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AI-Assisted Legal Research and Drafting for Government Lawyers

Research & Development · Education & Learning

What it collects

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Existing proprietary legal publications and datasets from Thomson Reuters, including case law, statutes, and legal texts available through the Westlaw platform.
Run by
Department of Justice Canada (JUS)
Where
No fixed location
Kept
Not stated by the Helpful Places.
Shared with
Accountable organization, Vendor
Your copy
You cannot see the data it holds about you. What you can do

What it is for

Research & DevelopmentEducation & Learning

CoCounsel Core is a generative AI tool from Thomson Reuters piloted by the Department of Justice Canada to help government lawyers with legal research, drafting, document comparison, and summarization. It is used by Government of Canada employees and does not involve personal information. Users are informed that AI is in use.

What it collects and what happens to it

Data taken in

Operational data
Anonymized data
  • Existing proprietary legal publications and datasets from Thomson Reuters, including case law, statutes, and legal texts available through the Westlaw platform.

Processing

Language Models
  • CoCounsel Core is built on large language model technology integrated into the Thomson Reuters legal research platform, enabling legal drafting, summarization, and document comparison.

What it does

Creating (Generative AI)
Human decides
  • Drafts legal documents, summaries, and comparisons in response to lawyer prompts. The AI creates new content, but legal professionals review and decide what to use.
Understanding (Semantic AI)
Human decides
  • Reads and interprets legal texts, case law, and documents to support legal research queries and document review tasks.
Deciding (Analytical AI)
Human decides
  • Performs document comparison, identifying similarities and differences between legal texts. A lawyer reviews the output before any action is taken.

Outputs

Generated content
Anonymized data
  • Drafted legal text, document summaries, and comparison reports generated in response to lawyer queries. These outputs do not contain personal information.
A recommendation or prediction
Anonymized data
  • Legal research findings, suggested relevant case law, and guidance on complex legal questions. These are advisory outputs reviewed by government lawyers.

Run by

Department of Justice Canada (JUS)
  • The Department of Justice Canada is piloting CoCounsel Core for evaluation, making it available to Government of Canada employees for legal research and document tasks.

Government of Canada AI Register — CoCounsel Core (2526-JUS-002)

Built by

Thomson Reuters
  • Thomson Reuters developed CoCounsel Core, the legal AI product that integrates generative AI capabilities into legal workflows, as part of its broader CoCounsel suite.

Government of Canada AI Register — CoCounsel Core (2526-JUS-002)

Kept for

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

Shared with

Not available to me
  • The system is used internally by Government of Canada employees. The public does not have access to the system or its outputs.
Available to the accountable organization
  • Government of Canada employees, specifically legal professionals at the Department of Justice Canada, have access to use the system during the pilot evaluation period.
Available to vendor
  • Thomson Reuters, as the technology provider, has access to the system and its underlying infrastructure as part of providing the service.

Stored

Not stated by the Helpful Places.

How to read the colours

Can it identify you?

Anonymized data
Data about people with the link to who is broken. Stripped of identifiers, blurred, aggregated, or noised so this system can’t reasonably tie a record back to an individual.
Pseudonymous data
Each person’s data is tied to a token (hash, ID, template) that lets this system recognise the same person across events, but the token itself doesn’t reveal a name. Reidentification is possible with extra information.
Identifiable data
The data either contains a direct identifier (name, address, account name, recognisable face or voice, plate number) or carries a token this system uses to look up legal identity during processing.

Who completes the loop?

Human decides
This mode suggests; a person decides what to do next. The AI is always advisory — a human is in the loop on every decision. Example: a triage tool ranks cases for a clinician who chooses which to see first.
Human executes
This mode decides; a person carries out the result. Example: an optimizer plans the day’s trash-collection routes, and drivers run them.
Autonomous
This mode decides and acts on its own. No person reviews each decision or carries out the resulting action.

Definitions from the DTPR standard. Amber is about your data, violet about who decides. The fuller the shape and the deeper the colour, the more identifying the data or the less a person is involved.

What you can do

Ask about this system

Questions go to the Helpful Places, not the vendor.

Your rights

  • Right to Be Informed of AI UseAI use is disclosed to users. Government of Canada employees using CoCounsel Core are informed that they are interacting with an AI system.
  • Right to Algorithmic TransparencyThe AI Register entry for CoCounsel Core is publicly available, providing transparency about the nature and purpose of the system. Users can consult the Government of Canada AI Register at open.canada.ca.

Risks and safeguards

  • Reputational harmRisk that AI-generated legal content contains errors, hallucinations, or mischaracterizations of case law that could harm legal proceedings or the reputation of the Department of Justice.Safeguard: the system is advisory only, with government lawyers reviewing all AI outputs before use. The pilot evaluation phase allows assessment of accuracy before broader deployment.
  • Societal & cultural harmRisk that reliance on a proprietary AI legal research tool could entrench dependence on a single vendor's interpretation of legal texts, potentially homogenizing legal analysis.Safeguard: the system is in pilot evaluation phase; outputs are reviewed by qualified legal professionals, and the system supplements rather than replaces expert legal judgment.