A Benelux full-service law firm with an internationally oriented commercial practice, Stibbe’s main offices are located in Amsterdam, Brussels and Luxembourg and the firm has branch offices in Dubai, Hong Kong, London, and New York City.
Stibbe’s practice covers a wide variety of expertise, including corporate and finance, employment and pensions, energy, environment and planning, EU and national competition law, information technology, intellectual property, litigation and arbitration, public law, real estate and construction, and tax law. Its clients range from local and multinational corporations to public authorities and entities. Stibbe represents a broad range of activity including financial institutions (banking, investment funds, private equity), real estate, industry, retail, logistics, technology, media and telecommunications.
Challenge
The legal system generates a massive and ever-increasing amount of data. Each new matter increases the data set that lawyers have to cope with in their work. It is surprising that until recently there has been little innovation in the way that the legal profession uses technology to stay informed and to help lawyers retrieve information efficiently.
In Stibbe’s case, one of the biggest challenges facing law practitioners in recent years has been retrieving information from many different sources. Across the firm, lawyers and staff members need to find information stored in various information silos, including SharePoint knowledge bases, document management systems, and large Outlook mailboxes.
Solution
To overcome this challenge, Stibbe developed an all-encompassing search application using Sinequa’s Cognitive Search & Analytics platform, which provides secure, unified access to millions of documents and legal matters. Stibbe opted for Sinequa’s platform in part because of the focus on world-class natural language processing, which accurately interprets the meaning of both the search query as well as the content, for superior search relevance and knowledge discovery. Furthermore, Sinequa’s reputation as a proven provider of high-value search applications that are embedded within critical business processes was one of the reasons to choose Sinequa as preferred supplier.
Stibbe’s lawyers have come to trust the Sinequa-powered application to ensure they are getting a holistic view of the information landscape, whether they are doing discovery along topical lines or looking for something specific to a particular case or client. This holistic view allows lawyers not only to find the information they need to do their jobs more readily, but also ensures that they are getting the full picture of the relevant topic(s) from across the organization.
Outcomes
The production application enables Stibbe’s lawyers and staff members to work more productively by making it easy to find information.
The application also helps with information security, as it exposes improper storage of sensitive material. The power and thoroughness of the application enables the organization to practice proper document management, which has resulted in enhanced internal protection of sensitive (client) information.
The application is also accelerating compliance with the GDPR regulations since it enables stakeholders to search all documents where a specific client is mentioned, including electronic mailboxes. Stibbe realizes that successfully complying with the GDPR requirements begins with finding and understanding the data held by the organization.
For more information, visit Sinequa for Legal work
