How trail Helped top.legal Achieve ISO/IEC 42001 Certification in Record Time

Case Study: How trail Helped top.legal Achieve ISO/IEC 42001 Certification in Record Time

Summary

Client: top.legal

Industry: Legal Tech (Contract Lifecycle Management)

Company Size: 15 Employees

Location: Munich, Germany

Project Duration: 12 Weeks

Product: trail AI Governance Suite (B2B SaaS Platform)

Certifier: SGS

Background

top.legal is an innovative legal tech company based in Munich, developing an AI-powered contract management platform for legal, sales, procurement and HR teams. The solution leverages cutting-edge generative AI models to help organizations analyze, review, and update contracts efficiently — positioning the company as a provider of an AI system.

With growing client expectations for trustworthy and responsible AI, the company recognized that formal certification under ISO/IEC 42001 would not only strengthen their governance framework but also deliver a clear commercial advantage. One of their key enterprise customers had made certification a prerequisite for collaboration — making it a critical sales enabler with immediate ROI.

To meet these business and compliance objectives under tight timelines, top.legal partnered with trail, a leading AI governance platform provider with ISO/IEC 42001 implementation and certification enablement among its platform offerings.

The Challenge

Obtaining certification fast without compromising on the quality and effectiveness of the management system was the key challenge. The client needed to:

• Achieve ISO/IEC 42001 certification as soon as possible to secure a strategic customer deal;
• Understand and operationalize the new AI Management System (AIMS) standard efficiently;
• Build up an AIMS whose processes are thoroughly followed by employees to ensure its effectiveness and sustainability;
• Integrate AI risk management and governance into existing quality and security processes;
• Select a certifier quickly to meet project deadlines;
• Streamline documentation and evidence collection without overloading the small team and reducing distraction from day-to-day operations.

The Solution

Together with trail, top.legal launched a structured, technology-driven implementation project using trail’s AI Governance Copilot.

Certifier Selection:

Within the first week, trail supported a certifier comparison process, evaluating multiple options based on experience, reputation, flexibility, and cost. The team selected SGS, the world’s largest certification body, for its strong credibility, availability, and modern approach — ensuring both speed and quality in the audit process.

AI Governance Implementation:

Using trail’s platform, top.legal effectively and efficiently built a complete AI Management System (AIMS) aligned with ISO/IEC 42001 requirements. Trail’s platform features provided:

✅ Clear Structure & Visibility

A guided overview of all standard requirements, with ready-to-use workflows that connected each clause to practical controls, tasks and evidence.

✅ AI-Powered Automation

Partly automated drafting of AI policies, risk assessments, and organizational context documentation, significantly reducing manual effort by 80%.

✅ Accelerated Compliance Journey

Built-in and customizable templates, progress tracking, and evidence mapping helped the team stay on schedule and confidently prepare for the audit. 

✅ Expert Partnership

Trail’s ISO 42001 specialists worked hand in hand with the top.legal — interpreting the standard for top.legal, helping integrate AI risk management practices into existing processes, and preparing for the external audit with SGS. The combination of deep expertise and practical  guidance ensured no time was lost in interpretation or rework.

Implementation Approach

Phase 1: Planning & Certifier Selection

trail facilitated a certifier comparison and helped the client select SGS within one week. The project launch followed immediately.

Phase 2: Gap Analysis & System Setup

Together with trail’s experts, top.legal conducted a gap analysis, mapping existing governance practices and documentation to ISO 42001 clauses, and configured the platform to reflect the company’s structure and AI use cases.

Phase 3: Policy & Risk Framework Implementation

Key documentation such as (AI) policies, roles and responsibilities, risk and impact assessments, and more were created on the trail platform, through guided workshops with trail’s internal experts and top.legal’s leadership.

Phase 4: Audit Readiness & Certification

Trail’s audit module and expert team supported the internal audit and the SGS external audit, resulting in successful certification on the first attempt.

The Outcome

✔️ ISO/IEC 42001 certification achieved in just 12 weeks

✔️ Immediate ROI — certification enabled the closure of a key customer deal

✔️ Smooth auditor collaboration with SGS, the world’s leading certification body

✔️ Reduced manual workload through AI-powered documentation automation

✔️ Full visibility and structure across all AI governance processes

✔️ Positioned as a pioneer in responsible AI within the legal tech sector

“trail helped us achieve ISO 42001 certification quickly and confidently. The value was clear from day one — certification unlocked a critical client opportunity. The platform made complex requirements easy to navigate, and its AI-driven tools, plus trail’s dedicated experts, turned compliance into a competitive edge.”

— Alexander Baron, top.legal

About trail

trail is a B2B SaaS company helping organizations govern, monitor, and scale their AI systems responsibly. With its AI Governance Copilot and competent team of ISO 42001 and AI risk management experts, trail simplifies AI governance, accelerates certification readiness, and empowers companies to use responsible AI as a competitive advantage.

Learn more about trail’s support in ISO/IEC 42001 implementation and certification — or reach out to the team to start your own certification journey.

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