AI in legal practice: how LawCloud and Fonzer truly make a difference

Law firms struggle daily with time-consuming administration (including around telephony and invoicing), but smart AI integrations are finally providing breathing room. LawCloud and Fonzer have worked together exclusively as partners for the legal sector for years, which enables deep integrations. We asked Joeri Maes (CEO LawCloud), Kristof Dedeyne (founder Fonzer), Ben Holemans (founder Fonzer) and Filip Muylle (Customer Experience Manager Fonzer) how their partnership, the practical benefits, and the crucial role of Peppol toward 2026 are creating more billable hours without compromising privacy or ethics.

The partnership: seamless tools for the legal sector

LawCloud offers a digital management suite specifically for lawyers, focused on case files, invoicing and workflow, while Fonzer provides advanced telephony with AI integrations such as transcription and virtual assistants. LawCloud focuses on tailored solutions for the Belgian legal profession: from boutique firms and niche teams to medium-sized and large firms. Fonzer serves a broader business market, but through the integration it aligns seamlessly with the specific needs of law firms.

The collaboration emerged from the need to fully integrate telephony into the legal workflow and automate it as much as possible. Calls are automatically timed, linked to the correct case file and recorded according to any minimum time units, including the often shorter calls or those made on the go that would otherwise easily be forgotten in time registration and subsequent invoicing.

"Met LawCloud en Fonzer geven we advocaten elke dag kostbare tijd terug: minder manuele taken, meer facturabele uren."

"With LawCloud and Fonzer, we give lawyers valuable time back every day: fewer manual tasks, more billable hours."

This combination is unique because it gives lawyers at least 15 minutes back per day. On LawCloud’s website, an ROI calculator shows how these 15 minutes of extra registered time per day are enough to recover a multiple of the total cost of telephony and software. Unlike generic tools with standard tracking and limited integrations, LawCloud and Fonzer build or tweak functionalities to measure, with API connections for a true all-in-one experience that works on laptop, tablet and smartphone.

AI in practice: less chaos, more focus

Typical telephony challenges in law firms often revolve around (forgotten or decentralized) time registration and follow-up on actions resulting from calls. With LawCloud and Fonzer, an average workday becomes far more structured: legal assistants and lawyers get pop-ups on incoming calls with direct case links, call history and automatic tasks such as 'call back', leading to less fragmentation and more billable hours.

Automatic call transcription will very soon make a world of difference for legal practice. Telephony registration in LawCloud from the Fonzer platform happens automatically and error-free based on the call metadata (including the actual call duration).

Users especially appreciate how everything converges around one central case file. Integrated telephony with caller recognition instantly provides context for every call, with quick case insights, automatic time tracking and a complete chronological history in one screen.

From that same environment, firms go one step further: time-consuming copy-paste work disappears because registered letters are generated automatically, sent via bpost and digitally signed through an integrated API, without separate uploads or extra tools. To-do lists with deadlines and responsible parties ensure clear follow-up at the same time, even when someone is unexpectedly absent — telephony, documents and tasks thus become one digital ecosystem.

Human and machine: ethics first

AI supports lawyers by automating repetitive tasks without replacing human judgment. LawCloud regularly hosts webinars advising on safe usage, for example how to deploy AI without data retention within your own domain, so data is not reused for external models.

"AI mag nooit de advocaat vervangen, wel versterken. LawCloud en Nexa AI geven juristen een digitale sparringpartner, maar de mens blijft altijd de eindbeslisser."

"AI should never replace the lawyer, only strengthen them. LawCloud and Nexa AI give legal professionals a digital sparring partner, but the human remains the final decision-maker."

The boundary lies with strategic tasks. The recent collaboration between LawCloud and Nexa AI is an exciting development in this regard: by integrating Nexa AI into the LawCloud environment, lawyers get a digital sparring partner that helps them reason and argue, fully securely and from a legal perspective. This keeps ethical decisions and client contact in human hands, while AI helps analyze case files faster and sharpen conclusions. Trends in the sector emphasize that AI reduces errors and strengthens compliance, as long as it remains within carefully managed tools.

Peppol and compliance: ready for 2026

From January 1, 2026, all Belgian VAT-liable businesses, including law firms, must exchange structured electronic invoices via the Peppol network for their B2B and B2G transactions. This forces firms to digitize and securely send their invoicing process, so they avoid fines while maximally protecting professional secrecy.

"Facturen staan vol beroepsgeheimen. Via Peppol en de facturatiemodule van LawCloud stuur je die data versleuteld, gestructureerd en met respect voor elke ontvanger."

"Invoices are full of confidential professional information. Via Peppol and LawCloud’s invoicing module, you send that data encrypted, structured and with respect for every recipient."

LawCloud’s Peppol integration provides a secure connection that differs from PDF or email invoices through standardized, encrypted exchange between systems. For international clients, for example in France or Italy, it can still be a challenge because other e-invoicing systems are sometimes used there, but Peppol fully covers the Belgian obligations. LawCloud’s system automatically splits recipients (for example client and legal aid), filters sensitive information from invoices, and integrates draft approval with PO numbers for better accounting tracking. This allows you to work in a structured and controlled way for international clients as well, even when other formats still apply outside Peppol.

The most important argument for lawyers is the combination of compliance and efficiency: Peppol provides a standardized, secure channel to exchange invoices and accelerates cash flow thanks to automatic reminders. LawCloud is already Peppol-ready today and structures processes so sensitive case information does not simply end up in the Peppol message: strictly necessary invoice data runs through Peppol, while any additional details are shared with the client in parallel and in another appropriate way.

Privacy and future: returns with trust

Lawyers often have doubts about cloud and AI, but LawCloud and Fonzer provide GDPR-compliant processing and storage on secured servers within the EU, encryption, and clear agreements through data processing agreements and an external security policy. Frequently asked questions concern data security and professional secrecy; the answers emphasize trusted partnerships, no unauthorized data exchange outside the EEA, and transparent documentation about their security measures.

The next step is not a new tool, but an ecosystem that quietly captures everything still leaking today: time, information and invoicing. In that ecosystem, LawCloud and Fonzer are not separate vendors but a tandem — a "good marriage" that allows legal professionals to fully focus on clients and case files again. Request more information via Fonzer and experience for yourself what it feels like when your telephony, workflow and invoicing finally move in the same direction and deliver measurably higher returns.