Six Partners Depart Herzog Law Firm to Launch AI-Native Practice

Six partners from the Israeli law firm Herzog, Fox & Neeman have left to establish their own independent firm, focusing on an AI-Native model. The departing partners include Guy Neeman, head of White Collar and Special Solutions, and Lilach Keinan, manager of Special Solutions.

This move follows significant shifts in the global legal industry, exemplified by Kirkland & Ellis's $500 million investment in proprietary AI platforms. The new Israeli firm, Neeman-Keinan & Co., founded by Neeman and Keinan in 2011 and merged with Herzog in 2023, aims to disrupt the traditional law firm pyramid structure.

Professor Barak Orbach, an expert in law, business, and AI governance, is joining as a senior advisor and Chief AI Officer. The firm will operate on a Partner-led, Low-leverage, and Senior-leverage model, where approximately 80% of its lawyers will be partners or senior associates. This structure leverages technology to enhance the senior team's research, analysis, and information processing capabilities, reducing the need for extensive junior staff.

A technology company, CIDAH, will operate alongside the law firm, developing AI infrastructure, intelligent agents, and Big Data processing systems for business intelligence. CIDAH will offer technological products and services to corporate, legal, and financial sectors.

The new firm will concentrate on corporate and commercial litigation, corporate governance, securities, white-collar defense, and special solutions, serving clients both in Israel and internationally. Neeman and Keinan stated that their model is not merely AI-assisted but AI-Native, with technology as a foundational element rather than an add-on, enabling unprecedented speed, depth, and scale.