Tools4Legal Helps Legal Departments Cut Administrative Time in Half
German start-up, Tools4Legal, offers high-tech yet simple solutions to help legal departments manage their portfolio in a more transparent and efficient manner.
In the last century, robotics and computers dramatically changed the first two pillars of our economy: agriculture and the traditional production industry. Now, the digital revolution has started to transform the service industry in much the same way.
However, the rather conservative world of legal services in continental Europe has remained largely unchanged. Tools4Legal wanted to get ahead of the trend and reduce the time and money that its customers spend on administrative efforts.
To accomplish this, the group decided to build a simple to use, yet sophisticated application that they could roll out to clients. In addition to core functionality, Tools4Legal focused on creating an intuitive user experience that balanced users’ ability to quickly process legal work with their ability to access just enough legal information regarding the actual state of affairs.
Platform Selection
Tools4Legal chose to bring the application to market using the Mendix development platform due to its:
- Speed of delivery
- Inherent flexibility
- Ability to involve business stakeholders in development
Through a combination of design discussions with Tools4Legal and the agile scrum approach of Emixa, two rapid developers delivered the application in a record time of only four weeks.
By building in the Mendix platform, the team can easily modify the application based on feedback from clients and evolving market demand.
Rapid Results
The Tools4Legal application streamlines four work streams related to standard legal corporate housekeeping activities for multinational companies with a large portfolio of subsidiaries. The solution combines a web-based application for in-house counsel with a back-end procurement process for all countries in scope.
As the new application is rolled out to additional countries or as functionality is added, the team can also easily modify and scale the solution.
The results of the initial test project were astonishing. First, internal time spent by lawyers and legal counsel shrunk by more than 50 percent. Additionally, Tools4Legal received positive feedback from its customers, indicating a high perceived satisfaction with the application and change in processes.
After a successful pilot with a global fashion brand, Tools4Legal won a three-year outsourcing deal, encompassing operations in 17 continental European countries. Version 2.0 of the co-created solution launched in just a few months and has already been rolled out by a Fortune 50 company in three countries and a global seed production company in 10 countries.
Improved Customer Satisfaction
Tools4Legal attaches great importance to the user experience and customer satisfaction levels.