Changes within Thomson Reuters

Thomson Reuters is in the process of “rightsizing” their operations through reducing staff and management, as well as closing offices, according to Jean O’Grady.  This transition continues the trend of Thomson Reuters in recent years of downsizing their legal presence, including selling majority control of Financial & Business as well as closing their Rochester, NY office, which had been operating since the 1880s (prior to being acquired by Thomson Reuters).  According to O’Grady, this continued downgrading of human editors will further erode the quality of the legal publications under Thomson Reuters, and lead to growth in the artificial intelligence involvement in the editing process (which carries several drawbacks).  In the end it is unclear whether this move by Thomson Reuters represents a size-correction or downsizing to cut costs, as well as how the legal content will be affected.  Regardless of the intention, it is something that all users of their content should be aware of.