Willkie Teams Up With OpenAI on Proprietary AI

Willkie has announced a collaboration with OpenAI that will accelerate the development and deployment of next-generation artificial intelligence solutions across the firm’s legal and business operations, including a firm-wide rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise.

Willkie is among the first international law firms to join forces with OpenAI to accelerate the development and deployment of proprietary AI platforms and solutions. Through these joint efforts, Willkie will use the latest OpenAI frontier models, technical resources, and enterprise capabilities to support the continued evolution of the firm’s growing portfolio of AI-powered platforms while expanding access to advanced AI capabilities across the organisation.

The collaboration builds upon Willkie Works, the firm’s AI and innovation organisation, which is focused on developing proprietary technologies and integrating them safely and securely into legal and business workflows. Through Willkie Works, the firm has developed a growing portfolio of proprietary AI platforms and solutions that are embedded across legal, business, and client-facing workflows, helping professionals work more effectively while delivering enhanced value to clients.

Thomas Cerabino, Willkie Chairman, said, “AI is changing the practice of law. We have been through pivotal transformations before and are embracing this generational shift, supporting our position as a leader in the AI evolution. The opportunity AI presents is not simply to work faster, but to rethink how legal services are delivered, how institutional knowledge is leveraged and how clients are served. At Willkie, we are achieving this through combining exceptional legal talent with transformative technology to best meet our clients’ needs.”

Willkie Works includes:

• Wendell Intelligence – Willkie’s enterprise AI platform, providing a unified interface to AI-powered legal and business workflows
• Wendell Financial Insights – a firm-wide financial and matter intelligence platform supporting operational and client-service decision-making
• Wendell Horizon – an AI-powered professional development and attorney training platform
• Wendell Private Funds Secondaries Platform – a specialised solution supporting complex private funds and secondaries workflows
• Wendell Class Action Claimant Platform – a technology-enabled platform supporting claimant analysis and litigation workflows

OpenAI frontier models will help power the next generation of these platforms, enabling Willkie to accelerate the design, testing, and deployment of new AI-driven capabilities across legal and business functions.

The collaboration also extends to OpenAI Codex, which Willkie expects to integrate into its AI development environment through Willkie Works. These capabilities will help accelerate how the firm’s AI engineers design, test, and deploy the next generation of proprietary platforms, workflows, and client solutions.

“The future of legal will be shaped by firms that can put the power of coding directly into the hands of their lawyers and technologists,” said Jason Boehmig, Head of Product, Legal Vertical at OpenAI. “With OpenAI’s frontier models and Codex, Willkie can turn its expertise and ideas into tools designed around how its professionals work and serve clients. That ability to build is genuinely new, and we’re excited to support their innovation.”

John Elbasan, Chief Digital and Information Officer at Willkie, said, “This collaboration represents an important milestone in Willkie’s AI strategy. Through Willkie Works, we have invested in the people, governance frameworks, and engineering capabilities necessary to transform frontier AI technologies into proprietary platforms that support legal and business workflows across the firm.”

Elbasan added: “The organisations that realise the greatest value from AI will not be defined by access to technology alone. They will be the ones that can combine frontier AI capabilities with expertise, workflows, and trusted governance to create differentiated solutions. OpenAI will help accelerate that vision across our growing portfolio of AI platforms.”

Kaylin Voss, Vice President of Americas Enterprise and Industries at OpenAI, said, “Willkie has demonstrated a thoughtful and ambitious approach to bringing AI into the practice of law, pairing deep legal expertise with a strong commitment to innovation. We’re proud to collaborate with the firm as they advance their AI strategy, expand the use of ChatGPT Enterprise, and develop new AI-powered platforms that empower their professionals and deliver greater value to clients.”

About Willkie
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP provides leading-edge legal solutions on complex, business-critical issues spanning markets and industries. Its approximately 1,300 attorneys across 16 offices worldwide deliver innovative, pragmatic, and sophisticated legal services across approximately 45 practice areas.