As of 1 March 2008, Dr R.C.H. Otterlo (1954) will be named Professor by Special Appointment of Organisation of Legal Services in the Faculty of Law of the University of Amsterdam (UvA). The chair has been created by the Association for Legal Aid Chairs (Stichting Leerstoel Advocatuur). It is a new chair.

Rob van Otterlo obtained his doctorate in 1999 from the Faculty of Economics and Econometrics of the VU University Amsterdam, with a dissertation entitled The impact of personnel management on the performance of companies: Theoretical-empirical research into the performance of personnel management within traditional for-profit companies. (De invloed van personeelsmanagement op de prestatie van ondernemingen. Een theoretisch-empirisch onderzoek naar de mate van succes van personeelsmanagement in traditionele bedrijven binnen de profit-sector). Since graduation, Van Otterlo's research interests have moved in the direction of Professional Service Firms (PSFs) and in particular law firms. As Professor by Special Appointment at the UvA, Van Otterlo's research and teaching will focus on the organisational aspects of the provision of legal services, and will be based on the premise that the organisational context is a necessary vehicle for optimalisation of the quality of service provision by professionals. In his research, special attention will be given to management and leadership, human resource management with a focus on the development of legal professionals, the economic context in which the provision of legal services takes place, and organisational and market developments in relation to legal services. The new chair's area of investigation is centred not on law and lawyers, but on lawyers and lawfirms, and on the context of the economic development of professional legal services.

Together with the Legal Practice and the Legal Aid and Social Legal Assistance chairs, both housed within the UvA's Faculty of Law, the new chair aims to contribute to the development of a centre of excellence at the UvA for research and education in the field of professional juridical service provision.

Van Otterlo works at the Netherlands Bar Association in The Hague, where he has been head of Implementation of Legislation and Rules (Uitvoering Wet- & Regelgeving), responsible for the departments Implementation of Rules (Uitvoering Regelgeving), Education (Opleiding) and Helpdesk & Service since 2007. Van Otterlo was director of the Training & Education Center of Air Traffic Control the Netherlands (LVNL) from 1998 to 2001. Before that he worked at the Rotterdam School of Management (Erasmus University Rotterdam) and in various business units of Deli Universal in Rotterdam, including Jongeneel B.V. and Van Rees Group. His work included various administrative and advisory functions. He was also a member of the Hoekstra Commission, which advised on entry requirements for juridical professions following the introduction of the Bachelor/Master structure in the Netherlands. Additionally, he was a member of the advisory body of the Amsterdam Nyenrode Law School. Van Otterlo has been a member of the Supervisory Commission for the Professional Education of Junior Notaries (Commissie van Toezicht Beroepsopleiding kandidaat-notarissen) of the Royal Dutch Notarial Society since 2004.