Verji ensures that the law firm has a copy of identification and Bank-ID authentication before a task is confirmed. All communication has two-way end-to-end encryption, ensuring compliance with GDPR and the Personal Data Act.
Vibeke Lindstrøm founded Advokatfirmaet Lindstrøm in January 2009 in Tromsø when she established herself in a shared office with other independent lawyers.
Lindstrøm Law Firm specializes in personal injury cases, social security, and child and family law. Vibeke has been working with personal injuries since 2003, and for the first 6-7 years as a lawyer, it was mainly personal injury cases she dealt with, so this is her primary expertise. She wanted to work in other areas as well, and when she established her own company, it was natural to expand with family law and social security law, areas she was interested in. One of the employees had previously worked in the NAV appeal body, so they took on many NAV cases and built high expertise in this field. When it comes to family law, Bufetat employs the law firm for mediation between parents, and they therefore also handle several parental disputes.
Approximately 70% of the clients are local, while the rest come from various parts of the country. Typically, clients from other locations are referred by lawyers who believe the client would benefit from using Advokatfirmaet Lindstrøm for their case. Personal injury cases often span a long time, so clients move, and they therefore have personal injury cases from all over Northern Norway.
Vibeke feels that the lawyer’s role has changed due to changing regulations and legal requirements, resulting in much more administration today compared to when she started. She states that the firm must have good procedures, and one has to learn what is necessary to comply with the regulations. One example of these changes is the requirements related to electronic handling of personal data. When Vibeke started in the industry, most things were sent by email. Today, in many ways, email is outdated and more modern communication systems are increasingly taking over. These operate with much higher security levels, in line with the Personal Data Act when exchanging personal data, and efficiency in the work processes is maintained to a much greater extent.
In this context, Advokatfirmaet Lindstrøm chose the encrypted communication platform Verji as their communication solution, a choice Vibeke is very pleased with. Before Verji was introduced, the biggest problem was that clients could not send encrypted and secure emails to the law firm. Vibeke used encrypted email, thus controlling what she sent, while clients had no way of secure communication when sending something to the law firm. Sending documents by regular mail was a big hassle, both time-consuming and expensive. With Verji, communication is resolved simply, saving significant time.
Another important aspect covered by Verji is customer authentication. Vibeke says what’s nice about Verji is that before she takes on a new task, communication is established with the client on Verji, where the client has to register with Bank ID. Then the client takes a photo of their ID and sends it via Verji. This gives her full control over ID and Bank-ID authentication before sending the task confirmation to the client via Verji and establishing the client relationship.
Vibeke now only uses Verji and no longer accepts manual authentications. This is also related to anti-money laundering regulations that became stricter in 2018. The firm’s routine is to have ID documented for all clients, including new cases for previous clients. Vibeke says this is especially important when clients don’t physically visit the office. They must send a copy of their ID so the firm can see their picture and birth number before taking on the task.
Before Verji was introduced, a lot of time was spent on clients asking for copies of emails they couldn’t find. Whereas the lawyer previously had to search for the email copy and send it, now all communication is sequentially in the case room in Verji. They just ask the client to scroll up a bit, and they find all the communication that has been sent. There’s also no need to endlessly search for emails when one doesn’t remember which email contains the sought-after information. Client inquiries are now resolved faster and easier.
Another great feature in Verji is that you always see when the client last was in the room, so you don’t have to wonder if the communication has been seen by the recipient.
Vibeke participates in all client rooms herself and finds this feature brilliant for tracking progress on cases when she wants to update herself. It’s very time-saving and practical when several people work on a case, as everyone can comment on the case. It’s also easy to swap out employees involved in cases in different rooms. Vibeke says that with email, client systems get very messy; it’s just much simpler to communicate with clients in Verji.
Support in Verji is freely available both online and by phone, and Vibeke feels it’s very convenient that clients can directly call Verji if needed.
