September 30, 2025

From Promise To Proof: Thomson Reuters AI for Justice Program Helps Legal Nonprofits Serve As Many As 50% More Clients Daily

  • Attorneys at legal nonprofits are saving up to 15 hours a week and cutting urgent legal aid casework time by 75%, serving thousands more people in need
  • Nonprofit legal hotlines have doubled handling of inquiries each day 
  • Program creates a scalable blueprint for AI integration among organizations managing time-critical cases such as domestic violence or wrongful conviction

WASHINGTON, September 30, 2025 – Thomson Reuters (TSX/Nasdaq: TRI), a global content and technology company, today announced results from its AI for Justice program proving how advanced AI is transforming the delivery of legal aid. By equipping legal nonprofits with CoCounsel - its professional-grade AI legal assistant - attorneys are saving up to 15 hours per week, scaling capacity by as much as 50% daily, and preparing urgent case materials up to 75% faster.

Thomson Reuters launched the AI for Justice program to address the overwhelming demand faced by legal nonprofits in the U.S., where over 90% of civil legal needs go unrepresented*. For the millions of people facing distressing legal issues such as domestic violence, eviction or wrongful conviction, Thomson Reuters recognized that the effective use of AI by legal nonprofits could mean the difference between harm and safety for those seeking urgent legal support.  

One year in, AI for Justice delivers across three core pillars:

  • Access: Professional-grade AI, specifically designed for high stakes legal work, is financially accessible and now in the hands of legal nonprofits serving underserved communities.
  • Support: Specialist training and access to subject matter experts to ensure effective, confident use of AI
  • Scale: Education programs and playbooks help legal nonprofits embed AI across their operations —from client intake to case resolution

This strategic approach empowers time-stretched legal nonprofits to leverage AI to increase capacity and service quality to help more people in need.

"This is not just about efficiency — it’s about profoundly impacting lives and strengthening the very foundations of justice," said Laura Safdie, Head of Innovation, Legal, at Thomson Reuters. 

Delivering protection in minutes

Through the AI for Justice Program, participating legal nonprofits say their use of AI, specifically CoCounsel, is having a significant impact: 

  • Legal Aid Society of San Bernardino (LASSB) is saving up to 75% of time spent on urgent tasks such as case research and document preparation. Their staff are saving up to 15 hours apiece each week, enabling them to answer twice as many urgent legal advice hotline calls every day and onboard 20% more cases for callers needing in-depth assistance and representation.

This is a critical shift for an organization that received over 26,000 requests for assistance in 2024 alone. Its work includes running court clinics where every minute matters – they provide people with immediate legal advice and help filing paperwork, especially in cases involving domestic violence.

  • Veterans Legal Institute can prepare landlord-tenant and family law motions in minutes instead of hours. They report that by helping them to keep veterans housed or with their families with more efficiency, their use of AI has directly reduced risks of homelessness and suicide among this vulnerable group and they are able to serve more veterans with the time saved.
  • The Innocence Center focuses on freeing innocent people from prison – AI has cut time spent preparing petitions to overturn wrongful convictions by 50%, from one year to six months. It has also doubled the number of new cases reviewed each month and enabled each of their attorneys to more than triple the number of motions they can file annually. This time saved could mean freeing someone years earlier from prison.

“For the clients we serve, justice delayed can mean justice denied. AI allows us to cut through hours of paperwork and focus on what truly matters — standing with a survivor in court, securing medical care for a family, or protecting someone’s home. This technology is expanding hope, helping us deliver life-changing outcomes to more people who otherwise might have nowhere else to turn,” said Pablo Ramirez, Executive Director, Legal Aid Society of San Bernardino.

“We’re not just doing more work. We’re doing better work. And that means more innocent people getting out of prison sooner,” added Michael Semanchik, Executive Director, The Innocence Center.

“Through the AI for Justice program I have my own trusted legal assistant to help me with the complicated cases we aid veterans with,” said Julie Goodson, Staff Paralegal, Veterans Legal Institute.

Beyond efficiency: equitable justice for all

The AI for Justice Program provides powerful evidence of how Thomson Reuters is delivering on its mission to help ensure a future-ready justice system that delivers equitable access to justice for all.

“When legal nonprofits have professional AI tools and knowledge of how best to deploy them, they deliver urgent help to more people than ever before. It proves that advanced AI, applied by informed domain experts to common legal tasks, creates a scalable blueprint for broadening access to legal representation and narrowing the devasting justice gap,” said Safdie. “We are seeing the beginning of a revolution in legal services happening right now.” 

NOTES

*Legal Services Corporation data https://www.lsc.gov/initiatives/justice-gap-research 

Thomson Reuters AI for Justice program: 

The Thomson Reuters AI for Justice program, launched in October 2024, is focused on collaborating with legal non-profits to unlock powerful AI use cases, leveraging Thomson Reuters CoCounsel, their professional-grade AI legal assistant. Thomson Reuters is committed to driving greater understanding of AI and facilitating its effective and safe use. Participants in the program’s Legal Innovators Incubator class receive support and training on the use of CoCounsel to help expand their capacity and bridge the critical justice gap for underserved communities. Program participants and early adopters include several statewide and regional leaders in legal aid delivery and many more organizations across the U.S. dedicated to providing vital legal assistance.

About Thomson Reuters 

Thomson Reuters (TSX/Nasdaq: TRI) informs the way forward by bringing together the trusted content and technology that people and organizations need to make the right decisions. The company serves professionals across legal, tax, accounting, compliance, government, and media. Its products combine highly specialized software and insights to empower professionals with the data, intelligence, and solutions needed to make informed decisions and help institutions pursue justice, truth, and transparency. Reuters, part of Thomson Reuters, is a world leading provider of trusted journalism and news. For more information, visit tr.com. 

Media Contact

Samina Ansari, Director, Corporate Communications
samina.ansari@thomsonreuters.com