Thomson Reuters, Smokeball enter partnership

Executive Summary

• Smokeball and Thomson Reuters have entered a strategic partnership to create an integrated legal technology ecosystem combining Smokeball’s practice management platform with Thomson Reuters’ CoCounsel Legal AI and content tools.
• The initial phase involves a real-time data connector allowing Smokeball users to bulk-sync legal documents into CoCounsel Legal, reducing administrative tasks and version mismatches.
• The partnership aims to provide small- to mid-size law firms with a unified interface for operational management, legal research, document analysis, and drafting powered by agentic AI.

Key Details

• Partnership Structure: A strategic alliance between Smokeball (cloud-based practice management for small- to mid-size law firms) and Thomson Reuters (global content and technology company).
• Core Integration: Combines Smokeball’s practice management tools and AI matter assistant with Thomson Reuters’ CoCounsel Legal (AI for legal research, document analysis, and drafting).
• Initial Technical Implementation: Launch of a real-time data connector that syncs legal documents across platforms, enabling bulk document uploads from Smokeball to CoCounsel Legal.
• Target Audience: Small- to mid-size law firms in the United States.
• Access Pathway: Joint customers will access CoCounsel Legal (including Westlaw Advantage and Practical Law) and Smokeball through existing platforms.
• Future Roadmap: Further integration phases are underway to create a seamless interface combining Thomson Reuters’ legal content, AI, and know-how tools with up-to-date matter facts.
• Value Proposition: Saves time, reduces administrative tasks, minimizes error/version mismatch risks, and provides a single place to get, do, research, and bill work.

Notable Quotes

• Aaron Rademacher, General Manager, Small Law Firms, Thomson Reuters: "CoCounsel Legal is an agentic AI solution purpose-built for legal professionals, and we partnered with Smokeball because they provide a premium practice management software that's already an essential part of the operating stack... Together, we're creating a solution in the market that combines a premium business-of-law platform with industry-leading practice-of-law content and solutions -- a combination that simply hasn't existed until now."
• Hunter Steele, Chief Executive Officer, Smokeball: "Smokeball has always been focused on giving small- to mid-sized firms the operational infrastructure to compete at the highest level... By partnering with Thomson Reuters, we're connecting the operational layer of running a practice with trusted legal content, analysis and drafting tools. Our clients will be able to get, do, research and bill their work in one place -- powered by AI that understands both the mechanics of running a firm and the substance of legal work."