Wim Dejonghe (pictured left), the former global senior partner of Allen & Overy, has co-founded a new AI-native law firm, built on a flat-fee model as Dejonghe argues new technology will accelerate ‘the death of the billable hour.’
Falcon plans to charge clients a flat-rate of €1,000 for a review of six high-friction contracts per month.
Dejonghe is a non-executive co-founder, working alongside co-founders former Freshfields lawyer Rémy Bonnaffé (pictured back right) and HR and mobility management platform M brella co-founders, Amaury Gérard (pictured front centre), Quinten Vandermeulen (pictured front right) and David Nguyen (pictured front left).
Dejonghe, a key architect of the merger between legacy A&O and Shearman & Sterling, who stepped down from the firm in 2024 after more than two decades, said that the new model marks a response to changes in technology and client demand.
‘Historically, access to legal advice and justice more generally is a challenge for smaller companies,’ he said. ‘It’s just too expensive, given the business model of law firms, and it’s much harder for them to change an existing model that has existed for over 150 years.’
‘Honestly, some of the law firms will get there, but the quicker way to do it is probably to start from scratch,’ he continued. ‘And frankly, I also enjoy giving youngsters a bit of support and give them the opportunity to get this going.’
In its initial phase, Falcon will focus on reviewing high-volume commercial contracts, including NDAs, data processing agreements, master service agreements and customer and supplier contracts.
Since his departure from A&O, Dejonghe has also set up consultancy firm Dejonghe & Morley, which specialises in advising on private investment in law firms, alongside David Morley, also a former A&O senior partner, who headed the firm from 2008 to 2016.
‘A big law firm can be an old tanker – it’s not that easy to move’
For Bonnaffé, who spent just over four years as an associate at Freshfields before launching legal solutions provider Ask Q in 2021, the firm has been a passion project for some time.
‘I had the opportunity to be quite heavily involved in the innovation journey of Freshfields,’ he told LB. ‘I learned amazing things, but at the same time I also learned that a big law firm like Freshfields can be an old tanker, so it’s not that easy to move.
‘I went on and founded an alternative legal service provider. We did a lot of legal tech consulting there and legal tech implementation, and that’s where I learned that it’s not only about the technology, but it’s also about the change management and the ability to embrace the technology fully.’
‘At the end of last year I met up with my other co-founders, who are non-lawyers. They actually had the same frustrations, but from the client side. They were frustrated by the lack of speed from law firms and lawyers, as well as the non-transparency of the billable hour and being surprised each time by the invoice. So we met and we decided to launch Falcon.’
Falcon operates by reviewing client contracts, submitted through chat apps such as Slack or Microsoft Teams, following an initial 45-minute call with the client to establish need.
The firm promises to have every review signed off by a qualified lawyer and returned the same day.
‘Our promise is that by using AI we can cut down 70% of the work – but judgement calls are still important for the other 30%’
Currently based in Belgium, where the firm employs two engineers alongside founders Bonnaffé, Gérard, Vandermeulen, and Nguyen, Falcon has ambitious plans to grow beyond its initial roots.
‘We are very ambitious in the sense that we want to build a European company,’ said Bonaffé. ‘A lot of businesses operating in Europe do deals across European countries, so we can’t afford to limit ourselves to a couple of jurisdictions.
‘We’re starting from Belgium, but we are now in conversations to start what we call local hubs, and we’re targeting London, Paris, and Amsterdam.’
Bonnaffé plans to expand by having at least one lawyer in each hub – but said Falcon’s current focus is on mid-to-senior level talent: ‘Each country has its own culture, so it’s important that we have someone within those countries that can be the face of Falcon.
‘Our promise is that by using AI we can cut down on around 70% of the work, but then 30% of the work can still be complex, sophisticated work where judgement calls are important, and for that we are hiring more experienced lawyers.’
In its early stages, Falcon is focusing on B2B and SaaS businesses, said Bonnaffé. But the firm has scope for flexibility, already taking on Belgian consumer brand Loop Earplugs as one of its first clients.
A key emphasis of Falcon is its flat-fee pricing, which Dejonghe said has been ‘accelerated’ in recent years by the growth of AI: ‘The death of the billable hour has been announced as long as I’ve been in the industry, and more and more work is not done on chargeable rates. The underlying challenge now is that with AI, your cost base will be different, because you’re using more technology, so how can you charge for that technology to the clients?
‘It’s been phasing out slowly for a very long time. But AI might be the accelerator.’
The team made this a key theme of Falcon’s opening, hosting a ‘funeral of the billable hour’ at a church in Ghent as the firm’s official launch party (pictured below).
Dejonghe added that it is the change in business model, not staffing, that will have the biggest impact on the legal sector.
‘I’m not sure you need less people. Let’s see about that, because actually the scope of the work will increase. The business model will change, because you won’t be able to do it by the hour, so you need to take on the training of the juniors in a different way, probably as an overhead, but it’s a longer-term investment.’
‘The other major change will be the increase of the free agency logic of the legal industry, because firms with deeper pockets will hire trained lawyers from other law firms. So, you’ll see more fluidity of talent; that trend that has started, and actually will accelerate with the adoption of AI technology,’ he said.
For now, the team are excited to see where Falcon can go from here. ‘I’ve been very fortunate to be able to combine my personal interests with my professional interests,’ said Bonnaffé.
‘What I’m doing is really having fun, and that’s the reason why I made the leap of faith to launch Falcon, because now with AI, the possibilities are amazing,’
Dejonghe added: ‘The key to innovation is that you try something that hasn’t been designed yet, and there’s no shame if it doesn’t work. But if you don’t try, you’re never going to innovate. That’s the philosophy behind it.’
‘I’m very convinced. I’ve seen what Rémy has achieved within the pilot project. I have no doubt Falcon is going to succeed.’
