Legal Tech

DataNest

Law Firm Practice Management

Archived

Overview

Complete Sovereign Practice Management platform for law firms. Centralizes emails, documents, dossiers, and accounting. Built on Kubernetes in a secure European cloud.

Context

Supported by Yncubator, DataNest is the only SaaS platform in Belgium combining intuitive interface with integrated AI specifically for SME law firms. Lawyers lose 1 hour per day on repetitive administrative tasks: sorting emails, manually creating calendar events, tracking billable time, and searching for documents. Traditional legal tech offers disconnected databases without intelligence. We built 'Le SaaS qui simplifie la vie des avocats' - a unified workspace where everything is automatically centralized and intelligently organized through Nestor, your AI virtual secretary who understands the legal profession.

The Challenge

Building a system that truly understands legal context while maintaining GDPR compliance and European data sovereignty. The technical challenge: real-time synchronization of millions of emails across diverse providers (Exchange, Gmail, IMAP) with intelligent automatic classification into client folders. We needed to create an AI that doesn't just store data but actively assists lawyers - drafting emails, finding contracts, scheduling appointments - all while ensuring strict tenant isolation and encrypted European hosting to meet CCBE standards.

The Solution

Cloud-Native Microservices Architecture on Scaleway Kubernetes with intelligent automation at every layer:

1. Automatic Centralization:

Emails, documents, tasks, and time entries are automatically classified into intelligent client folders without any manual configuration. The system learns your practice patterns.

2. Nestor - Your AI Virtual Secretary:

A vocal and text-based AI assistant that truly understands legal work:

●Email Drafting: 'Nestor, draft a response to Martin about the urgent repair notice' - generates contextual legal correspondence

●Document Search: 'Find the lease contract for the Martin case' - instant retrieval across all documents

●Appointment Scheduling: 'Schedule a hearing for next Tuesday at 2pm' - creates calendar events automatically

●Prestation Creation: Automatically tracks time spent on emails/documents and creates billable entries

●Case Insights: 'Give me a summary of the Peeters case' - synthesizes all communications and documents

3. Intelligent Workflow:

●Connect: Simple integration with email, documents, and calendar

●Organize: Automatic classification into client folders

●Work: One-click access to all information, instant prestation/event creation from anywhere

●Bill: Automatic time tracking, simplified invoicing, integrated online appointment booking

4. Security & Compliance:

●GDPR Compliant: Scrupulous respect for European data protection regulations

●European Hosting: Data stays in certified European data centers (Scaleway)

●Advanced Encryption: Security protocols adapted for sensitive legal data

●Tenant Isolation: Strict PostgreSQL isolation per law firm

Results & Impact

Time Savings: Lawyers gain 1 hour per day - 30% reduction in administrative tasks
Nestor AI: Vocal assistant for email drafting, document search, appointments, and case insights
Smart Auto-Classification: Emails and documents automatically organized into client folders
Instant Search: Find any document, email, or information in seconds with AI
Integrated Billing: Automatic time tracking and prestation creation from work activities
One-Click Access: All client information, documents, contacts accessible instantly
GDPR Certified: European hosting with advanced encryption for legal data
Beta Adoption: Successfully deployed with pilot SME law firms in Belgium

Project Details

Year: 2023-2024
Duration: 12 months
Team: Co-Founder (with Nathan Nepper & Tom Heyerick)
My Role: AI Lead
Client / Sector: Law Firms (SME - Beta Testing)

Technologies

Nuxt 3FastAPIKubernetesPostgreSQL

Key Impact

Unified workspace for legal professionals