WongPartnership & Thomson Reuters launch AI legal trial in Asia

WongPartnership and Thomson Reuters have entered into a strategic partnership to develop and deploy AI-driven legal solutions across Southeast Asia.

The partnership involves a Proof of Concept (POC) centred on CoCounsel, a generative AI assistant designed specifically for legal professionals. WongPartnership will work with the product to streamline processes such as legal research, data extraction, and summarisation.

The law firm will start by utilising CoCounsel's integrations with Thomson Reuters' platforms, including Westlaw Edge UK and Practical Law. These platforms are widely used in the legal profession for their comprehensive content and are now being extended with AI capabilities aimed at addressing both practical and ethical concerns unique to Southeast Asia's legal environment.

Ng Wai King, Chairman and Managing Partner of WongPartnership LLP, said, "As a firm, we are committed to leveraging advanced technology to enhance legal practice. The comprehensive functionalities of CoCounsel, coupled with the trust we have in Thomson Reuters' proven legal content, present a significant opportunity for us to work with them on fine-tuning the generative AI offerings for the local market and help shape their impact."

The scope of the POC encompasses transactional and disputes-related legal work. WongPartnership's lawyers will be able to provide feedback on CoCounsel's AI-assisted research capabilities and question-and-answer functions, with the aim of reducing time spent on repetitive tasks. This initiative seeks to boost productivity and efficiency within the firm and act as a potential blueprint for integrating AI solutions across the legal sector.

The collaboration is positioned to help define standards for the safe and practical application of AI in legal practice in the region. Thomson Reuters and WongPartnership view this as a key step in ensuring that AI tools meet the profession's requirements, both in terms of utility and compliance with ethical standards.

Carsten Rosenkranz, Senior Director, Asia and Emerging Markets at Thomson Reuters, said, "WongPartnership has long been a valued client and partner of Thomson Reuters in the Asia-Pacific region, and we are excited to further solidify this relationship. Underpinned by the Trust Principles, Thomson Reuters is committed to ensuring the safe and reliable use of generative AI by the legal industry. Annually, we are investing over USD $200 million in integrating responsible AI across our flagship content and technology. This strategy ensures that our cutting-edge solutions are built and trained on our trusted, proprietary content and led by human experts with deep legal know-how."

The ongoing POC is expected to provide a foundation for further collaborations that combine legal expertise with technology, aiming to support the evolution of legal service delivery. WongPartnership's regional law network, made up of WPG member firms throughout Asia and the Middle East, will also be leveraged to contribute to Thomson Reuters' understanding of various legal markets.

Thomson Reuters intends to gather insights from WongPartnership's regional network spanning countries such as China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, among others. These insights will be used to inform future product development and localisation efforts.

According to representatives from both organisations, the partnership is intended not only to enhance WongPartnership's internal operations but also to provide wider benefits to clients by refining the application of AI in legal practice across the region.