Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF), a leading international law firm, was facing several challenges due to its traditional development processes. The business departments’ application requests were communicated to the IT department, which then developed them in isolation. This resulted in slow development cycles, high resource consumption, and solutions that did not truly address the problem. NRF was grappling with increasing client requests for technology workflows and portals, excessive reliance on manual communication processes, slow development cycles, lack of innovation, and dispersed request tracking and ticketing tools. A new approach was needed to develop innovative solutions that addressed the exact business problems.

Houthoff, a top-tier independent Dutch law firm, was facing challenges in managing and coordinating their projects efficiently. The firm operates globally with offices in Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Brussels, London, and New York, and representatives in Asia and the United States. The rapidly changing legal landscape necessitated quick adaptation and constant communication with clients about the impact on their business. However, the traditional methods of work distribution and assigning lawyers to matters were proving insufficient. The firm was struggling with the growing challenge of staying fully informed and keeping everybody involved and happy in an era dominated by hybrid working, increased workloads, time pressure, and labor shortages. Especially for large complex matters, setting up a team with lawyers from different practice groups across the firm was a daunting task for a partner. Moreover, ensuring a balanced workload for lawyers to prevent any risk of overload was also a significant concern.