Thomson Reuters adds cross-border legal research to CoCounsel AI

Overview

Updated Oct 31

Thomson Reuters' Multinational Profile lets lawyers compare rules across more than 100 countries without leaving CoCounsel Legal. The feature reached US customers in October, after going live in the UK on Oct. 14.

Answers draw on Westlaw content for the US, UK, Canada and Australia, Practical Law Global, and official sources such as legislation, and each finding links back to its source. Thomson Reuters said in October it expected general availability in Australia, Brazil, Canada, Singapore and the UAE by the end of that month.

Why it matters

Legal teams can now research and compare laws across 100+ countries in one AI workflow, cutting the time and cost of cross-border legal work.

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Key Indicators

100+

Countries covered by Multinational Profile

Legal content from more than 100 countries and territories in a single workflow.

90+

Countries where platform will be available

Upgraded CoCounsel Legal available to customers in more than 90 countries throughout 2026.

Jurisdictions in International Legal Research

Up from 22 before the September 2026 release, backed by official, vetted sources.

Proprietary Thomson LLM

Launched Aug. 24, 2026; initially powers tabular analysis for bulk document review.

Voices

Curated perspectives — historical figures and your fellow readers.

People Involved

Steve Hasker

President and chief executive of Thomson Reuters

Leading the company's AI strategy

Organizations Involved

Thomson Reuters

Data broker and information services company

Developer and operator of CoCounsel Legal

A global content and technology company that provides professional information and AI tools for legal, tax, accounting, and media professionals.

Anthropic

AI company

Provides Claude Agent SDK powering CoCounsel Legal

An AI research company whose Claude Agent SDK underpins the agentic capabilities of CoCounsel Legal.

OpenAI

Artificial intelligence company

Partner on CoCounsel Legal and HighQ integrations with ChatGPT Enterprise

AI company whose ChatGPT Enterprise now hosts HighQ matters and will host a previewed CoCounsel Legal experience.

Timeline

August 2023 October 2026

7 events Latest: October 21st, 2026 · 3 weeks ago

Tap a bar to jump to that date

October 2026
Multinational Profile opens to US customers
Latest Product Update

Thomson Reuters said the cross-border profile was available in the US and UK, with Canada and Australia to follow that month. It draws on Westlaw content for those four markets plus Practical Law Global and official sources.
October 21st, 2026
Multinational Profile launched
Product Launch

Thomson Reuters adds cross-border legal research from 100+ countries to CoCounsel Legal in a single workflow.
October 14th, 2026
September 2026
HighQ and CoCounsel connect to ChatGPT Enterprise
Partnership

Thomson Reuters announced that HighQ matters now work inside ChatGPT Enterprise through a Model Context Protocol connection. It also previewed a CoCounsel Legal experience inside ChatGPT.
September 17th, 2026
Global Research Menu expands CoCounsel Legal research
Product Update

The Global Research Menu routes cross-border questions to Westlaw Deep Research or International Legal Research. International Legal Research grew from 22 to 44 jurisdictions.
September 2026
August 2026
Thomson Reuters launches proprietary Thomson LLM
Product Launch

Thomson Reuters launched Thomson, a domain-specific legal LLM. It initially powers tabular analysis in CoCounsel Legal, a high-volume document review feature.
August 24th, 2026
Next-gen CoCounsel Legal announced
Product Launch

Thomson Reuters announces general availability of fully agentic CoCounsel Legal, built on Anthropic's Claude Agent SDK.
August 20th, 2026
August 2023
Thomson Reuters completes Casetext acquisition
Acquisition

Acquires Casetext, maker of the CoCounsel AI legal assistant, for $650 million.
August 2023

Scenarios

CoCounsel Legal becomes the default for cross-border legal research

Likely Resolves by Oct 14, 2027

Discussed by: Thomson Reuters, legal tech analysts

Law firms and in-house legal teams adopt the Multinational Profile for routine cross-border questions, reducing the need for local counsel in preliminary research. Thomson Reuters reports adoption metrics in earnings calls, showing the platform as a growth driver for its legal division.

Regulatory and data-security concerns slow adoption

Possible Resolves by Oct 14, 2027

Discussed by: Legal industry observers, data protection authorities

Some jurisdictions restrict or limit use of AI legal research tools over data privacy and attorney-client privilege concerns. Bar associations issue guidance that slows adoption in certain markets, particularly in the European Union where data protection rules are strictest.

Competitors launch rival cross-border AI research platforms

Possible Resolves by Oct 14, 2027

Discussed by: Legal tech press

LexisNexis or another major legal research provider launches a comparable cross-border AI research capability, fragmenting the market and limiting Thomson Reuters' first-mover advantage. The competitive response could come within 12 to 18 months.

ChatGPT Enterprise becomes a new front door for CoCounsel

Likely Resolves by Q2 2027

Discussed by: Legal tech press

The OpenAI partnership lets lawyers work on HighQ matters inside ChatGPT Enterprise, and Thomson Reuters is previewing CoCounsel Legal capabilities there. If that preview reaches general availability, Thomson Reuters gains a distribution channel that rivals lack. Security and permissions stay attached to the work in both environments, per the company.

Historical Context

2 moments from history that rhyme with this story — and how they unfolded.

1975

Westlaw goes online (1975)

West Publishing launched Westlaw, the first major online legal research service, giving lawyers access to case law and statutes from a computer terminal instead of printed books.

Then

Lawyers could search case law in minutes instead of hours.

Now

Online legal research became the industry standard, and Westlaw became the dominant platform.

Why this matters now

Just as Westlaw moved legal research from print to digital, CoCounsel Legal moves it from search-and-read to AI-generated analysis.

2023

Casetext launches CoCounsel (2023)

Casetext, a legal tech startup, launched CoCounsel, an AI assistant for legal research built on large language models. Thomson Reuters acquired the company for $650 million.

Then

CoCounsel became one of the first widely used AI legal research tools.

Now

Thomson Reuters integrated CoCounsel into its Westlaw platform, leading to the next-generation CoCounsel Legal.

Why this matters now

The Multinational Profile is the latest step in this integration, extending AI legal research across borders.