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LeReTo wins Legal Tech Startup Awards 2018

June 5 juni 2018 – PLEIT2018 was the stage for the thrilling finals of the Legal Tech startup awards. The Austrian startup LeReTo was the winner of the coveted award. LeReTo offers a legal research tool that automates legal research, thereby saving legal professionals time and money.

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english legal tech startup awards 2018 ENG

Looking back at the semi-finals

Images of the semi-finals can be found here. All images by Marco Pauws.

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english legal tech startup awards 2018 ENG

Finalists Legal Tech Startup Awards selected

May 24 2018 – After an exciting round of semi-finals at the Council of State (Raad van State) in the Hague, three startups were selected for the finals. These tech startups will battle for the Legal Tech Startup Award during PLEIT2018, on the 5th of june.

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english legal tech startup awards 2018 ENG

Eight startups selected for Legal Tech Startup Awards semi-final

The organisation of Legal Tech Startup Awards 2018 has announced the startups for the semi-final today. On 24 May 2018, in the office of the Council of State (Raad van State) in the Hague, eight semi-finalists shall battle for a coveted place in the final.

The Legal Tech Startup Awards 2018 is a competition for technological startups with potential for the legal sector. From a total of 22 entries from home and abroad, eight technological startups were selected, because of their focus on the legal sector, the degree of innovation, the impact on legal work processes and the entrepreneurial skills of the founders.

The semi-finalists

Each year, Legal Tech Startup Awards searches for starters of technologies which are valuable for the legal sector. In the last few months, 22 technological starters have contacted the organisation. After a critical assessment made by the expert jury, the following startups have been selected for the big day on 24 May 2018: Skotty (NL), Predictice (FR), Schadewacht (NL), Rechtsontwikkeling (NL), Contract Mill (FIN), Blockschainstichting (NL), IAM4 (NL) and LeReTo KG (AT). The organisers have been surprised by the diversity of the applications and also by the international character of the entries. They are confident that tools and techniques will be presented which change something fundamentally in the work process of a legal professional.

Council of State venue for semi-final

The semi-final takes place on Thursday 24 May 2018 in the Hague. The Ballroom of the Council of State (Raad van State) at Palace Kneuterdijk is the location where the selected innovative startups will make their pitches. Quintin Schevernels – eminent speaker on the subject of innovation and growth – shall provide a stimulating framework to this afternoon. Who ultimately goes through to the final during PLEIT2018 on Tuesday 5 June 2018 will be determined by the experienced expert jury and the public; selectively invited from within the legal domain.

Jury

The jury consists of Bart Jan Ettekoven (Council of State), Hans Albers (Juniper Networks), Ruben Alderse Baas (AB Advocaat, NOvA) and the organisers themselves: Claudia Heemskerk (Event Manager PLEIT), Hendri van Norden (Partner Lexxyn Groep), Rens Rozekrans (Partner Risk & Regulatory KPMG), Jelle van Veenen (initiator Dutch Legal Tech), Jeroen Zweers (Innovation Director Kennedy Van der Laan | Sync), Richard Faas (Director of Innovation & head of the Legal Tech Studio ARAG) and Peter Backx (Segment Director Legal & Tax Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory Nederland). Experts who have a successful track record in the legal sector.

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english legal tech startup awards 2018 ENG

Legal Tech Startup Awards 2018 starts quest for legal game changers

The Legal Tech Startup Awards 2018 is a competition for technological startups with potential for the legal sector. The organisation brings these startups and the market together and ensures that they speak each other’s language. Linking products and ideas to concrete issues leads to innovative solutions that make a real difference. The competition opens on 14 February 2018.

 

‘We at Dutch Legal Tech noticed that a lot of young entrepreneurs were turning to law firms for assistance with what we saw as promising ideas. Unfortunately, they were invariably being turned away. Too risky! And that’s a pity, as our sector could certainly do with some innovation’, says Jelle van Veenen (Dutch Legal Tech) about the creation of the Legal Tech Startup Awards. ‘With these Awards we’re encouraging startups to introduce technology that law firms perceive as being truly relevant. But you have to make sure that they have a meeting of minds.’

 

Seal of approval

The Legal Tech Startup Awards gives promising startups a ‘seal of approval’. Jeroen Zweers (Innovation Director at Kennedy Van der Laan): ‘This sends out a signal to law firms to keep an open mind. To invite the startup to a meeting to talk about where technology can meet a need.’

 

Assessment in practice
The legal sector has much to gain by opening the door to promising legal tech startups. They are able to breathe new life into the sector and guarantee their right to exist. This can only be done if the products make real improvements to the approach or the service. The best way of doing this is to test it in practice. Richard Faas (Director of Innovation & head of the Legal Tech Studio ARAG Netherlands): ‘We see that young companies like to work with large, well-known organisations to sell their product or develop a proof of concept. At the same time, it often proves difficult to quickly enter into a partnership. We’ve developed programs at our studio that make it possible to quickly establish whether we can generate value for our clients together.’

 

Organised by a team of specialists
The competition is being organised by Claudia Heemskerk (Event Manager PLEIT), Hendri van Norden (Partner Lexxyn Groep), Rens Rozekrans (Partner Risk & Regulatory KPMG), Jelle van Veenen (initiatior of Dutch Legal Tech), Jeroen Zweers (Innovation Director at Kennedy van der Laan), Richard Faas (Director of Innovation & head of the Legal Tech Studio Arag) and Peter Backx (Segment Director Tax Wolters Kluwer Legal & Regulatory Netherlands). All of them are experts with a successful track record in the legal sector. Peter Backx (Wolters Kluwer): ‘The Legal Tech Startup Awards competition is being organised by a group of critical experts with very different ways of looking at the business. It is these different angles that are so valuable for a startup. Whereas the one judges on efficiency, the other is more interested in the degree of innovation.

 

PLEIT: podium for pitches
PLEIT, the biggest IT event for the legal sector in the Netherlands, will be giving the selected startups the opportunity to pitch their ideas on 5 June 2018. More than 500 visitors from the sector will judge the ideas according to their needs. ‘Startups have big ideas. PLEIT offers them a podium and pointers that they can use to inspire the legal sector and take the next step’, says Claudia Heemskerk (PLEIT).

 

Registration

The Legal Tech Startup Awards 2018 invites startups to sign up and register via: www.legaltechstartupawards.nl.

 

Download the press release.

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english legal tech startup awards 2018 ENG

SignRequest wins 2016 Legal Tech Startup Awards

Utrecht, October 12th 2016 – After an exciting pitch on stage of PLEIT2016, SignRequest has been chosen as the winner of Legal Tech Start-up Awards. SignRequest offers firms an online platform through which contracts can be digitally signed in a simple and safe way.

PLEIT2016 again offered a stage for the Legal Tech Startup Awards finals. The three finalists – LegalThings, Lexoo and SignRequest – got a unique opportunity on Tuesday October 11th 2016 to present themselves to the legal sector. During impressive three-minute speeches, the finalists did everything they could to convince the 650 people in the audience and the jury of their product. SignRequest came and conquered. At the end of the day they accepted the award.

 

Winnaar SignRequest en de jury. Foto met dank aan Dejavu Fotografie en PLEIT
Winnaar SignRequest en de jury. Foto met dank aan Dejavu Fotografie en PLEIT

Jeroen Zweers (Kennedy Van der Laan, Dutch Legal Tech) endorsed the result. He stated, ‘From all the submissions from The Netherlands and abroad these three most promising start-ups have remained after a strict selection. For all three this is an achievement in itself. To show yourself on the stage is something to be proud of. I’d like to compliment the finalists with their enthusiasm, effort and perseverance. Choosing the winner of Legal Tech Startup Award 2016 was a difficult task, both for the jury as for the participants of PLEIT. This was reflected in the spread of voting. Eventually the audience choice and aspects such as scalability and international opportunities have led to the final decision. On behalf of the jury I congratulate SignRequest.’

After receiving the award with great enthusiasm, Geert-Jan Persoon, founder of SignRequest, stated: ‘it was a terrific day and the pitch on the main stage of PLEIT was an impressive experience. We are convinced that this award will contribute to our further growth in the legal sector. Therefore we would like to thank not only the members of the jury and other people involved, but also the legal firms that have given us a chance to enter the stage. We are going home extremely proud. We can only recommend other start-ups to participate. This award opens doors to tremendous and instructive experiences.’

The added value of this award is that the audience had the opportunity to vote live on their favourite start-up after the pitches through the PLEIT2016 app. Not only the expertise of the jury, but also the actual needs of the market, played an important role in choosing the winner.

Claudia Heemskerk, (Lexxyn Groep, PLEIT and member of the jury) concludes, ‘the quality of the submissions this year was high, just like in 2015. It was an exciting and challenging task for us to select the most promising start-up as a winner. Luckily the audience voted along in masses, which is a good measure for success of the start-up in practice. Again I found it an honour to be part of the vision and combativeness of these young start-ups. It shows that there is scope for renewal within the legal sector.’

 

About SignRequest
SignRequest offers legal firms an online platform on which contracts can be digitally signed. It is developed to enable a safe, secure and accessible way to digitize contracts. SignRequest is a Dutch company which puts simplicity for both employee and client first. www.signrequest.com

 

About Dutch Legal Tech

Dutch Legal Tech is a platform that promotes innovation of legal services and ensures that the topic, with the Netherlands as one of the driving factors behind it, is put on the international map. This is done by discussing innovative services and start-ups and by actively helping them grow. In addition, they connect parties that are involved in legal innovation, including attorneys, legal counsel, legal service providers, entrepreneurs, start-ups, the government and academics.

www.dutchlegaltech.nl
About Legal Tech Startup Awards

Dutch Legal Tech has organised the Legal Tech Startup Awards since 2015 together with PLEIT, Kennedy Van der Laan, Wolters Kluwer, KPMG, Lexxyn Groep and ING. This annual award gives young and innovative start-ups the chance to present themselves to the legal market. The finals take place at PLEIT every year. www.legaltechstartupawards.nl

 

About PLEIT
PLEIT is the annual knowledge day on IT in the legal practice. This event is targeted at attorneys, notaries and bailiffs, and their employees, who are seeking practical guidelines to optimise IT service provision. The programme offers information to people who are interested, users of IT and responsible for IT for IT in legal practice. www.pleit.nl

 

PLEIT 2016 in just over 2 minutes