On Thursday the court roll notice arrives, with a deadline that must not be missed.
Stam & Veen in Amsterdam is an example company. It is a firm with two partners, a trainee lawyer and secretarial staff.
The deadline goes into the diary, onto a note and into one person's head. The trainee cannot see it anywhere.
The conflict check is a question shouted down the corridor, and the extract from the UBO register (ultimate beneficial owners) follows later by email.
The question is on WhatsApp, and the time it takes is not recorded anywhere.
12.5 hours, pieced together from memory afterwards. The messages with Van Dam are not included.
| A | B | C | D | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 208 | 21 Sep | 0412 | file review | 4.0 |
| 209 | 22 Sep | 0412 | defence outline | 3.0 |
| 210 | 23 Sep | 0412 | exhibits | 1.5 |
| 211 | 24 Sep | 0412 | defence v3 | 4.0 |
| 212 | week | 12.5 |
The court roll notice arrives by email and the deadline goes into the court diary by hand. The double check exists only on paper, and in someone's head.
Deadlines per case file that you no longer enter in the diary yourself, with an early warning for whoever handles the file and whoever covers for them.
Recording time gets pushed aside, and whatever is entered in bulk afterwards is never complete.
Hours you record while you work, per case file, and a bill that follows from them automatically.
Questions come in on WhatsApp and by phone, answers go out by email, and the time this takes is rarely recorded.
A portal where the client sees what is going on and sends in documents themselves.
The conflict check is a question shouted down the corridor, and the client due diligence is spread across emails and a folder.
A conflict check across all case files and parties, and the client due diligence in one place per client.
If you use BaseNet, Urios or Legalsense, we start by looking at what works well and only build what is missing. Filing documents stays as it is, through Mijn Rechtspraak (the courts' online portal) or Veilig Mailen.
Gedragsregel 3 (rule 3 of the Dutch Bar's code of conduct) requires appropriate measures, and those are part of the design. There is a data processing agreement, and who sees what is set for each role.
That is why the system monitors deadlines twice over, with cover when someone is away. Then it no longer sits in one person's head.
The code and the data are yours, as set out in the agreement. If we manage the system, you can cancel monthly.
Yes. For a sole practitioner, deadlines, hours and the conflict check now live in their head and in Outlook, and they need a safety net. In a firm of two to eight lawyers, everyone has to see the same deadlines and cover has to be arranged. In a legal aid practice, with legal aid certificates and fixed fees, every minute you cannot bill counts.
One fixed price, agreed after the design. It depends on what we build first, whether that is just the deadline monitoring, or the hours and the billing as well. We only start building once you agree.
We visit and follow how one case file runs, from intake to billing. Afterwards you get a short report on what we would build, and what comes first.
Fixed price, agreed once you approve the design. The code and data are in your name.
How those weeks go