Willkie Farr: Drives Lexis+ Protégé Adoption with Grounded AI

• Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP adopted Lexis+ with Protégé firmwide after building its in-house AI platform, Wendell Intelligence.
• The firm's AI strategy emphasizes grounded legal data, ensuring all AI-generated responses link to authoritative, reviewable sources with clickable citations.
• Todd Friedlich, Director of AI & Innovation, stresses that successful AI adoption requires deep integration into daily workflows to deliver true value.
• The LexisNexis Protégé integration streamlines legal data requests, providing attorneys with seamless access to trusted content from the Lexis library.
• Willkie is implementing AI workflows in areas like due diligence and deposition analysis to free attorneys from repetitive tasks and improve their quality of life.

Innovation without adoption is really just theory.

Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP embarked on a deliberate journey to integrate artificial intelligence into its legal practice, prioritizing a robust foundational approach for successful implementation. The international law firm initiated this process by developing its proprietary AI orchestration platform, Wendell Intelligence. This in-house system served as the crucial precursor to their subsequent firmwide adoption of Lexis+ with Protégé, a move central to their overarching Willkie Farr legal AI strategy focused on human-centered and grounded AI solutions.

Todd Friedlich, Willkie's Director of AI & Innovation, brings over two decades of experience in legal technology, spanning from early knowledge management systems to contemporary AI-driven workflows. His philosophy underscores the necessity of deep integration for any new technology to yield genuine value. Friedlich emphasizes that even the most advanced tools are ineffective if not actively utilized by attorneys and staff, highlighting that "Innovation without adoption is really just theory." This perspective guided the firm's decision to partner with LexisNexis, recognizing the significant potential in integrating the Protégé APIs with the comprehensive Lexis+ platform, a system already familiar and favored by their legal professionals.

A cornerstone of Willkie's AI philosophy is the unwavering commitment to grounded legal data. In the demanding environment of legal practice, where accuracy and verifiability are paramount, the firm meticulously ensures that every AI-generated response is directly linked to authoritative and reviewable sources. This critical requirement is precisely where the LexisNexis Protégé integration with Lexis+ proves indispensable, providing legal professionals with immediate access to trusted and citable legal content.

Attorneys at Willkie Farr demand that every answer they receive from AI tools includes a clickable citation. This functionality allows them to easily navigate to the underlying document, review the source material, and independently verify the information's accuracy. Through the integration of Lexis+ with Protégé into Wendell Intelligence, all legal data requests are seamlessly routed to Protégé. This system efficiently identifies the most pertinent source within the extensive Lexis content library to address each query, thereby streamlining the information-gathering process. This sophisticated setup eliminates the need for attorneys to switch between disparate systems to collect and validate information, offering a more efficient and unified user experience.

The firm's expanding adoption of AI workflows, including applications in areas such as due diligence and deposition analysis, is systematically standardizing best practices and reducing variability in how attorneys interact with these advanced tools. This initiative forms a key component of Willkie's broader commitment to human-centered AI, which aims to liberate legal professionals from mundane, repetitive tasks. By automating these processes, attorneys can dedicate their valuable time and expertise to more complex and impactful aspects of their work.

This strategic approach is designed to significantly enhance the quality of life for both associates and partners. The focus extends beyond merely automating document creation; it involves identifying and automating simple tasks that offer minimal value to clients and bring little professional satisfaction to attorneys. Willkie Farr is actively building processes intended to improve both the work experience and overall well-being of its legal staff, demonstrating a forward-thinking law firm AI implementation strategy that prioritizes both efficiency and human flourishing. The Willkie Farr Lexis+ Protégé adoption serves as a compelling case study for the industry, underscoring the benefits of thoughtful AI integration.

This article provides a practical case study for law firms and legal departments on successful AI adoption, highlighting the critical importance of integrating AI tools with trusted, verifiable legal content sources to ensure accuracy and attorney confidence, and emphasizing user-centric design for effective implementation.

Source: Original reporting via LexisNexis case study