Cygnus: A Regional Law Firm Advancing with Jurimesh

On July 25, 2024, we spoke with Jan-Willem Vanhoutte, attorney at the West Flemish law firm Cygnus. Specializing in real estate and liability law, Jan-Willem is part of a multidisciplinary team that provides high-quality legal advice to entrepreneurs in the region. What distinguishes Cygnus from other law firms is their unique combination of regional anchoring and broad service offerings.

Regional Anchoring, Broad Vision

Cygnus is not just any law firm. They are deeply rooted in the West Flemish community and understand local needs and challenges like no other. "We are a regionally anchored firm with a multidisciplinary team of colleagues who provide quality legal advice to anyone who does business," says Jan-Willem. This regional focus combined with their broad expertise makes them an indispensable partner for local businesses.

Digital Transformation: An Essential Step

The world of law is changing rapidly, and Cygnus is at the forefront of this transformation. They strive to work as digitally as possible and have already taken several steps toward becoming a fully digitalized firm. "We already work with digital document management, electronic signatures, internal online communication, a virtual remote work environment, and AI tools to facilitate document searches and contract drafting," explains Jan-Willem. These tools help them to make their work more efficient and serve their clients even better.

Challenges in Knowledge Management

Despite their digital progress, challenges remain, especially in the area of knowledge management and sharing. Information is often spread across different systems such as Google Drive and their current document management system (DMS), making it difficult to quickly find the right information. "Searching through the current DMS is even more outdated. At this point, knowing where something might be found (in libraries) is the first step," Jan-Willem explains. This fragmentation of knowledge not only leads to time loss but also hinders smooth collaboration within the team.

One of the biggest obstacles is the speed and efficiency with which knowledge can be shared among colleagues. New attorneys joining the firm must undergo an extensive information session to find their way around the various knowledge bases. "An info session on how to find knowledge follows. Unfortunately, this is still necessary due to the lack of a comprehensive and understandable solution," according to Jan-Willem.

Jurimesh as a Gamechanger

With these challenges in mind, Cygnus decided to use Jurimesh—an innovative AI search tool designed to streamline knowledge management and sharing. Jurimesh offers a solution to one of the biggest problems facing the firm: efficiently searching through their extensive knowledge database. "Jurimesh helps us to search for knowledge easily," says Jan-Willem. He emphasizes that while the tool already delivers significant time savings, the ideal situation would be if Jurimesh could be directly integrated with their attorney software. "What would be even better is if the Jurimesh tool were incorporated into our attorney software or directly grafted onto our database, since currently all knowledge to be searched must be uploaded separately."

According to Bram Baert, partner at Cygnus, the firm will soon switch to a new case management system in which all documents will be centrally collected. This would end the need to work across multiple platforms, which is a first step toward optimizing workflow within the firm.

Starting September 2024, Jurimesh will begin integration with Cygnus's new case management system, which will centrally manage all their documents. This means that the firm's complete documentation will soon be searchable via Jurimesh, further increasing efficiency.

Efficiency and Future Growth

The initial results of using Jurimesh are promising. "We notice that the smart search function of the software already yields considerable time savings when finding the necessary documents and information," Jan-Willem observes. This time saving enables the team to focus more on strategically important tasks, contributing to the overall efficiency and quality of their services. As they become more familiar with the software and further optimize its functionalities, the firm expects these benefits to only increase.

But Cygnus's ambitions extend further. They envision a future in which the legal sector continues to digitalize, with increasing use of AI, blockchain technology, and virtual courts. "We foresee a further and far-reaching digitalization of the profession," says Jan-Willem. He predicts that AI and machine learning will increasingly be used for tasks such as legal research, contract analysis, and document management, allowing attorneys to focus on more complex and strategic tasks.

Additionally, Jan-Willem sees opportunities for blockchain technology to manage contracts, property deeds, and other legal documents, potentially offering more transparency and security. The emergence of virtual hearings and online dispute resolution is also being closely monitored by Cygnus, as these innovations have the potential to reduce judicial backlogs and speed up the legal process.

Progressive and Innovative

At Cygnus, they are determined to continue playing a pioneering role in the legal sector. By actively investing in technologies such as Jurimesh and by closely following developments in the sector, they ensure that they always stay one step ahead. "At Cygnus, we naturally follow this with eagle eyes, and it is our intention to be among the first to participate in digital evolutions that can positively contribute to the smooth operation of modern legal practice," concludes Jan-Willem.

With the help of Jurimesh, Cygnus is not only ready for the future but also determined to further improve the efficiency and quality of their legal services. The firm looks forward to further integrating these innovative solutions and strengthening their position as one of the most progressive law firms in the region.

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