An interview with Norie Campbell, Chief Legal Officer and Company Secretary, Thomson Reuters
Norie Campbell joined Thomson Reuters in August 2023, as Chief Legal Officer at the time the company acquired CaseText, owner of CoCounsel. Her remit spans legal, risk, compliance, privacy, government affairs, and social impact, placing her at the centre of how the business navigates complexity, not just as an advisor, but as a strategic partner.
Operating in a “customer zero” model, Norie and her team are among the first to test and apply AI inside the General Counsel’s Office (GCO), embedding it directly into day-to-day legal workflows. In this conversation, Norie shares what it takes for legal teams to operate as strategic partners in an AI-driven world: the operating model shifts, the metrics that matter, and the leadership challenges that come with it.
Q: Your role spans far beyond traditional legal counsel. How has the CLO function evolved?
Norie: The role is really expanding, and I think that’s happening because the operating environment has become significantly more complex. There’s geopolitical uncertainty, constant change, and every leadership team is asking the same question: how do we move forward in the face of ambiguity?
That has always been a key strength of the legal mindset, taking less-than-perfect information, applying judgement, and finding a path forward with confidence. What’s changed is the expectation that legal doesn’t just advise on that path, but helps shape it. Technology is the real game changer, clearing lower‑value work and adding a “superhero” element to the practice of law.
The question now is how we combine human expertise with technology to deliver better answers, at the speed the business expects. That shift, from expert advisor to embedded partner is what defines the modern CLO role.
“Technology adds a superhero element to the practice of law. It’s not replacing what we know, it’s amplifying it.”
Q: Was there a specific moment at TR that changed how you thought about the GCO operating model?
Norie: I joined Thomson Reuters at a moment when generative AI was becoming central to how we operate as a business. Generative AI comes with legal risks that must be managed, and at the same time we were putting some of the most advanced tools in the world into the hands of lawyers.
Exploring those legal risks at exactly the same time as we were exploring what this technology unlocks for the team; that was the moment the operating model for our General Counsel Office (GCO) began to change. What changed most dramatically was speed, and speed changed everything else. The old model, where decisions were made and then run by legal, is behind us. The lawyer must be at the table when the decision is being made. That’s not just a cultural shift. It’s an operating model shift, and technology is what makes it possible to sustain it.
Q: What is the most important change in how the TR GCO operates today?
Norie: It comes down to a fundamental mindset shift. The mindset shift isn’t a moment in time. It’s ongoing. Today, that shows up in how we work day-to-day, using tools like CoCounsel as part of standard legal workflows, not as isolated experiments. And it’s what ultimately enables everything else to succeed.
Q: What can the GCO do today that simply wouldn’t have been possible before?
Norie: One of the things I’m most excited about is something I call “don’t pay for advice twice.” In a legal department, the same questions tend to resurface, but often the advice is buried in emails or held by one person.
We’ve been working on an initiative using CoCounsel to bring all of our antitrust and competition law advice together and make it available at the fingertips of the whole department. Antitrust questions cut across every lawyer’s portfolio and it’s not an easy area. If we can put a baseline understanding of prior advice into the hands of every lawyer, they’re more confident, more consistent, and better equipped to respond.
The result is more confident lawyers, better service for internal stakeholders, and less duplication of work.
There’s a second shift; freeing lawyers from low-value work. For example, an initiative we are just launching will mean when an NDA lands in our system, it arrives already redlined against our internal policy. The lawyer sees it ready for judgment, not preparation. They’re not searching precedents or revisiting standard positions, that work has already been done. It’s a huge unluck, it means the team can focus on the questions they actually went to law school to answer. And it enables legal to spend more time on higher-value, business-critical decisions.
How compliance leaders enable safe growth in an AI-driven world
Q: How are you shifting legal from a cost center to a strategic business enabler?
Norie: The thing I’m proudest of is working on new metrics with TR Institute. These guide the team toward what matters and tell our story to the organization.
At the heart of that work was a key question: why do legal departments so often measure themselves in ways that diminish their impact? Legal has a much more important story to tell. We put our whole leadership team through metrics masterclasses.
For example, more than half of my team supports go-to-market activity, particularly contracting. We’ve been working toward a more frictionless contracting experience. And rather than only measuring time or cost saved, we can measure:
- customer experience
- speed to market
- risk profile
- whether it’s easier for customers to do business with Thomson Reuters
That’s the shift: away from diminishing metrics toward measures that reflect real business impact. These are the metrics of a strategic partner, not a support function. Ultimately, the organizational goal is simple: we only take the legal risks we mean to. If risks are understood, chosen deliberately, and properly managed, that’s success.
Q: What practical advice would you give to General Counsels thinking about AI adoption?
Norie: First, get confident about the foundational elements. No General Counsel is going to commit without really understanding the basics.
- Is the product secure?
- Is the technology producing reliable outputs?
- Are you confident in the commitment of your technology provider to invest in you?
That’s the starting point. From there, walk the talk. Visibly use the tools yourself. Champion your super users. And be prepared to embrace failed experiments. People have to know they can try, and that if it doesn’t work, you will support them in learning and improving.
Finally, don’t underestimate what this means for your leadership team. I’m not worried about new lawyers, they’re AI natives, they’re ready. The bigger challenge is often for experienced leaders who built their expertise using a very different set of tools. Senior lawyers whose careers were built on business acumen and leadership now need to add a third dimension: do I understand the role of technology, and can I apply it effectively?
Helping your leadership team navigate that transition, and come out confident and excited about the future is one of the most important parts of the CLO role today.
And there’s one more idea; think about “by design.” Privacy law introduced the idea of embedding rules at the beginning, not as an afterthought. We’re applying that same concept much more broadly now across compliance, risk, and commercial law. Embedding legal rules into workflows from day one reduces friction downstream. As AI frees up capacity, the opportunity is to move earlier, and build legal thinking in by design This is the shift: legal is no longer reacting to the business, it’s helping shape its direction.
“Don’t underestimate the change this is for your leadership team. Helping them come out confident about the future. That’s the job of the CLO right now.”
This interview has been edited for clarity and length.
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