Univé Rechtshulp rolls out legal AI support with LegalMike

Working smarter, resulting in more room for personal contact. With this expectation, Univé Rechtshulp is gradually rolling out AI support for its legal professionals over the coming weeks. The legal aid insurer is collaborating with LegalMike, a provider of legal search technology that is being linked internally to Univé Rechtshulp’s AI assistant.

Up-to-date legal sources

Through this integration, legal professionals gain direct access to up-to-date and traceable sources from Dutch and European law within their own AI environment. The technology assists in accelerating legal research and information processing, allowing Univé Rechtshulp to create more space for personal contact in supporting the more than 600,000 members who have legal aid insurance with Univé.

The integration is realized via LegalMike’s Golden Retriever: a legal research platform that supports AI systems with current legislation, case law, and other legal sources. Answers from the AI assistant can thus be traced directly back to verifiable legal sources. AI application for better and more accessible legal aid

The collaboration between LegalMike and Univé Rechtshulp began in 2024 with training sessions on generative AI for legal professionals. This was followed by various pilots in which both organizations worked on the application of AI within daily legal practice. The organization-wide rollout of this represents the next step in the partnership.

The integration allows Univé Rechtshulp to further develop its own AI environment to support internal processes and service delivery, while LegalMike remains responsible for the ongoing development and updating of the legal knowledge layer. This aligns the collaboration with Univé Rechtshulp’s broader ambition to utilize innovation concretely for better and more accessible legal aid.

Human attention

“The connection to LegalMike’s software fits within the innovative course we follow as one of the largest legal aid insurers in the Netherlands to continuously make our services smarter, more efficient, and more effective,” says Marjolein Jansen on behalf of the Univé Rechtshulp management team. “Thanks to rapid access to up-to-date legal information, our legal professionals can focus even better on where Univé Rechtshulp truly makes a difference: personal attention and excellent guidance for our legal aid members. Smart support creates more room for the human side of legal aid provision.”

Specialized AI as a building block

“The future of legal AI is not about a single general system for all legal professionals and organizations,” says Martijn Doornbos, CEO of LegalMike. “More and more legal organizations are choosing their own AI environment, which they supplement with specialized AI solutions, such as the Golden Retriever.”

According to Doornbos, this gives organizations more control over their technology, data, and functionalities. Requirements for these vary significantly per organization and legal practice. “This way, organizations maintain control over how their AI solutions are configured. This also aligns with the growing focus on digital sovereignty.”

This development is also important for clients and those seeking legal assistance. “When legal professionals have faster access to up-to-date and reliable legal information, they can help clients more effectively. This makes high-quality legal support more accessible to more people.”

Phased rollout

The rollout of AI support for legal professionals using LegalMike’s technology is taking place in phases; it is expected that all 380+ employees will have access to the AI environment starting this summer.