How can a leading home improvement retailer with more than 500 DIY stores and 100 legal entities effectively manage its legal operations? At such scale, the German retailer faced significant challenges, particularly in matter management, due to fragmented information and a lack of alignment. To address this, the Group Counsel launched a digitalization initiative designed to bring efficiency, structure, and peace of mind to a team of 50 in-house lawyers.

CASE STUDY – DILITRUST SUITE

A Leading German Retailer Embraces Legal Transformation

The story of a full digitalization initiative that streamlined matter management, improved efficiency, and provided clear visibility across one of Germany’s leading retailers.

Ottakringer Getränke AG

AT A GLANCE

Challenges

  • Fragmented legal data and unstructured collaboration between teams
  • No formal processes for legal matter intake or management
  • Limited productivity caused by reliance on outdated office tools

Results

  • Streamlined legal operations that enhanced team efficiency
  • Unified, centralized processes adopted across the organization
  • Clear matter structures with accessible data for all employees

Products Used

Matter Management
Board Portal
Legal Entity Management

INTRODUCTION

How can a leading home improvement retailer with more than 500 DIY stores and 100 legal entities effectively manage its legal operations? At such scale, the German retailer faced significant challenges, particularly in matter management, due to fragmented information and a lack of alignment. To address this, the Group Counsel launched a digitalization initiative designed to bring efficiency, structure, and peace of mind to a team of 50 in-house lawyers.

THE CHALLENGE

Limited office tools contributing to cost inefficiencies

The Legal and Finance teams were struggling with unstructured data, whether for matter management, board meetings, or entity management. Prior to DiliTrust, legal activities were tracked with disconnected office tools, while entity data relied on a legacy solution that no longer met evolving needs.

  • Matter management was fragmented, slowing collaboration
  • Limited visibility over provisions and risk assessments led to cost inefficiencies
  • Tracking legal activities and spending was complex due to scattered information
  • Legacy software offered little to no customization, especially for data fields

Recognizing these issues, the General Counsel championed an internal digital transformation to resolve the pain points legal teams were facing. Beyond addressing operational gaps, the new solution also had to meet wider organizational expectations, including a modern UX/UI and seamless integrations.

THE SOLUTION

A single solution to unify legal operations

The German retailer ultimately selected DiliTrust to manage legal entities, matters, and boards within a single platform. The decision was guided by the ability to address three major challenges through one provider, ensuring smoother information flow and stronger connectivity. In addition, the DiliTrust Suite met the retailer’s integration requirements and offered an appealing, user-friendly back office. Together, these factors made the choice clear. DiliTrust provided:

A fully integrated matter management solution, seamlessly connected with existing tools like Gmail

A centralized tool to easily view, search, and track legal matters along with their documentation

Flexible customizations applied where needed, including within the Legal Entity Management solution

With DiliTrust, legal teams no longer work in silos. Centralization has improved matter management by giving all stakeholders quick and easy access to information through a built-in search feature. This has been especially valuable for the General Counsel, who can now retrieve specific information in seconds. Under the legacy system, the same task would have required lengthy manual searches.

THE RESULTS

Smarter legal workflows driving measurable impact

  • A unified, centralized matter intake process for all users
  • Clear matter structures enabling risk forecasting, workload management, and analysis
  • Accurate, transparent information sharing within the legal team
  • Improved cross-department collaboration through consistent, reportable workflows

With strong early adoption and growing internal alignment, the German retailer is well positioned to expand its use of DiliTrust as needs evolve. By embedding smart technology into daily routines, the legal team can now work more efficiently and at greater speed, while maintaining the high quality and precision their work demands.

We’re just getting started with DiliTrust, but the potential is immense. We have no doubt the results will follow.

Group Counsel

By partnering with DiliTrust, the retailer set a new standard for legal efficiency and collaboration, proving what’s possible with the
right solution.

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