{"id":157848,"date":"2026-07-22T16:36:32","date_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/22\/willkie-farr-and-openai-building-proprietary-ai-named-after-guy-who-would-not-have-cut-a-deal-with-trump\/"},"modified":"2026-07-22T16:36:32","modified_gmt":"2026-07-23T00:36:32","slug":"willkie-farr-and-openai-building-proprietary-ai-named-after-guy-who-would-not-have-cut-a-deal-with-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2026\/07\/22\/willkie-farr-and-openai-building-proprietary-ai-named-after-guy-who-would-not-have-cut-a-deal-with-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Willkie Farr And OpenAI Building Proprietary AI Named After Guy Who Would Not Have Cut A Deal With Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"

Willkie Farr & Gallagher just announced a partnership with OpenAI<\/a> to build the next generation of its in-house AI tools, a collaboration that comes with a firmwide rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise and access to Codex for the firm\u2019s engineers. While many firms seek out vendor-designed tools and other secure wrappers, Willkie has thrown itself into building the bespoke AI that works for them. Willkie Works, a Roald Dahl-sounding name if I\u2019ve ever heard one, will serve as the firm\u2019s an internal build shop. and a portfolio of products sitting on top of it.<\/p>\n

Those products are all named Wendell.<\/p>\n

Wendell Intelligence is the front end, the unified interface where the lawyers work. Wendell Financial Insights handles matter and financial analytics. Wendell Horizon runs professional development and attorney training. There is a Wendell for private funds secondaries and a Wendell for class action claimant analysis.<\/p>\n

The underlying strategy is that if the frontier models become a commodity, then the differentiator isn\u2019t the model a firm rents, but how well the system around it draws upon institutional knowledge and delivers on client expectations. If OpenAI can help a firm optimize the model for the work, all the better. The caveat, which Legal IT Insider flags and which nobody in a press release ever will, is that when AI companies inevitably adopt consumption pricing, a firm that has built its entire operational stack on token throughput may discover it has constructed a very elegant toll booth pointed at itself.<\/p>\n

Shocking that a law firm wouldn\u2019t consider the possibility that a company might bill by resources used as opposed to a flat fee.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is changing the practice of law,\u201d Chairman Thomas Cerabino explained. \u201cWe have been through pivotal transformations before and are embracing this generational shift, supporting our position as a leader in the AI evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of pivotal transformations, in April 2025, facing an executive order that had not actually been issued yet<\/em>, Willkie proactively reached out to the White House and committed $100 million in pro bono services<\/a> to causes aligned with the administration\u2019s ideals, plus an agreement to drop diversity hiring initiatives. As it happens, Cerabino is now on the Justice Department\u2019s list of Biglaw leaders it wants to depose<\/a> about the deal, so even folding like cheap suit failed to bring them peace. Hopefully, Wendell Intelligence isn\u2019t training on this stroke of inspired strategic genius.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Wendell.<\/p>\n

Wendell Willkie joined the firm in 1941, a few months after getting absolutely demolished in the presidential election to Franklin Roosevelt. In 1942 (and again on reargument in 1943), he went to the Supreme Court and argued Schneiderman v. United States<\/em><\/a> on behalf of William Schneiderman, an admitted Communist Party official whose citizenship the federal government tried to strip. Willkie handled the matter pro bono<\/em> at a time when American anti-communist sentiment continued to rise. Many told Willkie that fighting the administration on this during war time would cost him politically. He won 5-3 anyway.<\/p>\n

Eighty some odd years later, the firm that carries his name ran<\/em> to surrender to an administration hoping to bully lawyers into sacrificing their principles. But they did slap Willkie\u2019s name on their chatbot, so it all evens out. <\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Willkie Farr Surrenders To Trump<\/a>
Willkie Loses Longest-Serving Lawyer Over Trump Surrender<\/a>
Bevy Of Willkie Partners Depart For Biglaw Firm That Will Actually Stand Up For The Rule Of Law<\/a>
Trump Turns On Capitulating Biglaw Firms HAHAHAHAHA<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Willkie Farr And OpenAI Building Proprietary AI Named After Guy Who Would Not Have Cut A Deal With Trump<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Willkie Farr & Gallagher just announced a partnership with OpenAI<\/a> to build the next generation of its in-house AI tools, a collaboration that comes with a firmwide rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise and access to Codex for the firm\u2019s engineers. While many firms seek out vendor-designed tools and other secure wrappers, Willkie has thrown itself into building the bespoke AI that works for them. Willkie Works, a Roald Dahl-sounding name if I\u2019ve ever heard one, will serve as the firm\u2019s an internal build shop. and a portfolio of products sitting on top of it.<\/p>\n

Those products are all named Wendell.<\/p>\n

Wendell Intelligence is the front end, the unified interface where the lawyers work. Wendell Financial Insights handles matter and financial analytics. Wendell Horizon runs professional development and attorney training. There is a Wendell for private funds secondaries and a Wendell for class action claimant analysis.<\/p>\n

The underlying strategy is that if the frontier models become a commodity, then the differentiator isn\u2019t the model a firm rents, but how well the system around it draws upon institutional knowledge and delivers on client expectations. If OpenAI can help a firm optimize the model for the work, all the better. The caveat, which Legal IT Insider flags and which nobody in a press release ever will, is that when AI companies inevitably adopt consumption pricing, a firm that has built its entire operational stack on token throughput may discover it has constructed a very elegant toll booth pointed at itself.<\/p>\n

Shocking that a law firm wouldn\u2019t consider the possibility that a company might bill by resources used as opposed to a flat fee.<\/p>\n

\u201cAI is changing the practice of law,\u201d Chairman Thomas Cerabino explained. \u201cWe have been through pivotal transformations before and are embracing this generational shift, supporting our position as a leader in the AI evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of pivotal transformations, in April 2025, facing an executive order that had not actually been issued yet<\/em>, Willkie proactively reached out to the White House and committed $100 million in pro bono services<\/a> to causes aligned with the administration\u2019s ideals, plus an agreement to drop diversity hiring initiatives. As it happens, Cerabino is now on the Justice Department\u2019s list of Biglaw leaders it wants to depose<\/a> about the deal, so even folding like cheap suit failed to bring them peace. Hopefully, Wendell Intelligence isn\u2019t training on this stroke of inspired strategic genius.<\/p>\n

Which brings us back to Wendell.<\/p>\n

Wendell Willkie joined the firm in 1941, a few months after getting absolutely demolished in the presidential election to Franklin Roosevelt. In 1942 (and again on reargument in 1943), he went to the Supreme Court and argued Schneiderman v. United States<\/em><\/a> on behalf of William Schneiderman, an admitted Communist Party official whose citizenship the federal government tried to strip. Willkie handled the matter pro bono<\/em> at a time when American anti-communist sentiment continued to rise. Many told Willkie that fighting the administration on this during war time would cost him politically. He won 5-3 anyway.<\/p>\n

Eighty some odd years later, the firm that carries his name ran<\/em> to surrender to an administration hoping to bully lawyers into sacrificing their principles. But they did slap Willkie\u2019s name on their chatbot, so it all evens out. <\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: Willkie Farr Surrenders To Trump<\/a>
Willkie Loses Longest-Serving Lawyer Over Trump Surrender<\/a>
Bevy Of Willkie Partners Depart For Biglaw Firm That Will Actually Stand Up For The Rule Of Law<\/a>
Trump Turns On Capitulating Biglaw Firms HAHAHAHAHA<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

\"Headshot\"Joe Patrice<\/a>\u00a0is a senior editor at Above the Law and co-host of Thinking Like A Lawyer<\/a>. Feel free to\u00a0email<\/a> any tips, questions, or comments. Follow him on\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\u00a0or Bluesky<\/a> if you\u2019re interested in law, politics, and a healthy dose of college sports news.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Willkie Farr & Gallagher just announced a partnership with OpenAI to build the next generation of its in-house AI tools, a collaboration that comes with a firmwide rollout of ChatGPT Enterprise and access to Codex for the firm\u2019s engineers. While many firms seek out vendor-designed tools and other secure wrappers, Willkie has thrown itself into […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":157849,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Headshot-300x200-FWNrPj.jpg?fit=300%2C200&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=157848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/157848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/157849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=157848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=157848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=157848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}