For 5 years now,Doctrine has been developing tools based on artificial intelligence to better assist legal professionals in accessing the legal information they need to advise their clients.
But how has this startup evolved since its creation? And what about the perception of legal professionals? And the market?
We interviewed Guillaume Carrère, the CEO of this legaltech that has revolutionised the legal market, to ask him a few questions at the beginning of the year.
Reflections on the legaltech market
Has the perception and use of legaltech by legal professionals or companies evolved since the creation of Doctrine? If so, in what way?
Four years ago, lawyers told us: I find more information on Doctrine.
Two years ago they told us: I find more relevant information that opens new perspectives.
Today they tell us: Doctrine is a strategic asset for their competitiveness and their quality of advice.
Providing centralised and contextualised access to all legal information (Laws & Regulations, Court decisions, Commentaries, Parliamentary documents) may seem like an obvious choice today.
But in 2016 when we launched, it was all completely new. In its first months, Doctrine was perceived as a UFO. Our first clients were forward-thinkers who sensed how their working methods would change thanks to open data and technology. 4 years later, more than 7,500 people trust Doctrine, from individual lawyers to the largest law firms and legal departments of all sizes.
The legaltech as a whole is very dynamic. A survey released by France Digitale shows thatby 2022, the sector will have annual sales of €100 million and plans to hire 600 additional people.
This global growth is supported by legal professionals who have understood the added value that legaltech can bring them. We are delighted!
Doctrine has released a revolutionary tool, allowing legal professionals to check the validity of the opposing party's legal argument and consolidate their own in one click. How many legal professionals use it? What feedback have you had from users?
We started from a simple observation. Lawyers and jurists are faced with a permanent doubt: that of the soundness of their legal reasoning. Is it the right one? And what about the strategy of my opponents: do I have an angle of attack that I would not have thought of? Any loopholes I could exploit? This is how the the Document Analyzer.
We automate for our clients the verification of the applicability of legal sources cited in their writings, those of their teams and their opponents. It is a phenomenally powerful tool that has been widely adopted by our existing and new clients.
In just a few months, more than 4,000 of our users have been equipped with the Document Analyzer and more than 25,000 documents have been analysed to date. This is a revolution in the way lawyers analyse the documents they produce or that are sent to them.
We owe this success to the exceptional level of our team, which is at the cutting edge of technology, but also and above all to our users. The Document Analyzer is the fruit of a long reflection with them.
Doctrine tools are built with lawyers. Why is it important for you to do so? Should all legaltech be built with legal professionals?
Technology is only a tool, a means to an end. On its own, it is useless. The key to high added value is to listen to lawyers and legal professionals and to understand their problems and needs.
This is the secret of innovation. It is part of Doctrine's DNA. Implementing this principle is a constant discipline. Iteration can only be effective with the participation of users and their active listening.
For example, we have integrated parliamentary documents into ourlegal intelligence platform. They are a very rich source of information for legal professionals as they allow them to understand the legislator's intention. We have spoken to hundreds of lawyers and legal professionals to understand why and how they use them. But they are notoriously underused.
Why? Because they are terribly difficult to access, scattered between the sites of the National Assembly and the Senate, not at all optimised for a quick search and especially for monitoring future developments or those under debate. These numerous exchanges allowed us to understand how we could bring them value by integrating them into Doctrine.
It is the 18-month investment of a leading Artificial Intelligenceteam which is largely bearing fruit. Yesterday it took hours, today it takes a few minutes... our clients are won over and ask for more.
Did you read our last article? 👀 7 points to remember from the Barometer of French Legaltechs 🇫🇷
The latest study by France Digitale reveals that the potential of the legaltech sector has never been so strong, and that French legaltech is expected to generate more than €100 million in turnover by 2022. How do you explain this hypergrowth? Do you see any obstacles to the development of the market?
The reason is directly linked to the previous question: it is innovation. How to respond to business issues with technological solutions. Before the boom of 2016, few innovations were offered to legal professionals. This created an opportunity for all the legaltechs that launched themselves, such as Hyperlex or Doctrine.
Today, legaltech companies offer mature, proven solutions that appeal to legal professionals looking to save time and improve analysis.
The growth of legatechs in France is evidence of the modernisation of legal professionals and is excellent news for the rule of law and for litigants.
According to the study, 82% of French legaltechs have at least one lawyer in their capital and 41% have at least one of their managers who is a lawyer. Why are lawyers at the heart of the growth of legaltech?
Lawyers are entrepreneurs. Competition is important in the world of lawyers and these entrepreneurial values are essential to distinguish oneself and to get started. From that moment on, it is normal for this profession to be at the forefront of innovation.
Some extend this commitment by putting innovation at the service of their colleagues or litigants by combining new technologies and the law. The dynamism of an association such as Avotech, which brings together entrepreneurial lawyers, bears witness to the entrepreneurial vitality of the profession.
What can we wish for Doctrine in 2022, beyond continuing its magnificent rise?
To continue to bring real added value to lawyers and jurists! At Doctrine, I am fortunate to be surrounded by a team of entrepreneurs who have come together to solve a major democratic problem: access to law.
But beyond our platform, it is essential for us to commit ourselves to making the law more accessible. This is the meaning of our mission.
In 2021, we have decided to support the most emblematic association of lawyers: Avocats Sans Frontières France. Why should we do this? Because there is no access to law without access to a lawyer.
No effective defence without access to legal information. Avocats Sans Frontières France and Doctrine share values and a common vision of access to law. 1% of our turnover is donated to Avocat Sans Frontières France to finance their projects and to work wherever it is useful to establish and strengthen the rule of law. We are immensely proud of this and encourage all those who wish to support them to visit unpourcent.doctrine.fr
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