Litera is expanding its legal technology platform with AI-powered firm search and business-development intelligence designed to help law firms turn internal matter, client and relationship data into actionable information.

Announced at ILTACON 2026 in Nashville, the updates extend Litera's Lito legal AI agent and Foundation platform into areas beyond legal workflow automation, including knowledge retrieval, relationship intelligence and revenue-focused business development.

The move reflects a broader shift in legal technology. As law firms increase spending on AI and knowledge-management systems, vendors are increasingly being asked to connect those investments to measurable improvements in client service and business growth.

Thomson Reuters' 2026 State of the U.S. Legal Market report found that law firms increased technology spending by 9.7% and knowledge-management spending by 10.5% in 2025. The report also found that firms with a visible AI strategy were 3.9 times more likely to report at least one form of AI-related return on investment.

Litera Brings Firm Data Into Conversational Search

Litera's new Firm AI Search is delivered through Lito, the company's legal AI agent. It allows lawyers and knowledge professionals to query firm matter, client and expertise information using natural-language prompts.

The system connects information held in Foundation, matter-management systems and expertise databases. Litera says users can also use Lito Lookups through an @mention to retrieve matter, client and people records without leaving their existing workflow.

Firm AI Search is now generally available to Foundation Cloud customers, initially for firms in the United States.

The underlying concept addresses a longstanding problem in professional-services organizations: large volumes of institutional knowledge exist, but finding the right information can require navigating multiple databases, CRM records and matter systems.

Litera's existing Foundation platform is designed to consolidate client, matter and practice information for activities such as pitches, proposals, pricing and reporting. The new conversational layer changes how users interact with that information, allowing searches to begin with questions rather than database navigation.

Growth Intelligence Moves From Data to Revenue Signals

The company is also expanding Litera GrowthTech, its business-development technology offering for law firms.

One of the new capabilities integrates Foundation 365 with Foundation Proactive ERM, powered by Postilize. The system analyzes email and calendar metadata without accessing message content to identify relationship strength, changes and communication patterns.

That information can then be combined with firm experience and client data.

The practical distinction is important. A traditional CRM record can show who is associated with a client. Relationship intelligence can potentially indicate how active or strong that connection is and whether a relationship is weakening.

Litera is also adding monetary context to its Proactive Signals. By combining business-development signals with historical matter and financial data, firms can prioritize opportunities according to potential revenue rather than treating every lead or signal equally.

That reflects an increasing emphasis on business outcomes in legal technology.

CRM Data Quality Becomes Part of the AI Equation

Litera is also introducing Proactive Cleanse, designed to identify changes in contact information, company affiliations, roles and titles.

The company claims the system achieves 80%–85% accuracy and capture rates, compared with approximately 30% from email-signature scraping alone. Those figures are vendor-reported and have not been independently verified.

Data quality is particularly relevant as firms attempt to apply AI to business development. AI systems can only produce useful relationship or opportunity insights when the underlying records are current and sufficiently structured.

In that sense, CRM maintenance is becoming part of the AI-readiness equation rather than simply an administrative function.

Market Landscape: Legal AI Moves Toward Institutional Knowledge

Litera's expansion comes as law firms increasingly look to connect AI with the proprietary information they have accumulated over years of client work.

Thomson Reuters' 2026 research found that more than three-quarters of surveyed standout lawyers agreed their firms had an AI strategy, but fewer than half were confident their practice areas could succeed as AI becomes more integrated. The research was based on interviews with 116 law firm leaders and 2,527 standout lawyers.

The same market is seeing competition from vendors such as Thomson Reuters, iManage and specialist legal AI providers.

Thomson Reuters, for example, is expanding integrations between its legal AI products and established document and knowledge-management systems, including iManage.

This suggests that the competitive battleground is moving beyond standalone AI assistants. Vendors increasingly need to connect AI to the systems containing a firm's proprietary knowledge while fitting into existing workflows.

Strategic Outlook

Litera's latest developments position internal firm data as a potential growth asset rather than simply an information repository.

That distinction could become increasingly important as AI reduces the time required for routine legal work. If efficiency gains reduce billable hours or compress traditional workflows, firms will need other mechanisms for translating technology investment into financial value.

Thomson Reuters reported in June 2026 that clients' expectations around AI-enabled value are creating as much as $143 billion in potentially at-risk professional-services revenue in the United States, based on its Future of Professionals research.

For law firms, the implication is that AI strategy increasingly extends into client development. Finding relevant prior matters, identifying experts, recognizing relationship changes and prioritizing high-value opportunities could become part of the same technology workflow as legal research and drafting.

Litera's challenge will be proving that these connected data capabilities translate into better pitches, stronger client relationships and measurable new revenue, rather than simply adding another layer of AI functionality.

Top Insights

• Litera has introduced Firm AI Search through its Lito legal AI agent.
• The capability lets users query firm matter, client and expertise data using natural language.
• GrowthTech updates connect relationship intelligence with experience, client and financial data.
• Proactive Signals now adds monetary context to help prioritize business-development opportunities.
• Proactive Cleanse is designed to address outdated CRM records.
• Law firms increased technology spending 9.7% and knowledge-management spending 10.5% in 2025, according to Thomson Reuters.
• The legal AI market is increasingly focused on connecting AI with proprietary institutional knowledge and measurable business outcomes.

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