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Summary
- Introducing Protégé General AI
- General AI Models Available in Protégé for New Zealand Legal Workflows
- Practical Use Cases for Lawyers
But as AI becomes more common in legal practice, many professionals are discovering an unexpected challenge; their tools don’t always work together.
A typical day for an New Zealand lawyer might involve switching between multiple systems: a legal-specific AI for case law research, ChatGPT for general drafting, and Claude for brainstorming or summarisation.
Each tool may excel in its own area, but the constant back-and-forth slows progress and disrupts the very productivity AI promises to deliver.
More concerning, every time a document or prompt moves between platforms, so does sensitive client data. This fragmentation not only wastes valuable time but also increases the risk of client information exposure.
LexisNexis® has solved this challenge by making general-purpose AI models available within the secure Lexis+ AI environment, combining flexibility with enterprise-grade security.
This innovation marks a major step forward for New Zealand lawyers, enabling them to work faster and more confidently without compromising privacy or compliance.
Related: Mai Chen (Barrister) on Lexis+ AI
Introducing Protégé General AI
Protégé General AI now allows users to select the underlying large language model (LLM) they wish to use to power LexisNexis Protégé, the personalised AI assistant.
This new functionality is purpose-built for legal professionals and designed for the multi-faceted nature of how lawyers work today.
With a simple drop-down, legal professionals can now choose between Protégé Legal AI - which continues to deliver trusted, LexisNexis-grounded responses optimised for legal accuracy through CaseBase® integration - and Protégé General AI, which expands capability to a broader range of everyday tasks powered by the latest General AI models and verified open-web sources.
General AI Models Available in Protégé for New Zealand Legal Workflows
Within Protégé General AI, lawyers can now access a curated suite of world-class AI models directly inside the secure Lexis+ AI environment with each model offering distinct strengths, from fast conversational responses to deep analytical reasoning.
Claude Sonnet 4 (Natural Fluency)
Provides thoughtful, well-structured responses with natural fluency, ideal for everyday communication and brainstorming tasks that require a diplomatic touch.
GPT-5 (Unified Reasoning)
The latest model from OpenAI, which combines strong general knowledge and conversational ability with deep analytical thinking, making it suited for strategic exploration and refining complex arguments. LexisNexis is among the first companies to integrate this model through its direct collaboration with OpenAI.
GPT-4o (General Exploration)
Offers fast, conversational responses ideal for brainstorming, client communications and everyday tasks. Whether drafting professional emails or summarizing complex documents for partners, this configuration prioritizes speed and natural language.
OpenAI o3 (Advanced Reasoning)
Delivers deliberate, analytical responses using OpenAI's Deep Research, a sophisticated AI capability designed for complex research tasks. It excels at issue spotting, exploring hypotheticals and framing legal strategies, which are particularly valuable when working through multi-step problems or analysing fact patterns.
The transparent labelling system in Protégé General AI makes it clear which model is generating each response, supporting professional judgment and source verification that remain central to legal practice.
Practical Use Cases for Lawyers
Protégé General AI has been designed for the rigours and privacy demands of New Zealand legal practice, going beyond what general-purpose AI tools can provide.
This capability gives lawyers the flexibility to use General AI as an idea springboard, conduct deep research to independently reason across diverse insights from the web, draft communications for both legal and business audiences, enrich legal work with real-world context, and break down highly complex matters more effectively.
The versatility of these model options comes to life when considering everyday practice scenarios. For example:
- A corporate lawyer working on an M&A transaction might use GPT-5 to analyse complex regulatory implications, switch to Legal AI for Companies Act 1993 research and then use Claude Sonnet 4 to prepare client communications explaining the deal structure in plain English.
- A litigator preparing for court proceedings might leverage OpenAI o3’s analytical capabilities to identify potential issues in discovery, use GPT-4o to draft a matter update for internal stakeholders, and then rely on Legal AI for precedent research.
- A regulatory or compliance lawyer might use General AI to track recent Commerce Commission enforcement actions, then query Legal AI’s authoritative LexisNexis sources to assess how these changes affect client obligations.
The ability to move seamlessly between different AI models with distinct strengths streamlines complex legal workflows.
By combining real-world context with verified legal authority, lawyers can build a more complete foundation for advice and decision-making.
One-click access to both Legal AI and General AI within the same environment significantly enhances productivity while mitigating the risks of moving confidential information between platforms.
LexisNexis also maintains its enterprise-grade security standards and compliance, with all interactions protected by end-to-end encryption and advanced data-governance protocols.
The rollout of Protégé General AI recognises that modern legal practice demands both specialised Legal AI for authoritative research, drafting, and insights, and general-purpose AI for the broader spectrum of legal and business work.
Related: The future of law: rooted in strong foundations
By bringing both capabilities together within the secure, Australian-hosted Lexis+ AI environment, legal professionals can now complete a wider range of AI-powered tasks - from deep legal analysis to day-to-day communication - without ever leaving a trusted workspace.
To explore how Lexis+ AI with Protégé is reshaping New Zealand legal workflows or to experience its capabilities firsthand, Book Your Free Demo today.