The launch of Westlaw Precision Australia with AI-Assisted Research will build on existing Westlaw Australia content with generative AI capabilities.

The advanced platform enables lawyers to search a comprehensive collection of Australian primary law, including authorised law reports – and the launch of the platform was driven by Thomson Reuters’ “build, buy, partner” strategy, which aims to bring gen AI solutions to customers.

Jackie Rhodes, managing director for Thomson Reuters, Asia and emerging markets, said the platform would jump start legal professionals’ research.

“We are proud to provide our customers with a leading technology that is trustworthy, authoritative, and fit for purpose,” she said.

“Our customers can now tap into our proprietary content using large language models within a platform encompassing the content sets that every local lawyer needs to service clients.”

Westlaw Precision Australia with AI-Assisted Research offers customers a conversational user experience to simplify and accelerate legal research, added James Jarvis, Legal Solutions vice president for Thomson Reuters, Asia and emerging markets.

“With Westlaw Precision Australia, lawyers can simply ask their research question as they would with a trusted colleague. Westlaw Precision Australia uses sophisticated AI technology to review the Thomson Reuters’ vast collection of millions of Australian primary law documents at superhuman speed,” he said.

“Our large language models answer questions based on statistical analysis of language patterns and trusted content. The process enables lawyers to conduct research more efficiently. Lawyers can use Westlaw Precision Australia as part of a thorough, consistent, and repeatable research process.”

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The platform also features the KeyCite Cited With function, which allows Westlaw Precision Australia users to find cases that are cited together by other cases even though they don’t cite each other.

“Without the use of AI-Assisted Research, such a process can take hours, whereas KeyCite Cited With takes a few seconds,” said Jarvis.

“Litigators will find this feature beneficial, as it saves a tremendous amount of time, while ensuring they haven’t missed recent or in-depth analysis of judgments.”

Customer feedback on the program has been positive thus far, after an initial announcement in March this year – with one barrister estimating a time saving of 30 per cent and another lawyer conducting more than two hours of research in five minutes.