Law firms expand AI partnerships as cyber incidents disrupt operations

Law firms and technology providers are expanding AI tools for legal work, with new partnerships targeting research, contracts and document review. Goodwin Procter expanded its Microsoft partnership to support its internal Regina OS tool, its Goodwin Builders development program and broader adoption across legal workflows. Cooley is collaborating with Google Cloud on a tool to identify confidential information in court filings and prepare proposed redactions.

Legora and Sirion partnered to connect legal research capabilities with contract workflows. Harvey and Legora also separately introduced products named Intake for in-house legal teams. Meanwhile, investors favored AI-powered execution over legal research, with a handful of companies attracting an outsized share of more than ? billion in funding in the third quarter of 2026.

Governance and client support are developing alongside deployment. Hogan Lovells Cadwalader established a board to oversee AI use and evaluate proposals from practice groups and sectors. Debevoise & Plimpton is preparing an updated version of its Staar AI risk-assessment platform for 2027.

Cybersecurity incidents remain a parallel operational concern. An incident disrupted the nationwide system for notifying creditors in bankruptcy cases, with no known end to the outage. Womble Bond Dickinson disclosed a breach exposing personal information, while Squire Patton Boggs and Holland & Knight reported cyberattacks involving sensitive information.