Following his law studies at Leiden University and after completing his military service as a reserve officer in the Royal Air Force, Robert embarked upon his civilian career in 1995 as an editor and publisher. He worked at three leading publishing houses over the course of 14 years, focusing on publishing medical, tax, financial and legal journals, among other things. In the meantime, he also completed his Bachelor’s degree in History (cum laude) at Utrecht University. In 2009, Robert switched to the Dutch Bar Association, where he mainly worked on disciplinary cases for more than six years, initially as a senior policy advisor and subsequently as an attorney. In 2017, Robert received his doctorate in Disciplinary Law for lawyers from the University of Amsterdam.