AI Legal Research for Philippine Lawyers: How Ask Lex Searches the Law
Ask Lex gives Philippine lawyers AI legal research that starts with their own case files, then searches a library of Philippine laws and jurisprudence, and names its source every time.
Picture a two-lawyer office in Legazpi at nine in the evening. A demand letter came in at five, the reply is due tomorrow, and the research shelf is a folder of PDFs plus someone’s memory of a case cited at a seminar. This is the kind of evening Ask Lex is meant for. Here is how it works, and where its limits are.
What Lex searches, and in what order
Ask Lex works in a fixed order, and the order is the point.
Your files come first. Lex answers from the documents your chat is about: the contract, the correspondence, the pleadings already in the matter’s workspace. It finds the passages that match your question by keyword and by meaning and lists the files it used.
The library comes second. When your files don’t cover the question, Lex searches Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence, a knowledge library that Twala prepares and keeps up to date. It holds Republic Acts, case law, Supreme Court decisions, legal opinions, and regulatory materials, more than 200,000 documents in all, including statutes, jurisprudence, memorandums, and circulars. You switch the library on or off for your account.
The web comes last, and only if you ask. Turn on web search for a message and Lex looks at your documents first, then the library, then the web. Leave it off and Lex stays inside your files and the library.
While Lex searches, the answer shows which library it is reading, and the finished answer cites the library by name alongside the files it drew on. You always know whether a statement came from your client’s documents or from the law.
A research session, step by step
- Keep the matter in its own workspace. Put the matter’s documents in one workspace and turn on AI search for the files Lex should read. Each client workspace is private and kept apart from the others.
- Scope the chat. Open Ask Lex on that workspace, or on one folder or file in it, and make sure the Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence library is on.
- Ask the way you would ask a senior associate. “What does our client’s supply contract say about delays caused by typhoons, and how have Philippine courts treated similar force majeure clauses?” is a better question than “force majeure”.
- Pick the right mode. Fast suits quick lookups. Thinking takes longer and reasons more deeply, and you can expand its reasoning above the answer.
- Follow the thread. After each answer, Lex suggests follow-up questions you can send with one click. The chat is saved, so the research is still there when the partner asks about it next week.
- Go to the sources. Open the files Lex cites, read the full text of every decision or provision it relies on, and confirm it still applies.
- Draft in the same place. Start the memo or reply in Twala’s editor and ask Lex to draft from the workspace files. Its edits arrive as proposals you Apply or Dismiss, colleagues comment in threads, and the result exports as Word or PDF.
Check before you rely on it
An AI research assistant is a fast way to find where to look. It is not the last word. Lex names its sources so that you can check them, and a lawyer who files a pleading or signs an opinion is responsible for every citation in it, whoever found it first. Twala is a technology provider and does not give legal advice.
Confidentiality is the other half of the job. Lex runs privately under Twala’s own cloud account, every search is filtered by workspace, and Lex answers only from files you can open. AI search is opt-in for each file, and no user data is ever used to train the AI. We set out how we think about the balance in using AI in legal practice without losing control of the work.
Working with the legal community
Twala works closely with the legal profession. In January 2026, it signed a national partnership with the Integrated Bar of the Philippines that brings training on digital legal tools to IBP members.
For lawyers who also hold an electronic notarial commission, research and notarization sit in the same account. Between sessions, Lex can look up the rule a client asked about while the notarial register keeps itself. More on that in why Electronic Notaries Public choose Twala, and in our complete guide to eNotarization in the Philippines.
What it costs
The Philippine Laws and Jurisprudence library comes with every plan at no extra charge; answers use your plan’s AI allowance. The free Personal plan includes 50,000 AI tokens a month. Professional, at ₱990 a month with 500,000 tokens a month, is meant for solo lawyers who want document management and AI tools alongside notarization. Business, at ₱1,690 per seat a month with 1,000,000 tokens a month and a minimum of three seats, suits firms that need contract lifecycle management and several users under one account. Compare them on the pricing page, or read about the library on the features page.
Frequently asked questions
Does Lex replace reading the decision?
No. Lex tells you where to look and summarizes what it found. Read the full text of anything you intend to cite.
Who keeps the library up to date?
Twala prepares the knowledge libraries and keeps them up to date. Lex names the library it used in every answer that draws on one.
Can Lex search the internet?
Only when you turn on web search for a message. Even then, it reads your documents and the library first.
Are my client files used to train the AI?
No. No user data is ever used to train the AI, and Lex answers only from files you can open.
To try it on a real matter, create a free Twala account, upload a few documents with AI search on, and ask Lex the question you would otherwise spend the evening on. For a tour of everything else Lex does, see Meet Lex.
