OpenAI launches Astra for law, says it will help lawyers with cases

OpenAI has launched Astra for Law for lawyers. According to the company, this new model is designed to help lawyers find relevant cases, analyse legal documents, develop arguments and identify potential weaknesses in a case.

In Short

• Trusted Access will first offer the model to selected law firms
• The system combines GPT-6 Astra with a vast US legal index
• OpenAI said benchmark tests showed stronger accuracy and broader case retrieval

After going after coders and writers, OpenAI is now coming for lawyers. The company has launched Astra for Law, a new AI model built specifically for legal work and designed to take on tasks such as researching cases, analysing legal issues, finding precedents and helping with drafting. According to the company the new system combines GPT-6 Astra with a dedicated legal search index and instructions designed for legal analysis and writing. It will initially be offered to selected law firms through Trusted Access in ChatGPT and Codex, with API access coming soon.

OpenAI says Astra for Law is built to handle more than basic questions from lawyers. It can help with legal research, analyse cases and legal documents, develop arguments and deal terms, and help identify weaknesses or uncertainty in a legal argument. The model is also designed to work with a law firm's existing knowledge and ways of working. This means firms can use their own precedents, negotiating playbooks, instructions and other internal material to build customised tools for specific legal tasks.

Features of Astra for Law

One of the main features of Astra for Law is said to be its Legal Search Index, which covers more than 230 million URLs. OpenAI says it can search US case law, statutes, regulations, court rules and administrative decisions, with new sources added every day. The company says it has also worked with the Free Law Project, the non-profit behind CourtListener, to bring a collection covering more than 99.9 per cent of published US precedential case law into the research experience. According to OpenAI this search index is designed to complement the licensed legal databases and specialist tools that law firms already use.

OpenAI also tested Astra for Law on 200 US legal research questions. At its highest reasoning setting, the company says the model passed the benchmark's overall correctness check on 54 per cent of the questions, compared with 38.7 per cent for GPT-6 Astra using web search alone. OpenAI represents a 40 per cent relative improvement. It also claims Astra for Law found 24 per cent more reference cases on case-law questions and retrieved up to 54 per cent more relevant passages from correct court opinions in an audited set. These are OpenAI's own test results and have not been independently assessed.

Beyond finding cases, Astra for Law can also apply legal research to a client's situation. OpenAI says it can help lawyers develop arguments, assess deal terms, identify weaknesses in a case and explain areas of uncertainty.

What about privacy?

Lawyers often deal with sensitive client information, so OpenAI says Astra for Law comes with extra privacy controls. Eligible law firms will get Zero Data Retention for API use, while ChatGPT Enterprise chats are not reviewed by humans by default. OpenAI is also working on controls for who can access information within a law firm.

When will Astra for Law be available?

Astra for Law is initially being offered to selected law firms in the US through OpenAI's Trusted Access programme in ChatGPT and Codex. In ChatGPT, it will appear as “GPT-6 Astra Law”, while the API version will be called gpt-6-astra-law.

OpenAI says API access is coming soon. The company also plans to continue developing the model with feedback from lawyers, law firms and legal technology companies

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