Top Stories
Harvey AI raised $500M Series D at a $5B valuation, with all Big Four professional services firms and 200+ law firms on the platform. The company launched new products for litigation, regulatory compliance, and M&A due diligence alongside the funding round.
Thomson Reuters launched CoCounsel 2.0 with an autonomous legal research agent that independently investigates legal questions and produces memo-ready research with 99.7% citation accuracy, grounded against the verified Westlaw database.
Court Rulings & Regulation
The Second Circuit Court of Appeals issued a precedent-setting ruling requiring mandatory disclosure of AI tool usage in legal filings and independent verification of all AI-generated citations. Sanctions for submitting hallucinated citations now include fines and potential suspension.
The ABA issued updated Model Rules commentary endorsing the ruling's framework. State bars in California, New York, and Texas announced similar requirements. Legal malpractice insurers began requiring AI usage policies.
What to Watch
- Legal AI is expanding from contract review into core practice areas — litigation, M&A, regulatory compliance
- Citation grounding (using verified databases vs. raw LLM output) is emerging as the key differentiator between tools
- AI governance advisory services are a rapidly growing practice area as EU AI Act enforcement begins
- Every firm needs an AI usage and disclosure policy now — the regulatory environment demands it