2019 Legal Awards

Acquisition International - 2019 Legal Awards 39 n an ever-changing world, where technology continues to grow in power and ubiquity, it’s difficult to view it as a fad that will just ‘go away’. This might have been the case for the Netherland’s law firms, were it not for the efforts of Eva Peeters and Marjan Hermkes. Sharing the same core values of independence, honesty, integrity, professionalism and enthusiasm, they both make up the driving force behind L-IME. L-IME, in turn, helps law firms of all sizes to move into a new and exciting world of technology. Ultimately, it’s not an easy landscape to break onto. In their experience, lawyers tend towards a ‘wait-and-see’ attitude, especially when it comes to innovation in their business. That being said, movement towards the digital, especially following the financial crisis, has begun. L-IME specialises in using the optimisation of internal services to instead act as a first step into the world of legal technology. A major advantage that L-IME has is a lack of affiliation to any one vendor of technological solutions. What they offer is not based on fulfilling some quota, but on what best suits their client at that time. This fiercely kept independence is exemplified by the creation of a vendor comparison site (www.it-kieswijzer.nl) to show good, honest comparisons between the different options available to their clients. Best Legal Technology Consultancy - the Netherlands Only going into business two years ago, the founding team at L-IME have gone from strength to strength within the legal technology business. Entering a new field of expertise can be daunting, but a formidable force indeed has grown from those humble beginnings. I Another advantage that Eva and Marjan bring is a considerable amount of experience from both the technical side and the legal perspective. Understanding the mentality of a law firm from years of experience, means that solutions are focused on satisfying the end- user. This ‘inside-out’ approach means that any changes consulted upon are not met with resistance and fought but welcomed and accepted as part of a process. Both Eva and Marjan act not only as a project manager for the change of system, but also as a manager of the internal change. This ensures that the processes put in place are able to satisfy any potential concerns on the part of company and employees, which leads to encourage further investigation into the world of legal technology. This is shown most successfully by the positive reception from their first few clients who kick-started the business. This spawned positive reception from other companies and a willingness to learn and explore what technology had to offer an industry that traditionally would not be willing to examine such options. So, what’s next for the world of L-IME? In the future, there are exciting plans for expansion beyond the worlds of legal companies. Already an accountancy firm has joined a formidable list of clients, with notary offices being interested in the work that L-IME offer too. It’s an exciting development which Eva and Marjan are already consider the results of. Currently, the company is small – with just Eva and Marjan - but there is consideration being given to establishing a resource pool of high-level trainers if the workload becomes too heavy. The aim would be the same for both – the introduction of innovating legal technology that perfectly matches their needs – and facilitated by the third. L-IME is a fast-growing company, with enormous potential to grow even more as time goes on. With an attention to detail in their bespoke services, L-IME looks set to continue trail-blaze for its clients. With L-IME, Eva and Marjan wanted to challenge the status quo with two women in a male dominated area being refreshingly honest about IT and innovation. Sharing the same ambition and the same goals makes for an exciting mix, one that has made for success. Contact: Eva Peeters Company: L-IME Telephone: 0031 6 44 99 53 27 Website: https://www.l-ime.nl/ Sep19448