OpenAI Launches Astra for Law, Aiming to Assist Lawyers with Their Cases
In Short
OpenAI has launched Astra for Law, a tool aimed at lawyers. According to the company, this new model is designed to help legal professionals find relevant cases, analyse legal documents, develop arguments, and identify potential weaknesses in a case.
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OpenAI Launches Astra for Law, Aiming to Assist Lawyers with Their Cases
After targeting programmers and writers, OpenAI is now focusing on lawyers. The company has launched Astra for Law, a new AI model created specifically for legal work and designed to handle tasks such as case research, analysis of legal issues, precedent searches, and assistance with document drafting. According to the company, the new system combines GPT-6 Astra with a specialised legal search index and instructions geared toward legal analysis and drafting. Initially, it will be offered to select law firms via "Trusted Access" in ChatGPT and Codex, with API access becoming available soon.
OpenAI states that Astra for Law is designed to handle more than just simple inquiries from lawyers. It can assist with legal research, analyse cases and legal documents, develop arguments and negotiation terms, and identify weaknesses or uncertainties in a legal argument. The model is also designed to integrate with the existing knowledge and workflows of law firms. This allows firms to use their own precedents, negotiation strategies, instructions, and other internal materials to create custom tools for specific legal tasks.
Features of Astra for Law
One of the key features of Astra for Law is its Legal Search Index, which covers over 230 million URLs. OpenAI notes that the system can search U.S. case law, statutes, regulations, procedural rules, and administrative decisions, incorporating new sources daily. The company has also collaborated with the Free Law Project—the non-profit organisation behind CourtListener—to integrate a collection covering over 99.9% of published U.S. case law with precedential value into the search experience. According to OpenAI, this search index is designed to complement the licensed legal databases and specialized tools already used by law firms.
OpenAI also tested Astra for Law using 200 US legal research questions. In its most advanced reasoning configuration, the model passed the evaluation's general accuracy test for 54% of the questions, compared to 38.7% for GPT-6 Astra using only web search; according to OpenAI, this represents a 40% relative improvement. Additionally, Astra for Law reportedly identified 24% more relevant cases regarding legal issues and retrieved up to 54% more relevant excerpts from pertinent court opinions within an audited dataset. These test results come from OpenAI itself and have not been independently verified.
Beyond locating cases, Astra for Law can also apply legal research to a client's specific situation. OpenAI notes that the tool can assist lawyers in formulating arguments, evaluating deal terms, identifying weaknesses in a case, and explaining areas of uncertainty.
What about privacy?
Lawyers frequently handle confidential client information, so OpenAI states that Astra for Law includes additional privacy controls. Eligible law firms will benefit from a "Zero Data Retention" policy for API usage, while ChatGPT Enterprise chats are not reviewed by humans by default. OpenAI is also working on controls to manage who can access information within a firm.
When will Astra for Law be available?
Initially, Astra for Law is being offered to select U.S. law firms through OpenAI’s ‘Trusted Access’ program for ChatGPT and Codex. In ChatGPT, it will appear as "GPT-6 Astra Law," while the API version will be named `gpt-6-astra-law`.
OpenAI indicates that API access will be available soon. The company also plans to continue developing the model based on feedback and suggestions from lawyers, law firms, and legal technology companies.
