When Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, a leading international law firm, made the decision to adopt legal AI, it knew building the right foundation would be key to a successful rollout. The firm first built Wendell Intelligence, its in-house AI orchestration platform, before choosing Lexis+ ® with Protégé™ and adopting the solution firmwide as part of its broader strategy for grounded, human-centered AI.
“Our attorneys have long been fans of the entire Lexis platform,” said Todd Friedlich, Director of AI & Innovation at Willkie. “So, when the opportunity arose to partner with LexisNexis on the integration of the Protégé APIs and the full Lexis+ stack, we saw tremendous potential.”
Friedlich has spent more than two decades in legal technology, starting with early knowledge management systems, and building toward the AI-driven workflows Willkie is developing today. His approach to AI adoption is anchored in the conviction that new technologies must be deeply integrated into everyday use to deliver true value.
“Innovation without adoption is really just theory,” he noted. “We can buy and build the most incredible tools imaginable, but if the attorneys and staff aren’t using them, it’s just a waste of time and money.”
Central to Willkie’s AI philosophy is the principle of grounded legal data. In a practice environment where accuracy and verifiability are non-negotiable, the firm has been deliberate about ensuring every AI-generated response connects to authoritative, reviewable sources. This is where the integration of Lexis+ with Protégé plays a key role, giving attorneys fast access to legal content they can trust and cite.
“Grounding the data within our generative AI tools is of the utmost importance to Willkie,” said Friedlich. “It’s how we ensure our answers are based on current law and authoritative documents. Our attorneys know every answer they receive must include a citation that they can actually click through, review the underlying document, review the source, and vet the accuracy of the information themselves.”
With the integration of Lexis+ with Protégé into Wendell, legal data requests are routed directly to Protégé, which identifies the best source across the Lexis content library to answer each question. The result is a more seamless experience for attorneys, who no longer need to move between separate systems to gather and verify information.
“By ensuring our attorneys have access to tools like Lexis+ with Protégé, we can simplify the process of exposing grounded information to them,” Friedlich added. “We’re no longer requiring them to go to separate data systems and gather that information and then enter them into some other AI to provide an answer.”
Willkie’s growing use of AI workflows, including applications in due diligence and deposition analysis, standardizes best practices and reduces variability in how attorneys engage with AI tools, part of the firm’s broader commitment to human-centered AI: freeing attorneys from repetitive tasks so they can focus their time and experience where it matters most.
“We’re creating automated workflows that improve the quality of life for our associates and partners,” Friedlich continued. “It’s not just about saying, ‘Here’s a tool to automate a document.’ It’s about identifying and automating the simple tasks that don’t deliver significant value to clients and bring little joy to our attorneys. We’re eager to build processes that make our lives and our work better.”
The Willkie case study underscores LexisNexis’ ongoing effort to partner with law firms to approach AI thoughtfully, with a focus on trusted content, attorney confidence, and real-world results.
Read the case study and watch the video testimonial: Willkie LexisNexis partnership.