Dentons has named Marie Bernard as the new CEO of Nextlaw Labs, an accelerator of early-stage technology startups focused on the legal industry.

Bernard, will be based in Berlin, was previously Dentons’ European director of innovation. She replaces the current chief executive of Nextlaw Labs and Nextlaw Ventures, Dan Jansen, who will now focus purely on Nextlaw Ventures as CEO.

Jansen will however, continue to remain involved with Nextlaw Labs as a strategic advisor and will continue to manage relationships with Nextlaw’s portfolio companies.

In her new role, Bernard will work closely with Dentons' leadership in developing Nextlaw Labs 2.0 and design, develop and deliver innovations-as-a-service to the firm’s clients.

Dentons launched Nextlaw Labs in 2015 as an autonomous, wholly-owned subsidiary dedicated to developing and deploying new technologies that transform the business and practice of law.