mediators in ICT mediation. This means two mediators are used: one ICT lawyer and one ICT expert. All the mediators on SGOA’s list are included in the Register of Mediators of the Netherlands Mediation Institute (NMI).

In binding third-party rulings and arbitration, three individuals are appointed: two lawyers and one ICT expert or two experts and one lawyer (depending on what the parties decide). The chairman of an arbitration board is always a lawyer with lengthy practical experience of procedural law, either as a judge or as a legal counsel.

Only one person is appointed in expert report procedures. At SGOA, expert reports can only be produced by persons who have completed the post-graduate Legal Expert course.

If parties to a dispute instigate an action, the SGOA office compiles a list of lawyers and ICT experts (depending on the kind of procedure) for the parties; then each of the parties can choose the lawyers/ICT experts on the list they would prefer to have handle their case. Before putting people on the list, the office checks whether they are free to handle the case and also checks that they do not have any personal or business connections with either of the parties, either currently or in the past, and that they do not have any direct personal or business interests in the outcome of the case. Since SGOA aims for short completion times, it also ascertains whether the individuals in question actually have the time to handle the case.

The foundation’s secretarial office confirms the selection made by the parties in writing to the parties in question. If the parties cannot agree on the mediators, arbitrators or expert, the selection is made by the foundation’s board.