Doctrine (company)
| Industry | Legal information |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2016 in Paris |
| Founder | Nicolas Bustamante, Antoine Dusséaux, and River Champeimont |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | France, Italy, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain |
| Website | www |
Doctrine (also known as Doctrine.fr) is a French startup created in 2016. Doctrine uses artificial intelligence to centralise legal information and make it accessible to legal professionals via a legal search engine on case law and legislation.
History
Doctrine was created in June 2016 by Nicolas Bustamante, Antoine Dusséaux, and River Champeimont.[1][2][3]
In 2020, Doctrine launched the "Document Analyzer" feature, which detects and enriches legal sources in documents.[4]
In April 2023, the company announced that it would be acquired by the investment funds Summit Partners and Peugeot Invest for more than €100 million.[5][3][6]
In December 2023, Doctrine announced its acquisition of Jobexit, marking the company's first acquisition.[7]
In 2024, Doctrine expanded into Italy.[8] That same year, it received coaching from the CNIL on GDPR and signed a partnership agreement with the Paris Bar.[9][10][11]
In 2025, Doctrine entered the German market with a minority investment in legal information provider Dejure and in 2026, Doctrine expanded to Spain by acquiring Spanish legal information provider Maite.[12]
Business model
The search engine relies on algorithms and artificial intelligence[13][14] and is commercialised on a subscription-based model.[15][16]
Legal proceedings
In 2018, Doctrine was sued by its competitors LexisNexis, Dalloz, Wolters Kulwer France, Lexbase and Lextenso for unfair competition. In February 2023, the Tribunal de commerce de Paris ruled in favour of Doctrine on the merits, rejecting the publishers' claims and ordering them to pay €50,000 in damages for abusive proceedings (the legal publishers have appealed, and the proceedings are ongoing).[17][18] Typosquatting charges were brought against Doctrine in 2018 and dismissed in 2022.[19][11] In 2022, Doctrine sued France before the European Court of Human Rights to gain access to the Tribunal de Paris' decisions.[20]
Leadership
CEO
- Nicolas Bustamante (2016–2020)
- Guillaume Carrère (since 2020).[21]
References
- ^ "Doctrine lève 10 millions pour son moteur de recherche juridique". Les Echos (Entrepreneurs). 29 June 2018. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Rauline, Nicolas (13 October 2016). "Doctrine affole les compteurs de l'amorçage". Les Échos.
- ^ a b "Legaltech : Doctrine rachetée par le fonds américain Summit Partners". Les Echos (in French). 11 April 2023. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Rochefort, Mathilde (22 September 2020). "Doctrine, l'entreprise de legaltech qui révolutionne le monde juridique français". Siècle Digital (in French). Archived from the original on 9 December 2023. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ Demarle, Xavier (28 February 2023). "Summit Partners négocie le rachat de Doctrine". l'Informé (in French). Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ Digitale, Usine (11 April 2023). "La legaltech française Doctrine rachetée par le fonds américain Summit Partners" [The French legaltech Doctrine bought by the American fund Summit Partners]. L'Usine Digitale (in French).
- ^ "Doctrine annonce sa toute première acquisition" [Doctrine announces its very first acquisition]. mesinfos (in French). 21 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2024.
- ^ "Jus Mundi, la start-up qui monte dans la legaltech française". Les Echos (in French). 11 September 2024. Archived from the original on 17 September 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ Vitard, Alice (23 September 2024). "RGPD : Docaposte, Doctrine, la Française des Jeux et ShareID bénéficient du soutien renforcé de la Cnil". Usine Digitale (in French).
- ^ Manach, Jean-Marc (24 September 2024). "La CNIL offre un " accompagnement renforcé " à Docaposte, Doctrine, la FDJ et ShareID". Next.ink (in French). Archived from the original on 26 September 2024. Retrieved 24 September 2024.
- ^ a b Wong, Camille (17 October 2024). "Doctrine, le " Google du droit " signe avec le Barreau de Paris". Les Échos. Archived from the original on 12 November 2024. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
- ^ "Doctrine grows European presence with acquisition of Spanish AI platform Maite". www.globallegalpost.com. Retrieved 20 March 2026.
- ^ Bregeras, Guillaume (29 June 2018). "Doctrine en passe d'imposer son moteur de recherche". Les Échos. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
- ^ Matarin, Yann (20 December 2017). "Doctrine.fr : l'intelligence artificielle au service des juristes". Capital.fr (in French). Retrieved 12 September 2024.
- ^ Rees, Marc (11 March 2016). "Doctrine.fr, le moteur qui ambitionne de devenir le Google du droit". Next (in French). Archived from the original on 19 June 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ de Senneville, Valérie (22 March 2017). "Quand les algorithmes entrent dans les prétoires". Les Echos (in French). Retrieved 29 August 2024.
- ^ "Cinq éditeurs juridiques condamnés pour procédure abusive contre le site Doctrine.fr". Le Figaro (in French). 23 February 2023. Archived from the original on 27 August 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "Affaire Doctrine.fr : cinq éditeurs font appel". Livres Hebdo (in French). Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ Chaperon, Isabelle (5 August 2019). "L'information juridique en procès". Le Monde (in French). Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ Vitard, Alice (28 June 2022). "Doctrine s'en remet à la justice européenne pour nourrir son moteur de recherche juridique". L'Usine Digitale (in French). Archived from the original on 3 September 2024. Retrieved 13 December 2024.
- ^ "Doctrine.fr se réorganise sous l'égide du nouveau DG Guillaume Carrère". La Lettre (in French). 8 December 2020. Archived from the original on 29 August 2024. Retrieved 29 August 2024.