Today Thomson Reuters announced the availability of new API’s   ( application program interfaces) that will allow customers to integrate content from Practical Law into their  practice and workflow portals. Litigation analytics from Westlaw Edge will also be available for integration with internal data sets

Law firms are in a race to extract and analyze their own data and turbo charge it with litigation and deal data, Thomson Reuters move is addressing a growing demand from clients to leverage commercial data for custom insights.

“Our customers are continually seeking insights that will help them raise their service for their clients and operate more effectively and efficiently,” said Tony Kinnear, president of Thomson Reuters Legal Professionals. “Co-developing side by side with innovative customers to provide our editorially curated content through APIs allows us to deliver entirely new capabilities through a more open and collaborative approach.”

Katherine Lowry, Director of Practice Services at Baker Hostetler is quoted in the press release highlighting how the analytics will be used for projects initiated by the firm’s newly launched Digital Assets and Data Management Group.

Data Wants to be Free (Of Platforms) Historically legal information vendors have sold platforms not data.  Newer competitors such as Fastcase have led the market in allowing customer to manipulate data with their Workbench and Sandbox offerings. Still it is a major market shift for a dominant player like Thomson Reuters to allow customer direct access to content which can be creatively re-purposed for insights and innovation initiatives.  Now all law firms can move on to competing for data science recruits to analyze the data.

 

Here is the full press release:

 

Thomson Reuters Legal Data Now Available Through APIs

Data from Westlaw Edge Litigation Analytics, Practical Law can be integrated into systems, workflows

MINNEAPOLIS-ST. PAUL, January 28, 2020 – Building on its industry-leading innovation, Thomson Reuters announced that data from Westlaw Edge Litigation Analytics and Practical Law will be made available through application programming interfaces (APIs) to help meet customers’ evolving needs and expectations.

By leveraging Thomson Reuters Legal Data APIs, legal professionals can combine Thomson Reuters data with internal data to get a more comprehensive view and gain greater insights that will lead to more informed decisions, while also driving efficiencies and helping them strategically target new business opportunities.

“Our customers are continually seeking insights that will help them raise their service for their clients and operate more effectively and efficiently,” said Tony Kinnear, president of Thomson Reuters Legal Professionals. “Co-developing side by side with innovative customers to provide our editorially curated content through APIs allows us to deliver entirely new capabilities through a more open and collaborative approach.”

The Litigation Analytics API, combined with the firm’s information, provides a holistic view creating significant efficiencies and delivering enhanced details to improve management of client expectations, generate new business development strategies and enhance knowledge management.

As part of the co-development process, Katherine Lowry, director of Practice Services for Baker Hostetler and lead of IncuBaker, part of the firm’s newly launched Digital Assets and Data Management Group, noted the value data integration delivers. “IncuBaker is committed to driving our data management initiatives forward to serve our legal practice and our clients. IncuBaker’s focus on data management enables us to build our own legal analytics offerings that are unique to our clients, and this is a key differentiator in the market. Working with Westlaw Edge Litigation Analytics API creates opportunities for us to join their expansive data with our internal data for seamless integration, and incorporating it as part of our initiative is a major step in the right direction.”

For firms to take full advantage of the data through the Litigation Analytics API, collaborating with a third-party resource specializing in firm intelligence can offer further benefits. Foundation Software Group, which creates a seamless integration using their firm intelligence platform, is working closely with Thomson Reuters to combine data from Litigation Analytics with the firm’s internal information to deliver valuable insights and actionable information.

Incorporating the Practical Law API increases efficiency by allowing legal professionals to run an enterprise search across the organization’s content, know-how on Practical Law and additional sources in a single query to maximize their knowledge management assets and compare their resources to those from Practical Law. Additionally, the work product of the firm or legal department can be integrated with Practical Law know-how resources to help legal professionals get up to speed on topics quickly and focus on the work that matters most.

Kinnear noted the value Thomson Reuters Legal Data APIs bring to legal professionals by allowing them to rely on their organization’s institutional knowledge, backed by Thomson Reuters market-leading content and tools. “Our goal is to allow customers to leverage their own work product, systems and workflows, but now married with Thomson Reuters Legal Data APIs, to help them make the best decisions for their clients and their organization.”

The full capabilities of Thomson Reuters Legal Data APIs can be seen at tr.com/legal-api. To learn more about Foundation Software Group, visit foundationsg.com.

 

Thomson Reuters