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Womble Bond Dickinson (WBD) UK and Thomson Reuters have been named Trailblazer of the Year at the International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) Distinguished Peer Awards.
The annual awards honour outstanding leadership in legal technology and innovation across ILTA’s member and partner community, with the Trailblazer award focusing on member–partner collaborations that deploy new technology or services at an early stage.
Judges recognised WBD and Thomson Reuters’ work to make generative AI a practical, everyday capability for the firm’s 650 legal professionals across eight UK offices. Led by Sam Dixon, Chief Innovation Officer at WBD, and Rhys Burgess at Thomson Reuters, the collaboration centred on early adoption of CoCounsel Legal—Thomson Reuters’ domain-specific AI platform integrating advanced AI with Westlaw and Practical Law content and customers’ own knowledge to support research, document analysis and drafting.
After deploying the original CoCounsel product in early 2025, WBD expanded the work into an early adoption programme ahead of CoCounsel Legal’s US (August 2025) and UK (January 2026) launches. The programme covered due diligence, pilot design, early-access testing and a rapid enterprise rollout to drive consistent firmwide use. WBD also tested in-development capabilities, including Deep Research in Westlaw Advantage, providing feedback to help shape product development.
To embed AI into day-to-day working practices, the joint team brought together practice groups, knowledge, automation, product and legal tech, supported by structured training and change management. Sam Dixon’s “Cocoa with CoCo” roadshow—35 informal hot-chocolate sessions across all eight offices—helped drive adoption: around 376 of 650 (58%) timekeepers and 233 of 457 (51%) qualified lawyers are now monthly active users, with 115 daily active users.
Sam Dixon said:
“This award reflects the ambition and curiosity of our people and the strength of our partnership with Thomson Reuters. From day one, our focus has been on putting generative AI safely into the hands of lawyers to improve the speed and quality of research and drafting—so we can deliver even better outcomes for clients.”
Rhys Burgess said:
"Womble Bond Dickinson has been an exceptional early adopter, bringing real-world use cases, rigorous feedback and a clear change-management approach that helped accelerate value for the firm. Legal professionals need trusted, fiduciary-grade solutions, and we're proud to collaborate on CoCounsel Legal and to support WBD in making AI a practical, everyday tool."
The ILTA Trailblazer of the Year Award underscores WBD’s commitment to responsible innovation and to using technology to enhance client service.
This article is for general information only and reflects the position at the date of publication. It does not constitute legal advice.
