Dutch law firm NautaDutilh has launched its own legaltech development platform to create tailored legal services to clients, and ensure that everyday legal tasks are delivered more efficiently.
The Bluefield initiative, which brings together lawyers and software engineers to collaborate on tech development, will complement the AI tools the firm is already using.
The platform will use the firm’s own data and maintain security and confidentiality standards to protect client information.
Sandra Spek, managing director of NautaDutilh, said: “Clients expect the highest quality legal advice, supported by technology that is relevant to the work we do for them. Bluefield brings our legal and technology expertise closer together.”
The firm has rehired Elgar Weijtmans to lead the Bluefield team having spent the past 10 months as an AI researcher for Legal Benchmarks, an independent lawyer-led AI evaluations service for legal practice. He returns to NautaDutilh – which he left in 2019 – as an AI and innovation partner. He will begin his new role on 1 November.
Niels de Jong is also joining the team as AI and innovation lead from Rotterdam-based HGV Law, where he was manager of technology and innovation until his departure last month.
The Bluefield initiative team is completed by a trio of the firm’s partners – Jinne van Belle, Marc Orval and Sybren de Beurs.
Weijtmans said: “I am very pleased to be returning to NautaDutilh, where I started my legal career. What drew me back is NautaDutilh’s combination of exceptional legal talent, a genuine clients-first mindset and the ambition to keep innovating.
“The biggest opportunities in legal AI are close to the work itself. Bluefield gives us the opportunity to bring lawyers and engineers together around real legal questions and build solutions that make a practical difference for clients.”
De Beurs, a corporate M&A partner, added: “There is so much happening in AI right now, and new opportunities for legal work are emerging every day. With Bluefield and Elgar and Niels joining the firm, we can explore those possibilities hands-on and put them to work on the complex matters and developments that matter most to our clients.”
Earlier this year, the firm entered into a strategic partnership with legaltech giant Legora, after a initial pilot scheme that involved 50 staff members evolved into a full collaboration.
The firm said they had seen a significant impact from adopting Legora’s platform, with an average of 5.5 hours per week shifted to higher-value work per user. All users have reported faster drafting, reviewing and research, and three hours were saved weekly on non-billable workflows on average per user.
NautaDutilh is one of the largest law firms in the Benelux region. It is headquartered in Amsterdam and has offices in Brussels, Rotterdam, Luxembourg, New York and London.
Last week, transatlantic law firm Womble Bond Dickinson launched an in-house hub to develop AI tech to complete legal work more efficiently, named Womble AI Labs.
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