Case study
How a financial services legal team cut review time by 75% with Thomson Reuters Gen AI solutions
By adopting generative AI (GenAI), a financial services legal team reduced review time by up to 75% and delivered $200,000 in annual cost savings
How this financial services company saves time and reduces costs using GenAI
A leading financial services firm known for high-frequency trading in New York has a deputy general counsel who is laser-focused on optimizing workflows and improving the efficiency of legal processes. To manage a range of legal tasks, from litigation to contract reviews, the in-house legal team relies on Westlaw Advantage and CoCounsel Legal to improve the efficiency of research, reviewing legal documents, and cost management.
50 – 75%
Reduction in document review time
$200,000
Annual outside counsel cost savings
15 minutes
Time to assess a 100-page legal brief
Time-intensive reviews and costly research
Before adopting CoCounsel Legal, the legal team faced a series of time-consuming and costly challenges. Reviewing lengthy documents — often exceeding 100 pages — was a manual, resource-intensive process. Their existing research tool also lacked essential features, like intuitive search and headnotes, which slowed down efficient legal research. With a steady stream of legal briefs and deal documents to assess, the team struggled to prioritize in-depth reviews due to limited time. Additionally, without the right tools to support document review, the team frequently turned to outside counsel, which drove up legal expenses.
“We’ve probably saved anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000 globally within the year based on our reduction in using outside counsel, thanks to the efficiencies we’ve gained.”
Deputy General Counsel, Financial services company
Efficient summaries and AI-driven research
After evaluating several legal tools, the deputy general counsel spearheaded the switch to CoCounsel Legal. “When we first evaluated CoCounsel, we piloted it to really see if it could integrate into our workflow and save us time. I wanted to see if it could help with tasks like summarizing long litigation briefs or analyzing contracts. And it’s proven it can.”
The main factors driving this decision were CoCounsel’s ability to quickly summarize lengthy documents, providing clear, concise overviews. This helps to decide whether more time and resources are necessary for in-depth review or if a summary would suffice.
The deputy general counsel emphasized the importance of team input in the decision-making process. “We didn’t make the decision in a vacuum. I got feedback from my team who would actually be using the tool daily. They confirmed that CoCounsel Legal felt more effective and user-friendly compared to our previous tools.”
The deputy general counsel also found tremendous value in AI-Assisted Research, which offered intuitive search functionality and plain English summaries of legal concepts. This tool significantly reduced the time and complexity of finding relevant case law and other legal precedents. “Part of the evaluation was thinking strategically — how much could we reduce our reliance on outside counsel with these tools? The answer was clear once we saw CoCounsel in action. It could take on tasks that we used to rely on outside counsel for, which meant clear cost savings.”
Time, cost, and efficiency gains realized
By implementing CoCounsel Legal, the legal department has achieved significant time and cost savings. Reviewing documents now takes up a fraction of the time, freeing up hours weekly for deputy general counsel and team. With reduced reliance on outside counsel, the organization has saved up to $200,000 annually. Enhanced research tools also allow the team to quickly locate precise legal information, improving response times to internal stakeholders, and strengthening overall support to the business.
- Time savings. CoCounsel has enabled the legal team to reduce the time spent on document review by 50 — 75%. For instance, reviewing a 100-page brief manually could take two to three hours. With CoCounsel’s summaries, the deputy general counsel can determine whether further review is needed in just 15 minutes. “If I get a 100-page brief and read the summary, it takes me 15 minutes. If I decide I need to read the full brief, it could take me two to three hours. CoCounsel saves me a couple of hours here and there for sure,” he noted. This efficiency translates into significant time savings over the course of the year, allowing for focus on higher-value tasks. The deputy general counsel estimates that using CoCounsel saves him several hours per week, adding up to substantial time savings annually.
- Cost savings. By using CoCounsel to generate summaries of legal briefs and deal documents, the legal department has significantly reduced its reliance on outside counsel. “We’ve probably saved anywhere between $100,000 and $200,000 globally within the year. That’s my estimate based on our reduction in using outside counsel, thanks to the efficiencies we’ve gained,” the deputy general counsel shared. This reduction in costs is largely attributed to CoCounsel’s ability to help the team manage document reviews internally, allowing them to pass fewer tasks to outside counsel and ultimately improve their bottom line.
- Improved legal research efficiency. The team can now enter complex legal questions, such as “What types of damages are available under New York contract law?” and receive a plain English answer, along with relevant case law. This has drastically improved their ability to quickly find precise legal information. “It saves me hours,” the deputy general counsel notes, “because I get a clear, concise answer right away and can jump straight into deeper research if needed.”
- Increased stakeholder satisfaction. The legal team can now respond to internal queries from the general counsel and other stakeholders much faster. With CoCounsel backed by authoritative Westlaw content, the deputy general counsel feels more confident in providing accurate and detailed legal advice, which strengthens the team’s ability to support the business. The reduction in time spent researching and summarizing documents means that the legal department can manage more work internally without sacrificing quality.
Switching to CoCounsel Legal has transformed the way this legal team operates. By significantly reducing the time spent on document reviews and improving the efficiency of legal research, these tools have allowed the team to save both time and money. The deputy general counsel estimates that, within the first year of adoption, they saved up to $200,000 in outside counsel costs, and they continue to see value in the precision, simplicity, and time savings provided by these solutions.
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