Thomson Reuters, which owns Reuters and Westlaw's legal research database, is among the competitors for legal industry market share. On Monday it launched a proprietary large language model called Thomson 1.0 that is trained on its legal research content and built for professional work. It said the model is built on open-source technology and draws on decades of its own "authoritative" legal content.
Google said its platform will connect directly and securely to other legal technology platforms owned by Thomson Reuters, legal AI software developer Harvey, data analytics and technology company LexisNexis and others.
Law firms are rapidly adopting generative AI tools that can assist with legal research, draft filings and perform other legal tasks. Many are also using AI for business operations like client and case management, seeking to cut costs and improve efficiency.
Google's new offering is designed to be flexible for law firms, said Amrita Mehrok, a Google Cloud product director at the company, allowing them to choose among AI models embedded in the platform.
Some large law firms have formed strategic partnerships with AI providers and in some instances are building their own AI platforms. Google said Weil Gotshal, Cleary Gottlieb, Freshfields and Williams & Connolly are among a group of firms collaborating with it on Gemini Enterprise for Legal.
Weil Gotshal’s co-managing partner Jonathon Soler in an interview said clients increasingly expect their lawyers to be using AI and taking advantage of its efficiencies.
Cleary Gottlieb managing partner Jeffrey Karpf said the firm's collaboration with Google would allow it to "be involved in the creation of useful tools for law firms deploying AI."
