Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters buys Casetext to bring GPT-4-based CoCounsel to its legal products
In June 2023 Thomson Reuters agreed to buy Casetext for $650 million in cash. Casetext's CoCounsel, an AI legal assistant powered by GPT-4, was the core of the deal. The company said it has committed more than $100 million a year to AI.
Key figures
Copied exactly from the sources. Copy any figure with its citation.
$650 million
Acquisition price for Casetext (cash)1
more than 10,000
Casetext customers (law firms and corporate legal departments)1
more than 2 billion
Words processed per day by CoCounsel, per the release1
more than $100 million
Yearly AI investment Thomson Reuters has committed1
What it took
Cost, team size and timeline were not disclosed in the sources.
The problem
Legal research and review tools had to prove they could use generative AI safely, or lose ground to new entrants. Thomson Reuters, a long-time supplier of legal research, needed a fast route to a working assistant.
What they built
CoCounsel is an AI legal assistant launched in 2023 and powered by OpenAI's GPT-4. According to the release, it handles document review, legal research memos, deposition preparation and contract analysis. Thomson Reuters agreed to buy its maker, Casetext, to bring it into its own products.
How they did it
Thomson Reuters described its approach as "build, partner and buy." Casetext, a company founded in 2013 with 104 employees, had been given early access to GPT-4 and used it to build and refine legal use cases. Thomson Reuters had also launched a plugin with Microsoft for Microsoft 365 Copilot for legal professionals.
Results
The release states a $650 million cash price, more than 10,000 customers at Casetext and more than 2 billion words processed per day by CoCounsel. Thomson Reuters said it has committed more than $100 million a year to AI. The sources report the deal and the product, not user outcomes.
Lessons for your project
Buy when a startup has early model access and proven users. Casetext had early access to GPT-4 and built CoCounsel before the deal.
Name your strategy and fund it. The CEO called it build, partner and buy, backed by a stated yearly AI budget.
Define the assistant's jobs narrowly: document review, research memos, deposition prep and contract analysis.
Caveats
- The release gives no outcome data for CoCounsel users, such as time saved or accuracy. The figures describe deal size and usage volume.
- The deal was announced as pending regulatory approval; this case covers the announcement and product, not integration results.
Sources
- Thomson Reuters Corporation Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Casetext
Thomson Reuters · 2023-06-26 · Press release · thomsonreuters.com
- Thomson Reuters doubles down on AI with Casetext acquisition
Legal Dive · 2023-06-29 · News · legaldive.com
Summarized in our own words from the sources above. Spotted an error? See corrections.