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The business of law is getting a serious shake-up this week. Wood Smith Henning & Berman has secured backing from private equity firm Charlesbank to fund its expansion and AI ambitions, while more Big Law partners are leaving established firms to build AI-native competitors.

Meanwhile, Microsoft has officially (and finally!) entered the legal AI race with Copilot for Legal, offering more than 20 specialised skills and integrations with Harvey, Legora, and other major platforms. Speaking of Harvey and Legora, the two rivals have launched competing products with exactly the same name: Intake.

Elsewhere, Lucio Labs is pushing the limits of AI-powered legal research, and the FTC is demanding answers from OpenAI and Anthropic over AI safety.

In this week's guest feature, Rachel Coleman from iManage explores how AI is changing the role of knowledge lawyers, and why their expertise may become even more valuable.

➡️ WSHB Forms MSO Backed by Charlesbank to Fund AI and Expansion | Trial firm Wood Smith Henning & Berman has formed a management services organization, WSHB Support Services, backed by a strategic investment from middle-market firm Charlesbank Capital Partners. WSHB will remain independent, with its lawyers retaining sole authority over client matters, while the MSO funds geographic expansion, deeper practice capabilities, and investment in AI and data science. Co-founder Daniel Berman will lead the MSO as CEO. WSHB has over 550 attorneys across 43 offices in 23 US states.
^{Oct 19, 2026, Source: Business Wire}

➡️ Lucio Labs Opens Free Beta of Its Deep Legal Research Tool | Lucio Labs has opened a free beta of Lucio Research, which reads legal authorities in full rather than scanning headnotes. Standard mode screens 300 to 500 sources per question; In-depth mode reads across 800 to 1,500 (sometimes 2,000+), usually returning answers in under three minutes. Each proposition carries an inline citation, and an “All sources” view shows what was used, flagged, or discarded. The tool is optimized for case law in the US, UK, and India.
^{Oct 15, 2026, Source: Lucio}

➡️ Microsoft Launches Copilot for Legal With 20+ Skills and Partner Plugins | Microsoft has launched Copilot for Legal, bringing 20+ purpose-built legal skills and new partner-built plugins into general availability. The skills support deep document work in Word (redlining, drafting from precedents, playbook review) and multi-step work in Cowork (obligation tracking, case chronologies, comparing agreements). Partner plugins connect Copilot to Bloomberg Law, iManage, NetDocuments, Litera, HighQ, Docusign, Harvey, Legora, Everlaw, and Relativity. Early adopter Clyde & Co is rolling out premium Copilot licenses firm-wide.
^{Oct 15, 2026, Source: Microsoft}

➡️ FTC Subpoenas Anthropic and OpenAI in Widening AI Safety Probe | The FTC has subpoenaed Anthropic and OpenAI, seeking documents on safety incidents, privacy policies, and safeguards as part of a wider AI probe launched this summer. The civil investigative demands follow recent incidents in which the companies’ AI models hacked into websites. The FTC plans further subpoenas to third-party organizations and could compel both companies to testify before Congress. A recent AP-NORC poll found 64% of US adults think AI is developing “too fast.”
^{Oct 15, 2026, Source: CBS News}

➡️ Harvey and Legora Launch Rival In-House AI Intake Products | Legora and Harvey launched competing AI products both called “Intake”, aimed at helping in-house legal teams manage incoming work. Legora’s version runs through Slack, with an AI agent collecting missing information and preparing drafts; Harvey’s captures requests and routes them to a lawyer or agent. Harvey works with 1,600+ in-house teams; Legora says in-house clients now make up about half its UK book.
^{Oct 14, 2026, Source: Non-billable}

➡️ Big Law Partners Continue Exodus to AI-Native Firms | Big Law partners are continuing to leave for AI-native firms. Goodwin Procter private equity partner Leon Johnson is leading OmniLex Partners, a new US firm linked to Zurich-based Omnilex AI, built around fixed fees and senior lawyers backed by AI through an MSO structure. Recent moves include ex-Sidley’s Mike Schmidtberger joining Norm Law, ex-Quinn Emanuel’s Christopher Kercher launching a litigation firm, and ex-Burford Capital’s David Perla founding FairPlay Law. An online directory now lists over 60 AI-native firms.
^{Oct 14, 2026, Source: Thomson Reuters}

The rapid adoption of AI across law firms is reshaping nearly every legal role, and knowledge lawyers are no exception. The AI age is an opportunity for knowledge lawyers to flourish, evolve, and in many ways, expand their influence as they work hand in hand with AI and with innovation and technology teams to drive change across their law firms.

Knowledge lawyers occupy a valued and multifaceted position that sits at the heart of how a sophisticated legal team operates.

They are the trusted resource that anyone on the team, regardless of seniority, turns to when something new, novel, or unexpected crosses their desk: an unusual piece of drafting, a complex argument in a case, or a piece of legislation or case law that needs to be interpreted. Knowledge lawyers operate at the “messy edges” of legal practice to drive clarity, understanding and informed decision making.

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