Trouble in Paradise? Case Closed: Defense Attorney for the Natalee Holloway Case David Kock

David Kock, defense attorney for the sibling suspects Deepak and Satish Kalpoe, doesn't see things quite the same way as the media. He had a merrier Christmas this year as the charges against his clients were dropped.

Kock claims that he fell into the legal profession by accident. With plans to pursue a career in computer science, Kock decided to shift his career goals when Aruba's economy began to take a dip in the 1980s. Around that time, Kock's university opened a law school, so he looked into the opportunity and sort of "rolled into it."


Kock earned his law degree at the University of Aruba, graduating in 1992. He later went on to become a candidate notary from the University of the Netherlands Antilles in 1996, as well as a Master of Laws of the Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam in the Netherlands in 2004. He became a Labor Law Specialist from the Universidad Externado de Colombia in 2006.

During his time in law school, Kock worked part-time at Swaen, a law firm in Aruba. There, Kock proved himself while he was still a law student, and by the time he graduated, he had a job secured with the firm.

"It was quite easy in the sense that I had a job really before I graduated," he says.

Kock would also go on to become a partner at the firm after three years.

"I appreciated Arie Swaen enormously. He was like a father figure for me," Kock says of his most influential mentor at the firm. "He held my hand from the start and guided me through the process."

In 2002 Kock decided to branch out on his own, and he started a firm called David Kock & Wix, which he still runs today. Kock specializes in a variety of areas including commercial law, intellectual property, corporate law, labor law, and criminal law.

"Here, the market is not big for a criminal practice," says Kock. "We like to try interesting criminal cases, but our main focus is labor, commercial, and immigration law."

Q. What do you like to do in your spare time?

A. I have two little boys, so I like to spend time with them. I try to spend some quality time with them when I can.

Q. Throughout your lifetime, what movie have you watched the most?

A. I like the Godfather series and John Grisham movies.

Q. What CD is in your CD player right now?

A. Bob Marley or Rubén Blades.

Q. What is your favorite flavor of ice cream?

A. Chocolate.

Q. If you had an extra hour in the day, what would you spend it doing?

A. Probably more physical activity.

When the news broke in 2005 that an American teen girl had gone missing during a graduation trip to Aruba, the media swarmed to the white, sandy beaches of the popular tourist spot, and Kock jumped at the chance to brush up on his criminal defense work.

"It's been a case here like we've never seen. This case became internationally known and followed; we were under a microscope here. That put a lot of pressure on everybody — from the courts to the district attorneys to the lawyers to the clients," he says. "For some reason this case sprung up, and ever since it has been in the limelight."

Holloway was last spotted outside a local restaurant, Carlos 'n Charlie's, in the town of Oranjestad. Kock's clients claim that they dropped Holloway and another suspect, Joran van der Sloot, off near a lighthouse at a beach on the northern tip of the island after they left the restaurant. After various arrests and dead ends in the case that has been going on for more than two years, the prosecutors thought they had sufficient evidence to prove that Holloway was dead and that the Kalpoes and Van der Sloot were involved, but the case did not hold up and charges were dropped on December 18, 2007.

"We've had a district attorney overzealous to solve this case any which way possible. They did so many things and used so many resources, and it didn't get them anywhere," Kock says of the case.

Kock also keeps busy by delving into the more academic side of law. He teaches labor law once a week at his alma mater, the University of Aruba. Kock has even published a few books in Dutch on criminal and immigration law.

"I think it's a great career," Kock says of his experience in the legal industry. "I don't think I'd want to be anything else. Being in court is my kick. If you think you have the ingredients to do it, I would advise it for sure."