Henchman was launched less than a year ago, intending to focus on what it calls “dirty work” for lawyers. During negotiations or when working out deals, business lawyers regularly fall back on clauses and contracts they had previously written. But looking up those clauses takes a lot of time. Henchman develops software that makes this task easier: their technology can be incorporated into Microsoft Word, greatly facilitating searches.

The technique is catching on: barely a year after its launch, the software is already being used by well-known law firms such as Monard Law and by the legal departments of companies such as Flanders-based textile giant Sioen. And according to the start-up, it is also delivering its software to customers in the Netherlands, Germany, France and the UK.