Legadex’s Contracting team supports a wide range of clients working in a wide range of industries. They rely on us to draft, review and negotiate contracts and advise on contract-related questions. We are their extra pair of legal hands. But this type of external contracting service is relatively new in the Netherlands, and people who haven’t experienced it understandably have questions about our offering and way of working. Below, Noora Maki and Mathijs Hofstede, both senior members of our Contracting team, answer the questions we get asked the most.
“I am overloaded with work, but it is either not enough to justify hiring a new legal counsel or I am not allowed to. Why use Legadex rather than, say, an interim counsel?”
Mathijs: Legadex comprises great teams of legal counsels with various specialisations. Besides contracting, we also have Corporate, KYC, Compliance, M&A and Legal Ops teams. Consequently, our clients benefit from this experience, something you don’t get when you hire an individual lawyer. Within the Contracting team, we share knowledge and discuss interesting things we encounter. On top of this, we can call on the knowledge of our colleagues in the other teams, if needed.
“How is working with Legadex different to hiring the services of a traditional law firm or a solo practitioner?”
Mathijs: Compared with a traditional legal services provider, I believe we work more closely with our clients and engage and collaborate more actively with them. We think of ourselves and position ourselves as an extra pair of hands in our client’s legal team. An ‘integrated extension’, I suppose you could call it. For instance, we’ll answer the ad hoc questions without demanding you create a project number. We’ll willingly talk directly with your business, sales or other stakeholders, and you can connect with us quickly via Teams. We’re happy to use your systems and to visit now and then. This way, we get to know you better, which deepens our collaboration.
The other difference is the flexibility that the client gains from our solution. Being a team of lawyers allows us to dedicate resources where they are most needed. As a result, we are available whenever you require an extra pair of hands. Based on my experience, this is rarely a predictable number of hours a week.
“My need for support fluctuates both in terms of time and in the level of work. How do you deal with this?”
Noora: We mainly work with our clients on an ad hoc basis, meaning that you can decide when to reach out for our contracting support. Many of our clients choose to use a credit system, with one contract review typically amounting to one or two credits. They purchase the credits in advance, and as they are generally valid for a longer period of time, you can choose to use more credits during your peak periods and fewer at other times. This way, you can keep the workload on your core legal team acceptable, and they can focus on the most important contracts themselves. Being a team of knowledgeable legal professionals, we divide the work among us so that, even in busy periods, we adhere to the agreed deadlines while still being able to meet urgent requests as well.
“How do you know my risk appetite with respect to contract reviews and negotiations?”
Noora: First, we ask you to tell us your priorities and goals. We then combine what you tell us with our general contractual knowledge and practical experience from working with various business and markets. We also use tailored playbooks to conduct contract reviews. Having an established way of working ensures that we, as a team, follow the same guidance. Ideally, we start our collaboration with a pilot period during which we hold detailed sessions to discuss your priorities and risk appetite.
“How do you ensure that adding external legal support does in fact save me time?”
Mathijs: “First, we are an alternative legal service provider rather than a traditional law firm, so we work differently anyway. We use legal technology where it makes sense, and our whole reason to exist is to be better and faster. At the same time, we think like a legal counsel, so we’re used to offering responses that you can use immediately. And as a partner to the business, we understand your need for practical support. We draft our responses in a way that they can be used immediately, without the client having to check or interpret them first. We avoid drafting memos unless it’s unavoidable. As a result, the client learns to trust us to work directly with their colleagues in the business, just keeping the legal team up to date. The bottom line is that you can ask us any question without worrying that our work is going to create more work for you.
“Our foreign legal team, working for an affiliate, sometimes asks us for help. Can you also support group companies outside the Netherlands?”
Noora: Many of our clients ask us to support multiple group entities in different jurisdictions. Realistically, in today’s world, it is neither practical nor even possible to limit commercial contracting to one particular jurisdiction since many contracts involve parties from different jurisdictions. We are experienced in reviewing contracts that are based on and must comply with the laws and regulations in other jurisdictions.”
“How do you prioritise work and do you accept urgent requests?”
Mathijs: “We almost always work in teams of at least two or more people per client. This gives us the flexibility to divide and prioritise work as needed, and enables cover for illness and holiday periods, so we provide support year-round. We agree expectations regarding response time with every client, but as a general rule we always strive to deliver within 3 to 4 days. Urgent requests are always prioritised. We do our utmost to process the request within the desired time.”
“If you are working with a team, how am I assured of a uniform approach?“
Mathijs: “When onboarding a client, we typically develop a tailored playbook. This details the principles they want to work by and any considerations we should take into account. In some cases, the client already uses a playbook, which we can adapt and update. We then build the playbook into our legal review tool to ensure we deliver a uniform output in each instance. We also hold regular discussions to share knowledge within our team and the client. This way of working has been proven to deliver consistency across the team.
“I often have contract-related questions. Is this something you can also assist with? “
Mathijs: “Certainly. Giving strategic advice about which approach is most suitable and conducting contract negotiations are our favourite part of the job. With most clients, our experience is that the relationship begins with reviewing relatively low risk contracts like NDAs, DPAs and indirect procurement. As the trust grows, we start to receive more complex requests, including other types of questions. We are happy to be or become an extra pair of hands to assist with any type of contract related challenges.”
“How quickly can you start?
Noora: As soon as you need our support!
Get in touch
If you would like to discuss possibly working together, or you have a question that we haven’t answered here, please reach out to us via info@legadex.com.