OpenAI and Willkie Farr & Gallagher are collaborating to develop and deploy AI tools, marking OpenAI's first major legal industry announcement since hiring the founder of a prominent legal tech company. The partnership aims to leverage Willkie's attorney expertise and OpenAI's models to create custom AI solutions for the legal sector.
TL;DR
- OpenAI and Willkie Farr & Gallagher are collaborating to develop AI tools for the legal industry.
- The partnership focuses on cost-efficiency and customization, with Willkie rolling out ChatGPT Enterprise and developing the Wendell Intelligence AI platform.
- This collaboration is part of a broader trend of Big Law firms investing in AI to stay competitive and meet client demands.
What happened
OpenAI and Willkie Farr & Gallagher have announced a collaboration to develop and deploy AI tools for the legal industry. This partnership follows OpenAI's hiring of Jason Boehmig, the founder of Ironclad, to build products for lawyers.
Willkie will roll out ChatGPT Enterprise across the firm and use OpenAI models to further develop the Wendell Intelligence AI platform. The firm also plans to build AI platforms that connect across multiple tools for clients.
The collaboration is driven by Willkie's need to be cost-efficient as AI use rises. John Elbasan, chief digital and information officer at Willkie, emphasized the importance of efficiency in building AI capabilities.
Why it matters
This partnership highlights the growing interest of tech giants and Big Law firms in leveraging AI to enhance legal services. It follows similar collaborations between Freshfields and Anthropic, and Dentons and OpenAI.
The collaboration underscores the trend of law firms investing in AI to stay competitive and meet client demands. Firms are weighing whether to buy AI tools from outside vendors or build their own capabilities.
For developers and startups, this partnership signals a growing market for AI tools in the legal industry. It also highlights the potential for custom AI solutions built on unique data to offer long-term payoffs.
Key facts
- OpenAI and Willkie Farr & Gallagher are collaborating to develop AI tools for the legal industry.
- Willkie will roll out ChatGPT Enterprise across the firm and use OpenAI models to develop the Wendell Intelligence AI platform.
- The partnership is driven by Willkie's need to be cost-efficient as AI use rises.
- Jason Boehmig, the Ironclad founder hired by OpenAI, described the collaboration as at the 'cutting edge' of OpenAI's work with the legal industry.
- Willkie has previously rolled out legal tech systems Harvey and LexisNexis' AI platform Protégé.
- The firm's attorneys are heavy users of Harvey, and Willkie will continue to buy AI tools when it makes sense.
- Custom tools built on unique data offer a bigger payoff long-term than the efficiency gains generally focused on with AI.
- The collaboration is part of a broader trend of Big Law firms investing in AI to stay competitive and meet client demands.
Context
This collaboration is part of a broader trend of tech giants and Big Law firms investing in AI to enhance legal services. Similar partnerships include Freshfields and Anthropic, and Dentons and OpenAI.
Law firms are increasingly pushing out press releases about AI innovation to impress clients who hope to reap the gains of the technology. OpenAI and Anthropic's AI peers, such as Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, are also betting that lawyers will become a profitable class of AI power users.
The partnership highlights the growing market for AI tools in the legal industry and the potential for custom AI solutions built on unique data to offer long-term payoffs.