Lawyers are already experts at holding the moving pieces of a matter together: the facts, the deadlines, the documents, and most importantly the person relying on their guidance.
Too often, however, the technology around that work asks them to jump between systems to find what they need. Matter details may live in one place, while the authoritative research needed to move forward lives elsewhere. The switching, copying, and version-checking takes time and attention away from the work that helps their clients.
That’s why Smokeball has expanded its partnership with Thomson Reuters. Westlaw Deep Research will be integrated within Archie AI, bringing deep legal research directly into the Smokeball matters where lawyers are already working.
Authoritative legal research, grounded in your matter
When an attorney asks a legal query, Archie’s agentic AI recognizes the need for legal research, runs Westlaw Deep Research, identifies relevant authority and returns a clear, citation-backed report grounded in Westlaw content.
The report is designed to keep the next step simple: every citation links to Westlaw, so lawyers can dig deeper and validate the underlying authority without breaking their workflow.
This integration pulls the industry’s leading legal research directly into a law firm’s practice management software so it’s connected directly to the matter. Legal professionals can save a Westlaw Deep Research report to the matter as a memo or document where it becomes part of the context Archie uses when assisting with that matter.
One prompt produces legal work and the research supporting it
Ask Archie for legal work that needs research supporting it, and you get both: Westlaw's citation-backed report and the legal work for your review.
Example use cases:
With Westlaw Deep Research embedded in Smokeball's Archie AI, matters move faster, strategy is validated earlier, and you act confidently with outputs grounded in your matter and authoritative legal content.
Bringing ease to the practice of law
Smokeball and Thomson Reuters first announced their partnership in March 2026, with a shared goal of connecting the business and practice of law for small and mid-sized firms. This integration is a substantial next step.
People-law firms are facing new challenges. Meeting client demands, shifting billing models, and ensuring streamlined operations with lean teams and tight margins is tough.
With Westlaw Deep Research in Archie, firms gain a best-in-class technology stack that works seamlessly to pair matter awareness with authoritative legal content in the same workflow, offering less time moving between systems, less risk of working from disconnected or outdated documents, and a better foundation for the professional judgment lawyers bring to every matter.
The partnership will continue to expand in early 2027 with a CoCounsel Legal integration, adding new ways and capabilities for firms to bring trusted legal content, matter information and everyday legal work together in one connected workflow.
