Automated Legal Research with CoCounsel

Overview

Legal research traditionally requires hours of manual searching, reading, and synthesizing case law. CoCounsel, Thomson Reuters' AI assistant built into Westlaw, can dramatically accelerate this process — running comprehensive searches and summarizing relevant authorities in minutes.

Steps

1. Define your research question: Frame your legal issue as a clear, specific question. Include jurisdiction, area of law, and the specific legal standard you're researching.
2. Run CoCounsel search: Enter your question into CoCounsel within Westlaw Precision. The AI will search across case law, statutes, and secondary sources.
3. Review the synthesis: CoCounsel returns a structured summary with relevant authorities, key holdings, and how they apply to your question — with citations you can verify.
4. Verify and deepen: Click through to the full text of cited authorities. Verify the AI's characterization of holdings and check for any missed contrary authority.
5. Export your memo: Compile the research into a structured memo format with proper citations, ready for senior review or client delivery.

What you'll learn

• How to frame research questions for optimal AI results
• Verification techniques for AI-generated legal research
• When CoCounsel works best vs. when manual research is still necessary