A&O Shearman and Harvey to roll out agentic AI agents targeting complex legal workflows

The agents integrate A&O Shearman’s legal expertise and will be rolled out internally as well as being sold to clients and other law firms. 

The initial agents focus on antitrust filing analysis, cybersecurity, fund formation, and loan review—high-value areas requiring deep legal expertise and multi-step reasoning.

These AI agents incorporate expertise from A&O Shearman's leading practices into agentic systems that can conduct research and engage in multi-step reasoning over matter-specific documents and curated data. These agents break down complex issues into actionable plans, finish them interdependently, and combine intermediate outputs into complete work products with transparency and oversight. Available to large corporations, law firms, and financial services via subscription or usage-based fees, A&O Shearman will share in the software revenue.

In 2022, A&O Shearman became the first firm to deploy generative AI enterprise-wide. In 2023, A&O Shearman became the first firm globally to build an AI app for in-house counsel by collaborating with Harvey and Microsoft to create ContractMatrix, an AI-powered contract tool.

David Wakeling, Global Head of AI Advisory and the Markets Innovation Group at A&O Shearman: "There has been a lot of hype, but these agents are the first concrete legal use-cases of agentic AI within a multinational law firm—and therefore within much of the commercial landscape. These agents do in minutes what previously took several hours, and frustrated people. At A&O Shearman, we have some of the best lawyers in the world—that’s why we’ve put their brains in our tech stack alongside Harvey’s gold standard AI."

Winston Weinberg, CEO and co-founder of Harvey: "For decades, the legal industry has relied on the same structure and approach to deliver results for clients. Together with A&O Shearman, Harvey is building agentic workflows that save tremendous amounts of time without sacrificing accuracy and trust. This combination presents a powerful combination with remarkable potential for the industry and for current and future clients."

James Webber, antitrust partner at A&O Shearman: "The technology is complex and so is the law. But the output is simple. All lawyers working on antitrust matters have had that sinking feeling – usually around 3am – of ‘there must be an easier and quicker way of doing this’. Those days are fading fast. The work is getting better."

Filippo Crosara, partner in A&O Shearman’s leveraged finance team: "I’ve been a leveraged finance lawyer for over two decades, and this is a transformational moment. Loan documentation for leveraged finance transactions is highly complex and bespoke, while manual review is time intensive, requiring experience and a sophisticated skillset. In partnership with Harvey, we’ve created an agent that is able to review loan agreements, extract data and perform comparative analysis across portfolios—quickly, reliably and efficiently. This exciting innovation will enhance A&O Shearman’s ability to provide the most advanced solutions to our clients."