The legal profession is on the cusp of a significant transformation as major players Thomson Reuters and LexisNexis unveil sophisticated generative AI assistants. These new tools promise to revolutionise legal research, drafting, and workflow management, aiming to provide lawyers with personalised, intelligent support.
Key Takeaways
- Thomson Reuters launches CoCounsel Legal, featuring agentic AI and deep research capabilities, alongside a new version of Westlaw.
- LexisNexis envisions every lawyer having a personalised AI assistant, focusing on "courtroom-grade AI" with enhanced security and accuracy.
- Both companies are integrating AI deeply into their existing platforms, moving beyond simple chatbots to more complex workflow automation.
Thomson Reuters' Next-Generation Legal AI
Thomson Reuters has significantly advanced its AI offerings with the introduction of CoCounsel Legal. This platform moves beyond basic prompt-response interactions to employ "agentic AI" – systems capable of planning, reasoning, and executing complex, multi-step legal tasks. A key feature is "Deep Research," an AI system designed to conduct comprehensive legal research using Westlaw’s proprietary tools. Unlike traditional AI that summarises search results, Deep Research creates research plans, executes them iteratively, and delivers detailed reports with transparent reasoning.
CoCounsel Legal also introduces "guided workflows" that automate complete legal tasks, such as drafting complaints or reviewing deposition transcripts. These workflows combine legal expertise with AI, guiding users through processes and offering first drafts for review. Thomson Reuters has also launched Westlaw Advantage, a new version of its legal research platform, which will now be delivered via a continuous update model, eliminating the need for new commercial contracts for future upgrades.
LexisNexis' Vision for Personalised Legal AI
LexisNexis is pursuing a vision where "every lawyer will have a personalized AI assistant." Their Protégé AI platform is central to this strategy, aiming to automate a significant portion of legal tasks by 2028. LexisNexis emphasizes the development of "courtroom-grade AI," built on six core principles: grounding in authoritative legal content, verifiable source citations, continuous updates, bias mitigation, and robust security and privacy. This approach aims to provide lawyers with AI tools they can trust in high-stakes legal environments.
Protégé is being integrated across LexisNexis products and is expanding geographically. The company has also introduced Protégé General AI, a secure workspace allowing lawyers to access general-purpose AI models alongside legal-specific tools. This dual approach allows for both specialised legal work and broader creative or exploratory tasks, with clear toggles between legal and general AI functionalities. LexisNexis is committed to a selective approach to AI models, choosing the best tool for each use case rather than simply adopting the latest release.
Sources
- Thomson Reuters debuts generative AI assistant for Australia’s legal profession, Australasian Lawyer.
- Thomson Reuters Launches CoCounsel Legal with Agentic AI and Deep Research Capabilities, Along with A New and
‘Final’ Version of Westlaw, LawSites. - Major Thomson Reuters News: Westlaw Gets Generative AI Research Plus Integration with Casetext CoCounsel; Gen
AI Coming Soon to Practical Law, LawSites. - LexisNexis: Every Lawyer Will Have A Personalized AI Assistant, LawSites.
