Individuals in multiproblem situations frequently seek frontline legal support. The support by frontline legal professionals is limited by its focus on the legal issue instead of the underlying problems. A strong focus on client values – i.e. on the outcome that these services yield in the client’s perception – may lead to a more effective approach by targeting underlying problems. Through individual interviews with clients and professionals, the current study examines client values and services that may contribute to those client values. Besides functional client values that focus on resolving the problem situation, emotional client values, such as trust prove at least as important. Furthermore, client values are not only supported by the professional’s legal expertise, accessibility and ability to build a relationship, but also by the professional’s knowledge and skills relevant to multiproblem situations, such as his ability to empower the client, the willingness to work on concrete needs, and his ability to adopt an integrated approach. Research findings confirm the relevance of an integrated approach to multiproblem situations, with due attention to different client values. Similarly, it proves important to incorporate skills and knowledge that specifically address multiproblem situations in education and training programmes of frontline legal professionals. Nederlandse samenvatting: Mensen in multiprobleem situaties maken veelvuldig gebruik van eerstelijns rechtshulp. De ondersteuning door eerstelijns rechtshulp wordt beperkt door de focus op de voorliggende rechtsvraag, in plaats van de onderliggende problematiek. Een sterke focus op klantwaarden – de opbrengsten van de dienstverlening in de ogen van de cliënt – zou weleens tot een effectievere werkwijze kunnen leiden, omdat de achterliggende problemen worden aangepakt. Aan de hand van diepteinterviews onder cliënten en professionals is onderzocht welke klantwaarden voor deze doelgroep relevant zijn en welke dienstverleningsaspecten daaraan kunnen bijdragen. Naast functionele klantwaarden gericht op oplossingen voor de probleemsituatie, blijken emotionele klantwaarden als vertrouwen en ontzorging minstens zo relevant. Ook dragen niet alleen juridisch vakmanschap, bereikbaarheid en de vaardigheden om met de klant een relatie op te bouwen van de professional aan klantwaarden bij, maar ook specifieke kennis en vaardigheden gericht op multiproblematiek, zoals de vaardigheid om de klant te empoweren, de bereidheid om te werken aan concrete behoeften, en het werken met een geïntegreerde aanpak. De onderzoeksbevindingen onderstrepen de relevantie van een integrale aanpak bij multiproblematiek met aandacht voor diverse klantwaarden. Evenzo blijkt van belang dat vaardigheden en kennis die specifiek gericht zijn op multiproblematiek in de opleiding van eerstelijns rechtshulp professionals worden geïncorporeerd.
Organizations in legal practice, under pressure to do “more for less,” are searching for ways to automate legal work, to improve efficiency of legal service delivery. Automated drafting of contracts (or: contract automation) is one of the areas where technology is—partly—replacing legal professionals. In Dutch legal practice, the number of organizations that are actively deploying contract automation is still relatively small, but growing. This chapter looks at experiences with contract automation of organizations from various sectors in Dutch legal practice. Contract automation can improve legal service delivery to consumers and SMEs, as well as contracting processes within organizations. Several organizations report positive results. However, successfully implementing contract automation, especially for internal use within organizations, is not simple. Tight budgets, resistance to change and poor integration with other software are some of the problems that organizations may encounter. Generally, human and organizational factors are often at least as important as the technological aspects. Successful implementation of contract automation requires design thinking, a proactive approach and process-oriented (legal) professionals. Regardless of these difficulties, the use of contract automation software in Dutch legal practice can be expected to increase, due to several factors. The number of organizations that are offering contracts (and other legal documents) online to SMEs and consumers has grown rapidly over the last years. Contract automation is not only offered to consumers and SMEs by commercial parties, but also by branch organizations, as a service to their members. Consumers and SMEs will become used to these self-help solutions for legal matters. Legal publishers are also increasing the offering of automated contracts and other legal documents. In addition, law firms and consultants are promoting the use of contract automation within client organizations. Finally, many corporate organizations are increasingly exchanging experiences on improving legal operations and the use of Legal Tech, including contract automation. Eventually, increased use of contract automation may drive further harmonization of contracts within sectors and facilitate other technological applications, such as the automated analysis of contracts.
The development of legal frameworks for social enterprises in the Netherlands is described and analysed in this paper, focusing on 2015-2021. The Netherlands are the largest EU member state in population size without a specific legal form or status for social enterprises. A form of legal recognition is in development, but far from finished. Six lessons can be learned from the process: 1) Even in a thriving ecosystem based on ‘bottom up’ development, there is need for a legal framework. 2) Local government initiatives spur national government into action. 3) International examples prove inspirational, but the legal framework needs to fit the local context. 4) Finding balance between rule-based and principle-based elements is difficult. 5) Clarifying advantages for social entrepreneurs proves challenging. 6) Tenacious pioneers are crucial to keep the process going. Pressure on the national government to provide a legal framework that fits the Dutch cultural, political and entrepreneurial landscape remains.
