Law firms today operate in an environment shaped by increasing regulation, rapid change, and growing expectations around efficiency. Clients no longer seek only occasional legal advice — they want reliable support in implementing complex requirements quickly, consistently, and transparently.
Oppenhoff is one of the firms that views Legal Tech not as an experiment, but as a strategic cornerstone of modern legal services. Key drivers of this transformation include Tobias Kollakowski, attorney specializing in digital and information technology law, Rocco Mondello, responsible for the operational management of the firm’s Legal Tech initiatives, and Franka Thon, a research associate at Oppenhoff who supports the development and implementation of innovative digital legal solutions.
Tobias contributes his expertise primarily to the firm’s strategic direction – as part of the Legal Tech strategy group and a member of the AI working group. Rocco ensures that strategy becomes practical, client-ready solutions: from the initial idea to full rollout, always closely aligned with client needs.
Tobias observes a clear trend on the client side:
“Companies increasingly expect the use of Legal Tech tools.”
When Legal Expertise Needs to Scale
Many of the issues Oppenhoff addresses – data protection, IT law, new EU regulation – are highly complex. At the same time, many legal questions follow recurring patterns: assessment frameworks, standard contract reviews, applicability analyses.
This is where a structural challenge emerges: such reviews are resource-intensive, yet they must be carried out consistently and properly documented. Traditional methods like Word documents, email loops, or manual checklists quickly reach their limits.
Rocco highlights the key point:
“What matters most is systematically connecting expertise, processes, and technology.”
He adds that Legal Tech applications make it possible to shift tasks into specialist departments and thereby save resources:
“Legal departments can delegate certain tasks to business units and save valuable resources.”
In this context, automation does not replace legal expertise. Instead, it structures expertise so it can be applied reliably – even as volumes increase and regulatory demands grow.
Why BRYTER: From Legal Advice to Digital Client Solutions
Oppenhoff uses BRYTER as a platform to translate legal knowledge into digital workflows and applications. The value lies not in individual features, but in the ability to model complex decision logic in a reproducible way that clients can use directly.
Tobias encountered BRYTER early on, when Oppenhoff began building its Legal Tech function strategically. Even then, the goal was to transform legal assessments — such as GDPR applicability checks — into structured digital formats.
“I took on the challenge of building the Legal Tech area at Oppenhoff… My supervising partner still refers to it today as ‘my baby.’”
Today, the firm is developing a growing portfolio of proprietary digital legal products. These enable clients to handle standardizable legal processes efficiently — while creating greater capacity for strategic advisory work.
Tobias emphasizes the concrete value for companies:
“Our products map standardizable processes and enable legal assessments almost at the push of a button – fast, reliable, and tailored.”
Applications That Relieve Clients and Strengthen Governance
DPA Review Assistant
One example is the DPA Review Assistant. Reviewing data processing agreements regularly consumes significant resources within companies and legal departments — this is exactly where the tool provides support. Built on BRYTER, the application combines AI-powered analysis with rules-based, workflow-driven logic, creating a solution that is both powerful and precise. It systematically extracts relevant contractual provisions, assesses compliance with statutory requirements using artificial intelligence, and also considers clauses on liability and cost allocation.
BRYTER also provides the workflow layer for intake and document generation, ensuring that legal expertise is applied consistently and outcomes remain transparent and reproducible. The result is a structured review report with clear recommendations for action and comprehensive documentation. Designed for companies and in-house legal teams, the DPA Review Assistant can be tailored to internal standards, ensuring consistent reviews, immediately usable results, and seamless integration into existing work processes.
AI Act Tool
Another example is the AI Act Tool, developed for a major German research institution. The application supports applicability checks under the new EU AI Regulation for research and development projects involving artificial intelligence. It guides users through a standardized intake process using comprehensive questionnaires and leads legal teams through the requirements of the AI Act based on a predefined legal assessment framework.
The resulting assessment report captures all key details about the R&D project and the software being evaluated, including the system’s risk classification under the AI Act. All assessments are stored in a database, ensuring that decisions remain transparent and traceable over time. The goal is to systematically support the institution in reviewing its AI-related research and development initiatives, enabling recurring assessments to be carried out consistently, efficiently, and with long-term accountability.
Beyond these specific applications, such workflows make it possible to delegate tasks to specialist departments – without sacrificing quality and with clear governance in place.
Rocco describes the impact of such solutions clearly:
“Clients receive structured, reliable results: reviews follow clear standards, remain consistent, and are transparently documented.”
Looking Ahead: Legal Tech as the Infrastructure of Legal Services
For Oppenhoff, one thing is clear: Legal Tech and AI will evolve over the coming years from supportive tools into the core infrastructure of legal services. Routine tasks will be automated, while law firms will increasingly focus on strategic and complex matters.
Rocco puts it succinctly:
“Legal Tech and AI will develop from supporting tools into the reliable infrastructure of legal advisory services.”
Oppenhoff therefore invests not only in technology, but also in new forms of collaboration: interdisciplinary teams, AI working groups, and the consistent integration of legal expertise and innovation.
Tobias outlines the firm’s strategic vision:
“We aim to expand our digital product portfolio and enable fast and efficient advisory services through firm-built solutions.”
BRYTER supports Oppenhoff in translating legal expertise into consistent workflows – and scaling digital client solutions sustainably.
