Today LexisNexis is announcing that their soon to be launched AI powered solutions will be integrated into Microsoft 365. The product integrations include– Lexis+®, Lexis ® Connect, Lexis ® Create, and Lexis ® Create Plugin with Microsoft 365 Copilot. Both companies are committed to providing legal professionals with “intelligent, AI-powered tools, enhanced capabilities, and more efficient, guided workflow experiences”  inside the suite of Microsoft products where they currently work: Microsoft Outlook, Word, and Teams.  Back in May Lexis announced two AI initiatives a commercial preview and the AI Insider Program as well as plans for incorporating generative AI into their product. Lexis announced its commitment to launching GPT enabled solutions with the Microsoft Azure Open AI Service which has already been rolled out to customers via Lexis+.

I recall Lexis as having a long history of integrations with Microsoft products. According to Jeff Pfeifer, LexisNexis Chief Product Officer Canada, UK and USA. “The company began working closely with Microsoft in the 1990s when we acquired the Jurisoft product line. These products were among the first legal market tools that delivered bespoke formatting tools integrated with Word. These solutions later evolved to become Lexis for Microsoft Office and later still, Lexis Create. Lexis Create is our first solution built entirely for the Microsoft 365 platform, a key technology enabler for delivery of generative AI in Word, Outlook and Teams. Our customers can expect integration of generative AI capabilities in Lexis Create in Q3 of this year and in Lexis Connect in Q4.”

Jeff Reihl, CTO of LexisNexis Legal & Professional is quoted in the press release “Microsoft and LexisNexis have a long history of collaboration, and we’re excited about how our Microsoft-integrated products will help improve the lives and work product of legal professionals. Lexis Connect, Create and Copilot truly embody our strategy of creating a fully integrated ecosystem, inserting world-class legal data, content and technologies directly into attorney workflows. To enhance this, we’re incorporating professional-grade generative AI capabilities into our current and future products to elevate legal work and help lawyers be more efficient at their jobs.”

LexisNexis Products Integrated with Microsoft include:

  • Lexis+: Azure OpenAI Service has been rolled out to customers via Lexis+.
  • Lexis Connect: An essential workflow tool for corporate legal departments built into Microsoft Teams with Microsoft Outlook integration. For employees, Lexis Connect features a conversational AI assistant that leverages internal corporate documents to answer simple legal questions, enabling attorneys to focus on high-value tasks. For legal departments, Lexis Connect features powerful work intake capabilities, automated task and matter assignment, centralized communications, insightful department analytics, and a conversational AI assistant that taps into Lexis+ and Practical Guidance for legal research and matter-related queries.
    • Lexis Connect will be commercially available in Q3, with generative AI capabilities added in Q4.
  • Lexis Create: A comprehensive, intelligent drafting solution built into Microsoft Word. Lexis Create puts Practical Guidance and Market Standards content, Shepard’s Citations, AI-powered Clause Intelligence, and other powerful recommendation and collaboration tools directly into their drafting workflow, helping them work quickly and confidently throughout every stage of their draft.
    • Lexis Create will be commercially available in Q3, with extractive AI capabilities incorporated this summer and generative AI enhancements added in Q4. It will also integrate with the recently announced Agreement Analysis feature in Lexis+.
  • Lexis Create Plugin with Microsoft 365 Copilot: Bringing together the best of LexisNexis unparalleled legal data, citations and analytics with Microsoft 365 Copilot generative AI functionality, legal professionals can develop, draft, edit, and validate documents all within the Microsoft Word environment. This LexisNexis plugin within Microsoft 365 Copilot speeds work efficiency, effectiveness, and supports the development of exceptional work quality.  Lexis will roll out its plugin for Microsoft 365 Copilot as Microsoft makes its service available to eligible customers. 

Lexis Create Build Screen

Lexis +AI Developments Lexis+ customers already benefit from large language model (LLM) functionality via Microsoft-backed OpenAI’s ChatGPT embedded into its flagship legal research solution. Launching this summer, Lexis+® AI, a generative AI platform, features conversational search, insightful summarization, and intelligent legal drafting capabilities, all supported by state-of-the-art encryption and privacy technology to keep sensitive data secure. 

Lexis is embedding a variety of LLMs from OpenAI, including ChatGPT through the Azure OpenAI Service, and other providers. They are matching specific models to specific use cases. According to the press release  the goal is to have professional-grade performance capabilities that assure safe and secure customer data and prompts and outputs.

A DMS Solution is Part of the Plan  I asked Pfeifer if Lexis planned to extend the document capabilities to include an AI enabled DMS solution. Pfeifer responded: “During the Lexis+ AI Commercial Preview program, we’ve learned more about customer interest for a connection between Lexis+ AI and their DMS systems. In the coming months, LexisNexis  will share information about how Lexis+ AI will support analysis of documents from the DMS to support search and document use cases.”