Summary
The merged firm A&O Shearman is rolling out multi-step reasoning AI agents developed with Harvey, focusing on antitrust filing analysis, cybersecurity, fund formation, and loan review. The agents will be sold to clients and other law firms.
A&O Shearman and Harvey are launching a series of agentic, multi-step reasoning AI agents for complex legal tasks, marking the next evolution of their industry-leading partnership.
The agents integrate A&O Shearman's legal expertise and will be:
- Rolled out internally across the merged firm
- Sold to clients as subscription offerings
- Licensed to other law firms
Initial focus areas for the agents include:
- **Antitrust Filing Analysis**: Automated assessment of merger notifications
- **Cybersecurity Compliance**: Regulatory tracking and impact assessment
- **Fund Formation**: Document generation and review
- **Loan Review**: Due diligence and risk analysis
These are high-value practice areas requiring deep legal expertise and multi-step reasoning—areas where agentic AI can provide the most value.
Background on the partnership:
Allen & Overy first broke ground by integrating Harvey in February 2023, initially trialing the platform since November 2022 under the Markets Innovation Group (MIG). During the trial, around 3,500 lawyers asked Harvey approximately 40,000 queries for client work.
The May 2024 merger of Allen & Overy and Shearman & Sterling was more than a conventional play for geographic footprint—it was designed to create an entity with the scale, resources, and unified ambition required to lead legal technology transformation.
Key milestones:
- **ContractMatrix**: A contract drafting tool created in partnership with Microsoft and Harvey, running on Azure, available as SaaS—saving around 7 hours when negotiating contracts
- **Europe's "Most Innovative Law Firm" 2024**: Recognition for enterprise-level legal AI implementation
- **Revenue-sharing model**: The relationship has evolved from licensing to a vested co-development arrangement
The agentic AI rollout represents a shift from assistive AI (answering questions) to autonomous AI (completing multi-step tasks with minimal human intervention)—a trend expected to accelerate across the legal industry in 2026.