Adrien Basdevant, partner and founder of Entropy, a law firm specializing in cutting-edge technologies, seems to be driven by a performative force. Inspired by the likes of Larry Lessig, Gilles Deleuze and Kobe Bryant, Basdevant sees tech law as a creative universe in which individual freedoms have yet to be transposed.
On a Friday afternoon, Adrien Basdevant walks into the Marais tea room in Paris where we had agreed to meet. Amid the amber Halloween decor, dotted with Harry Potter relics, the attorney smiles and begins his story.
Family flame
What follows is a reflective and humorous conversation, where Basdevant talks about philosophers like Spinoza, Deleuze, and Foucault, as much as about his family members. His great-grandfather was a member of the French Resistance and President of the International Court of Justice, while his grandfather was an ambassador. Men of conviction, strong and humble who, although he never met them, have left a significant imprint on his imagination and sparked his sense of public service.
From an early age, the legal profession, while not eminently creative, seemed to him to offer the possibility of "creating one's own margin within the norm". Adrien Basdevant relishes the challenge of "crafting a professional life that explores various realms", at the intersection of theory and practice where "deep reading helps deliver tangible results". Equally keen on mathematics as on humanities, he pursued the ESSEC curriculum alongside his law studies. His favorite field? Digital law, where "all the philosophical questions of freedom, identity and property are thoroughly reexamined". At the library, he came across The Future of Ideas by Lawrence Lessig, professor of constitutional law at Harvard. For the student, this serves as a bridge to the digital world. Its author, a thinker and man of action, has advanced public policy in the United States through comprehensive publications, writings like "Code is Law", and by founding the Berkman Klein Center, an interdisciplinary haven dedicated to cyberspace. Inspired by Lessig's pragmatic approach, Adrien begins to envision a future of digital rights litigation for individuals and the protection of social values.
Time and space
The tech world is moving fast. Perhaps too fast, as evidenced by the flurry of notifications he receives during our interview. Yet, he thrives on "addressing the pain points of a decision-maker entering a new field of activity". His ability to meet each of his clients' needs, making the complexities of different technologies accessible, marks him as a lawyer who strives to be "a polyglot and a diplomat".
Throughout the day, he sets aside time to immerse himself in the latest technologies. This former member of the Conseil National du Numérique (French National Digital Council) discusses "incompressible time, essential for thinking, broadening one's general knowledge, and understanding societal issues." His rabbit holes are studded with white papers, as well as series such as The Wire, The Sopranos, Le Bureau des légendes and Engrenages. This balanced approach enabled him to draft, upon three Minsters requests, a report on the metaverse just as his daughter was born. "You're never completely free of your time", he shares with a smile. Yet, he finds ways to disconnect, "simply by looking into the eyes of his children" or with electronic music "through noise-canceling headphones and a grainy sound."
"You must put yourself in a position to seize the opportunities when they arise"
With an enthusiastic shrug, Adrien Basdevant declares: "To do fun stuff, you have to get a hell of a move on." He recalls his first association proposal: "Very quickly, I was given a chance." He nuances, however: "But you have to create your own chances. You have to put yourself in a position to seize the opportunities when they arise". However, to think everything always goes his way would be a misconception. On the one hand, the lawyer admits his culinary failures. On the other hand, he doesn't set overly precise goals for his career.
This father of two admits he "doesn't know where he'll be in five or ten years" and imagines "an infinity of possibilities." For someone "with so much left to undertake", he believes "individuals have potential", akin to Spinoza's conatus (Latin for "effort; endeavor; impulse, inclination, striving", an innate inclination of a thing to continue to exist and enhance itself) suggesting everyone should strive to continue their existence. A daily quest where getting lost sometimes is part of the journey.
Energy to entropy
"To regain energy, one must expend energy", he declares while enjoying a carrot cake. For this fan and former soccer player, who regrets sometimes neglecting sport, moving forward requires "spending more time in one's body." This principle, among others that "we know but fail to apply", represents "habits we struggle to embed into our daily routines." His mantra? "You can have everything, but not all at once" he explains with a smile.
His book, “The Empire of Data" (“L'Empire des données”), published in 2018, sets out his vision of the digital world. A vision that is now being deployed, particularly in generative AI issues. "Ten years ago, I couldn't predict how these matters would develop. However, I've placed myself in a position to flourish amidst these challenges." For the past six years, Adrien Basdevant has nurtured the idea of a national digital prosecutor's office, aimed at tracking data trails and facilitating a higher volume of digital cases being adjudicated. "Every day, we have the opportunity to bring about something different, to forge new values in new circumstances." An unbearably light momentum towards the digital frontier.
This text is a free translation of Décideurs' portrait of Adrien Basdevant for Décideurs’ 2024 Special Report on Rising Stars in Business Law.