If fixed fees capture productivity, Falcon tests hourly billing

On 2026-10-02, Wim Dejonghe was reported to be launching Falcon, an AI-native law firm backed by a fixed-fee model. Non-Billable describes Dejonghe as a former A&O boss and says the model is aimed at companies priced out of Big Law. Legaltech News reports that former A&O and Freshfields lawyers launched AI-native European firms, with Falcon's founders arguing against the traditional billable hour.

The launch matters because a fixed fee gives the firm a way to sell a finished matter without making fewer hours a direct loss of revenue. Hourly billing turns AI productivity into lost revenue when AI reduces the labor a matter needs. Falcon's stated model therefore points in the direction of an AI-native legal business: the client pays for the work, while the provider has room to benefit from delivering that work with less labor. That is the commercial logic behind the billable hour's problem, not merely a change in how an invoice is formatted.

Falcon's launch establishes a business entering the market with fixed fees and a stated target of companies priced out of Big Law. It does not establish that Falcon already delivers legal work faster, at lower cost, or with better outcomes than an hourly firm. Non-Billable says Dejonghe is backing the model, while Legaltech News reports that the founders argue the billable hour rewards time spent rather than problems solved and makes it nearly impossible for traditional firms to embrace AI-driven efficiency. Those are the rationale and the design choice. The stronger claim would require Falcon to disclose actual matters showing the fee, the work delivered, the labor used, and the resulting client outcome; neither report supplies those measures.

The next confirming fact would be a Falcon matter with a disclosed fixed fee and enough detail to compare the work delivered with the labor required and the client result. A pattern of such matters would show that the model captures productivity rather than simply renames a conventional service. A launch without that pricing and delivery information leaves the billable-hour critique persuasive as a design argument, but untested as an operating result. We will score Falcon on those matter-level numbers, not on the promise of a fixed-fee model alone.