Legal Services · Antwerp, Belgium
Vandermeer & Peeters Advocaten got 30 hours a week back in 7 days
Vandermeer & Peeters is an Antwerp law firm with nine people advising employers on employment law, dismissals, HR policies and commercial contracts. Most clients are small and mid-sized companies in logistics, healthcare and technology. The firm runs on Microsoft 365 and handles sensitive employee and contract matters daily.
A normal working day at Vandermeer & Peeters: two lawyers review a contract at a desk while a paralegal organises case files.
The business
Employment and contract law for small and mid-sized businesses
- Customers
- HR managers, owners and finance leads at small and mid-sized companies in Antwerp, mainly logistics, healthcare and technology.
- Team
- 9 people
- Location
- Antwerp, Belgium
Tools before we started
What they sell, share of revenue
The team
9 people, and what their AI now does for them
The questionnaire
What Els Vandermeer told us before we started
Els Vandermeer, Managing Partner, filled in the same questionnaire you can fill in today.
Turning client intake notes into first drafts of advice and contracts.
Give every fee earner back one to two hours a day and use AI safely within Microsoft tools.
Client confidentiality and GDPR · Lawyers relying on AI without checking · Losing the personal voice in legal writing
Keep human
- Client counselling and negotiation
- Nuanced drafting where wording matters
- Team mentoring and case strategy
Take it off our plate
- Formatting and re-typing standard clauses
- Searching old emails for matter history
- Time entry and billing narratives
- Scheduling across calendars
Our advice
Microsoft 365 Copilot, and the three things to automate first
The firm already spends its day in Word, Outlook, Teams and SharePoint, so Microsoft 365 Copilot shows up in the tools staff already know. Microsoft's data controls and EU data residency support the client confidentiality duties of a Belgian employment and contract law firm.
Your tools today
We advise
Microsoft 365 CopilotFit 9/10Set up for 9 people, connected to your toolsAI takes over
- Intake to engagement letter draft
- Matter email and meeting summary
- Contract clause risk extraction
- Time narrative and billing prep
Stays human, AI only supports
How each platform fit this business
What we advised to automate first
- Automated first drafts from intake notes to engagement letters and standard advice memos
- Email triage and meeting summaries in Outlook and Teams
- Contract clause extraction against the firm's playbook
Their 7 days
One Zoom session a day, from kick-off to AI-ready
- Day1
Audit and Copilot setup
Els, office manager, IT contactOne-on-one Zoom call with screen sharing: went through current files, intake forms and templates. Mapped the firm's Microsoft tenant settings and prepared Copilot for the team.
- Day2
Prompt and document basics
Lawyers and paralegalsZoom training for fee earners on secure prompting, drafting from templates and checking sources. Set up shared Copilot prompt libraries.
- Day3
Email and meeting workflow
All staffOn Zoom, configured Outlook triage, meeting summaries and Teams notes. Built a shared matter summary format.
- Day4
Contract and advice automation
Els, senior employment lawyer, contract lawyerOn Zoom, built the first automation from intake form to draft engagement letter and standard clauses. Tested on two real matter files.
- Day5
Playbook and clause review
Contract lawyers, paralegalOn Zoom, created a clause extraction prompt and risk flag list from existing contracts. Paralegals tested it on supplier and employment contracts.
- Day6
Live team training and Q&A
All nine staffLive team Zoom training and Q&A on daily use, privacy settings and checking AI output. Answered questions and adjusted role setups.
- Day7
Handover and retainer plan
Els, office managerOn Zoom, reviewed automations, handed over custom training videos and set the retainer tasks for monthly maintenance.
Client team at their own workplace on a Zoom call, with the Complete AI Business consultant visible on screen.
Training
A live Zoom session, 6 custom videos and a plan per person
Live training on Zoom
All nine staff joined the live Zoom session to practice prompts, set confidentiality rules and work through two real files together.
Custom training videos
- ▶ Secure prompting in Microsoft 365 Copilot8 min
- ▶ Drafting engagement letters from intake notes10 min
- ▶ Summarising meetings and email threads7 min
- ▶ Contract clause extraction and risk flags12 min
- ▶ Outlook triage and scheduling for secretaries6 min
- ▶ Checking AI output and source rules5 min
Online training plan, per role
- Managing Partner
- Inbox and meeting summarisation
- Senior Employment Lawyer
- Legal drafting prompts and tone
- Contract Lawyer
- Clause comparison and redlining
- Paralegal
- Document bundling and fact chronology
- Legal Secretary
- Dictation and email triage
- Office Manager
- Internal policy search and timesheet prep
- Junior Associate
- Research prompts and source checks
Automations built
4 automations that now run every day
Intake to engagement letter draft
4hper weekMatter email and meeting summary
3.5hper weekContract clause risk extraction
2.5hper weekTime narrative and billing prep
2hper weekThe result
30 hours a week back, worth $103,500 a year
18 hours come from everyone using their own AI every day, 12 from the automations. Fee earners report saving around eight hours a week on drafting and email triage, with more time spent on client counselling. The firm now runs all new employment contracts through the playbook automation and has not needed to add admin staff.
Where the hours come from, per week
Paid back in week 4
At $75 an hour, the time saved earns back the $7,700 in 4 weeks. Every week after that is profit.
back per year
value per year
Retainer: monthly. The monthly retainer covers Copilot updates, new clause prompts, quarterly training for new hires and fixes to the intake and billing automations.
The first draft used to take me most of a morning. Now I open Copilot in Word, feed the intake notes and get a solid draft in minutes. My team still checks every point, but we talk to clients instead of retyping clauses.
Your business, AI-ready in 7 days.
Answer the questionnaire and get a free first plan, written for your team and your tools.