We’ve seen new model law firms proliferate in the US and UK, and now here’s one in the Netherlands: Driven Lawyers, created by Jelle Drok and Arvid van Oorschot. Drok was a partner at Freshfields until recently, meanwhile van Oorschot was a partner at local firm Vondst and also spent over six years at Freshfields before that.
The Amsterdam-based NewMod specialises in commercial disputes, intellectual property law, and contract and liability law. It focuses on preventing and resolving complex legal problems for businesses, they added.
Co-founder Drok commented in terms of the firm’s raison d’être: ‘We’d rather be among the people building AI, than among the people holding meetings about it.’
They underlined that they are ‘a law firm in which technology and AI are integrated into the work and the operation as fully as possible – not merely as a tool, but as the very basis of the way of working’.
And that’s very much in the new model spirit.
They are also very much about fixed fees as well – again another key pillar of the new model movement.
As they explain: ‘Every case has recognisable patterns, but also often unforeseen or unpredictable factors. We know that process inside out. Because we have automated part of the process, our analysis of the expected time involved is sharper. We rely on our experience to estimate the remaining steps, and we understand where the value lies for the client.
‘A fixed price is therefore not a discount offer. It is the logical consequence of a thorough understanding of the approach that leads to results.’
They have also built their own tech capabilities. For example, they added that the technical core of Driven Lawyers is the Driven Drafter, a software platform the founders have developed themselves over the past year.
In it, they have embedded their knowledge in the form of frameworks, which they use to draft documents by ‘sparring’ with the system. It is a controlled environment in which every statement is anchored to a directly verifiable source. This allows AI to be deployed responsibly on behalf of clients. And that leads to higher quality and lower costs, they explained.
Drok noted: ‘The added value of our system is that it safely combines our legal domain knowledge and experience with the best AI available.’
This meant, he added, that ‘the lawyers are therefore both developers and users’.
Van Oorschot concluded: ‘We wanted to know what a law firm would look like if you set it up today, from scratch, using today’s technical possibilities. The only way to answer that question was to actually go and do it.’
Congratulations to them!
Is this a big deal?
Well, we have seen a ton of new model law firms come to market since the start of 2026 and there seems to be no slowing down. In fact, there are many more arriving – and AL knows of one more that will make a splash very soon which has a very famous lawyer involved.
This one is notable for two reasons: first, these are partner-level founders, and one was a partner at Freshfields – both a global and Magic Circle law firm; and second, it’s in Holland – proof that the approach is now spreading into Europe.
When AL wrote this site’s predictions for 2026 back in Christmas last year, one key belief was that new model law firms would grow and grow. And here we are. They certainly have increased in number!
Why is this?
For AL and many of the founders the answer is simple – and in turn another question: in a world where AI is real, how should one structure a law firm today?
More about Driven Lawyers here.
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Legal Innovators UK – Nov 4 and 5 / Legal Innovators New York – Nov 17 and 18
Cosmonauts have now opened Express Registration for Legal Innovators UK and New York. This means that if you are at a law firm or at an inhouse legal team you can now zoom directly to your tickets – which are complimentary as long as you qualify.
For London – Nov 4 and 5, at the Minster Building, see here:
And, for New York – Nov 17 and 18 – Midtown, please see here:
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