May 19, 2026DocID #70447v1
City Attorney's Office
DATE: June 23, 2026
TO: Mayor Martinez and Members of the City Council
FROM: Shannon Moore, Interim City Attorney
Christopher Dykzeul, Assistant City Attorney
Subject: Contract with Thomson Reuters Enterprise for Legal Research Subscription Services
FINANCIAL IMPACT: The proposed $110,000 expenditure for the three-year contract term is included within the proposed Fiscal Year 2026-2027 City Attorney’s budget and will be budgeted
accordingly in subsequent fiscal years (Account String:
01151014-400264).
PREVIOUS COUNCIL
ACTION:
None.
STATEMENT OF THE
ISSUE:
To continue providing the Mayor, City Council, City
Manager, and all City Departments, boards and
commissions with competent legal advice, the City
Attorney’s Office requests approval of a three-year (36- month) contract with Thomson Reuters that provides top
level legal research with integrated AI capabilities.
RECOMMENDED ACTION: APPROVE a contract with Thomson Reuters for legal research subscription services for Westlaw and
CoCounsel Legal in an amount not to exceed $110,000
for the term of July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029,
subject to non-substantive revisions approved by the City Attorney’s Office; ADOPT a resolution waiving
requirements of the City’s Contracting and Investment
Ordinance No. 12-18 N.S. as to this contract; and
AUTHORIZE the city manager or their designee to
execute the contract – City Attorney’s Office (Christopher Dykzeul 510-620-6507/Shannon Moore 510-620-6509).
AGENDA
REPORT
May 19, 2026DocID #70447v1
DISCUSSION:
The City Attorney’s Office has used Thomson Reuters’ Westlaw legal research platform for more than five years to support litigation and transactional work. To continue providing the Mayor, City Council, City Manager, City departments, boards, and commissions with timely and effective legal advice, the City Attorney’s Office requires an updated subscription that includes additional services, including artificial intelligence- powered tools such as CoCounsel.
CoCounsel Legal is Thomson Reuters' latest update that works as a part of Westlaw, and provides efficient AI assisted research, document analysis, and drafting, and integrates with Microsoft 365. Its AI capabilities are superior to those of its competitor, LexisNexis, in that it goes beyond being a research tool but also works as a document- first assistant, focusing on areas such as deposition preparation, contract analysis, and legal research memos. CoCounsel Legal pairs Westlaw Advantage with CoCounsel directly with law content, allowing for deeper guidance and drafting workflows, and is the most robust packaging available for AI features. Furthermore, the protections around CoCounsel Legal allow for deep research reports to be more accurate and reliable, without the risk of hallucinations that occur with general AI tools. Thomson Reuters was able to secure CoCounsel Legal for the City Attorney's Office at the same cost as WestLaw Advantage with CoCounsel Essentials, a savings of $255/mo ($3,060/year, and approximately $9,180 over the 36-month contract).
Additionally, Thomson Reuters provides legal research and information services to various public agencies, including law enforcement agencies. Because Thomson Reuters has not executed the City’s Sanctuary City Compliance Statement, staff requests that the City Council adopt the attached resolution waiving the requirements of the City’s Sanctuary City Contracting and Investment Ordinance, Ordinance No. 12-18 N.S., as to this contract. The City Attorney’s Office has used Westlaw for more than five years and has determined that no reasonable alternative provides the same combination of legal research content and citator tools for which attorney familiarity is materially important, and continuity of existing workflow is necessary for COA’s continued legal research for the benefit of the City. The requested waiver is limited to the proposed Thomson Reuters Enterprise contract for Westlaw and CoCounsel Legal subscription services for the City Attorney’s Office alone.
Included in the subscription is online library access for 6 attorneys with: 1) WestProflex; 2) Westlaw Multi-State Analytical; and 3) CoCounsel Legal. Also included are all updates and enhancements for the life of the agreement.
The following costs are per fiscal year:
Fiscal Year 2026-27 $32,352 ($2,696.00/month)
Fiscal Year 2027-28 $34,616.64 ($2,884.72/month)
Fiscal Year 2028-29 $37,039.80 ($3,086.65/month)
May 19, 2026DocID #70447v1
The City Attorney’s Office requests City Council’s approval of a three-year agreement with Thomson Reuters Enterprises for subscription services that include 1) WestProflex; 2) Westlaw Multi-State Analytical; and 3) CoCounsel Legal, for a total amount not to exceed $110,000, and term from July 1, 2026, through June 30, 2029, with two, one - year renewal term option.
DOCUMENTS ATTACHED:
Attachment 1 – Original Contract with Thomas Reuters Enterprise (proposed) Attachment 2 – Sole Source Form
Attachment 3 – IT Purchase Authorization Form
Attachment 4 – Resolution Waiving the Requirements of Ordinance No. 12-18 N.S.