"New system makes case information accessible to legal advice centres"

Search engine for legal advice centres

"Legal advice centres play an important role in the delivery of primary legal assistance, especially to less self-sufficient members of the community," explains Felix. "The centres are non-profit voluntary organisations staffed mainly by law students. They provide free legal advice, with the emphasis on helping vulnerable sections of society: people who can't afford a lawyer and people who feel more comfortable in a particular environment, such as an advice centre specifically for women, for example. Some legal advice centres receive support from local councils, universities or law firms, but most of them have very limited resources. Maintaining case records and looking up old cases therefore tends to be challenging for them. There's a real need for a system that can simplify those tasks."

To address that need, a platform has been developed from the Wetzoek.nl search site, itself the product of a recently completed pioneering project. The site provides an AI-based search engine that visitors can use to look up Dutch legal case information. The tool is easy to use, even if you have no legal training, so everyone can find the information they need. "The Wetzoek project brought me into contact with the Amsterdam Law Hub, run by the University of Amsterdam," says Felix. "The Hub had obtained a grant from the Legal Aid Board to research and develop a tool for primary legal aid providers. The idea was that the tool would use a form of artificial intelligence known as natural language processing. The people at the Hub turned to Wetzoek for help developing the tool."

Figure 1: Screenshot of Wetzoek for legal advice centres.

Focus on a strong design

"Our latest project builds on the existing Wetzoek search engine," Felix continues. "We used the technology behind the search engine to develop a new system called Toonbank, meaning 'Service point'. It works like professional practice management software, but it's tailored specifically to the work of legal advice centres. Toonbank helps advice centre volunteers to give people the information and support that they need. We developed the system in consultation with the centres themselves. Interviews, observations and discussions were organised at various advice centres around the Netherlands, as a basis for putting forward a list of functionalities and a design. Before developing the UX design, which was led by end-user experience, we spoke to legal advice centres right across the country in order to build up a clear understanding of their work processes. The same centres were then asked to assess the preliminary design and tell us whether it worked the way that they wanted. That ultimately led to the Toonbank case record platform. The design agency Bureau Moeilijke Dingen played a key role in the process."

Support from SIDN Fund

"SIDN Fund made a vital contribution to the latest project," says Felix. "SIDN Fund and the Eindhoven Cultural Foundation organised a programme called Technician Seeks Designer, through which we came into contact with Bureau Moeilijke Dingen. By combining our expertise with that of the design agency and the Amsterdam Law Hub, we were together able to create a system perfectly tailored to the way that legal advice centres work. SIDN Fund's financial support also enabled us to produce a strong UX design."

"SIDN Fund had previously helped Wetzoek get off the ground as a pioneering project. The Fund's support in that phase enabled us to set up the servers and hire a machine learning specialist. I was also introduced to a lawyer who provided me with a lot of valuable input and legal advice about the website, on things such as formulating appropriate disclaimers. That was a big help."

Elise van Schaik, Project Coordinator at SIDN Fund: "The Technician Seeks Designer programme connects technical project managers with designers, so as to maximise the projects' impact. The collaboration between the Wetzoek team and Bureau Moeilijke Dingen is a good example. Working together has enabled them to develop Toonbank, which helps legal advice centres to provide clients with the assistance they need. As a result, the technology behind the Wetzoek search engine is benefitting even more people."

Further development of Toonbank

"At the moment, the women's legal advice centres in Amsterdam and Nijmegen are making active use of the platform, which they find very helpful. The two centres are also giving us useful feedback, so that we can continue improving the platform. In partnership with the Amsterdam Law Hub and Bureau Moeilijke Dingen, we're looking into ways of keeping the platform running and developing it further. Ultimately, of course, we'd like as many legal advice centres as possible around the country to make long-term use of our affordable Toonbank platform."

Want to know more about Wetzoek for Legal Advice Centres? Drop a line to Felix van Litsenburg at felix.vanlitsenburg@wetzoek.nl.