On July 18, 2025, 18 in-house lawyers attended an AI Skills Challenge co-led by WongPartnership and Thomson Reuters.
The event brought together members of the legal profession to test professional-grade legal AI, following the recent collaboration announcement between the technology provider and the major law firm.
The forum held constructive conversations between legal professionals who shared insights and strategies for integrating AI into their practices.
Participants stepped into simulated legal scenarios using CoCounsel by Thomson Reuters and shared their observations, tips, and key takeaways.
We have collected insights from the day to share with the broader legal community in Singapore. Are you exploring novel ways to use legal AI? Read on for practical ideas on getting the most out of it.
Trialing AI for legal work
Carsten Rosenkranz, Senior Director at Thomson Reuters, and Ng Wai King, Chairman and Senior Partner of WongPartnership, opened the event for guests with industry insights.
“Over the last year, we’ve been hearing a lot about organisations developing their own AI tools and processes internally or at least considering it,” said Carsten.
Carsten then added that this is what prompted Thomson Reuters to partner with WongPartnership for the session, bringing members of the legal profession together to workshop what AI could do for them.
Ng Wai King, Chairman and Senior Partner, WongPartnership, then addressed the evolving legal tech market and the law firm’s role within it as a strategic partner with Thomson Reuters. From the proof-of-concept stage through to streamlining processes, the firm’s genAI journey has gone from strength to strength.
These remarks underscored the importance of industry collaboration to drive greater AI efficiencies in both law firms and legal departments.
3 legal scenarios made easier with CoCounsel
At the event, in-house lawyers tested three fictional legal scenarios using CoCounsel. Each scenario mirrored the day-in-the-life of an in-house legal professional.
The cohort used CoCounsel to summarise and analyse documents, review contracts, draft emails, conduct legal research, identify risks, and brainstorm strategic next steps. Here is what they covered:
- M&A due diligence. Mergers and acquisitions require in-depth reviews of the Target Company’s due diligence documents. Participants of the AI Skills Challenge used CoCounsel to help them conduct due diligence in a timely manner to identify change of control clauses and actions that follow, and surfaced other risk factors, which were then presented in a due diligence report.
- Breach of contract. The second challenge covered a scenario where a legal counsel was asked to help advise on a contractual breach matter. Participants used legal AI to analyse and review the contract in question, SLAs, communications subsequent to the breach, and conduct legal research to determine the next steps they would need to take. Overall, the time savings gained from using CoCounsel as their AI assistant helped them reach the resolution faster.
- Unfair dismissal lawsuit. The group of participants addressed a fictional employment scenario involving alleged discrimination and termination of a pregnant employee. They leveraged AI to analyse and review relevant documents and email chains, reconstruct a timeline of events, and conduct legal research to develop a strategic response. CoCounsel supported their investigation with tailored recommendations and efficient workflows.
PHOTO: In-house counsel in Singapore immersed in the AI Legal Skills Challenge.
Insights from the in-house legal participants
During the event, the in-house counsel attendees discussed and exchanged tips on their approach to each of the scenario exercises and how they could see AI being introduced into their daily workflows.
For instance, one legal counsel from a financial institution commented on seeing use in streamlining M&A due diligence exercises and generating formatted due diligence reports or disclosure schedules.
A tech sector participant noted that CoCounsel searched Westlaw and Practical Law at the same time, which would help their lean team manage research more efficiently.
Others commented that the legal AI’s ability to surface key clauses in complex contracts and speed up issue-spotting by running multiple analysis tracks was incredibly useful.
The consensus among the group was that CoCounsel’s generative AI capabilities could help them review information faster and make more informed decisions.
PHOTO: Participants shared practical tips on how to use CoCounsel in the legal scenarios.
Practical tips on the use of AI in legal work
During the feedback session, participants also exchanged practical tips on how to use AI and shared personal anecdotes. For example:
- Provide context and be specific with roles and tone: Provide context and purpose, and be specific with who you are acting for, the intended recipient of the output, etc., for the AI to adjust.
- Multi-prong verification: Because the given outputs of large language models are probabilistic, it is useful to interrogate and rephrase questions to the AI to audit the output, in addition to checking citations.
- Use it to brainstorm and refine, not just answer: Stuck on where to start or how to prompt? Asking, “What should I consider?” or “What options do I have?” can help generate thinking pathways. Another tip is to ask the AI to craft a prompt to achieve set objectives.
The overall tone of the day was clear: CoCounsel is not out to replace lawyers. Instead, the professional-grade solution enables them to focus on the strategic, nuanced work they do best.
PHOTO: Participants exchanged practical tips on how to use AI in legal workflows.
Closing acknowledgement
We extend our appreciation to WongPartnership for their role in co-hosting this initiative and for their ongoing leadership in legal innovation. Their collaboration was key to the success of the Legal AI Skills Challenge and reflects a shared commitment to advancing the responsible and practical use of AI in legal practice.
“Our partnered event with WongPartnership facilitated a trusted space to experiment with generative AI and trial CoCounsel. WongPartnership’s innovative use of AI to elevate legal services sets a strong benchmark for innovation. We look forward to more similar engagements in the future,” said Rob Head, Senior Director of Market Development at Thomson Reuters.
Legal professionals in Singapore who are using legal AI to drive innovation are discovering ways to use it as a tool to leverage to boost productivity at work. Discover how professionals worldwide are integrating generative AI into their work processes in our Future of Professionals report 2025. The findings highlighted the value that generative AI systems can bring to professionals in all industries.
