OpenAI Rolls Out Astra for Law with a US Case-Law Index and Firm Plugins
OpenAI on Thursday launched Astra for Law. The product targets law firms and legal-tech vendors that build AI workflows for professional practice. It combines GPT-6 Astra with a legal search index, specialised instructions, and research and drafting tools. Privacy controls and 26 partner plugins sit alongside that stack.
GPT-6 Astra is described as OpenAI’s strongest model to date. Astra for Law is that model configured for legal work, not a wholly separate base model. Early access runs through a Trusted Access programme in ChatGPT and Codex. An API build is planned later.
The search index is the main new piece. Users can query US case law, statutes, regulations, court rules, and administrative decisions. OpenAI says the corpus spans more than 230 million URLs and grows daily. A tie-up with the Free Law Project adds CourtListener opinions to the same research path.
The tools are meant to find authorities, pull the right passages, and apply them to a question. On items from Vals AI’s Legal Research Bench, OpenAI reports a 54 percent pass rate on the overall correctness check. GPT-6 Astra with web search alone scored 38.7 percent. The legal setup also found 24 percent more reference cases on case-law questions. On an audited passage set, it retrieved up to 54 percent more relevant excerpts from the correct opinions. No public head-to-head against incumbent legal-research platforms was released with the announcement.
Writing and analysis instructions are bundled in. OpenAI says the model can map research onto a client’s facts, shape arguments or deal language, flag weak points, and mark uncertainty. One example is separating a holding from other remarks, then spotting authorities that could undercut a position.
Confidential files get extra switches. Eligible firms in Trusted Access can use Zero Data Retention on the API. ChatGPT Enterprise traffic is excluded from human review by default, the company says.
Twenty-six plugins link the chat to practice software. iManage can file a draft negotiation brief into a matter. Intapp can flag work that may need a time entry. Thomson Reuters is feeding HighQ matter context into ChatGPT and previewing a CoCounsel Legal connector.
Access is limited at launch. Broader API availability should follow. Firms still need human review of citations, privilege, and ethical walls before any generated memo leaves the desk.