Managed care organizations join to bring strength and stability to North Carolina’s public system of behavioral healthcare
Asheville/Gastonia, N.C. – Today, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Devdutta Sangvai approved the consolidation of Vaya Health and Partners Health Management, contingent upon completion of a successful readiness review. The merger brings together two established Local Management Entity/Managed Care Organizations (LME/MCOs) with decades of service to North Carolina communities. Secretary Sangvai’s approval follows formal action by the Boards of Directors of both Vaya Health and Partners Health Management to adopt consolidation resolutions.
The consolidation will be effective Oct. 1, 2026, creating North Carolina’s largest publicly governed behavioral health organization dedicated to integrated, whole-person care for North Carolinians with complex needs related to mental health, substance use disorders, intellectual/developmental disabilities (I/DD), and traumatic brain injuries (TBI).
The new organization will operate under the name Vaya Partners, reflecting complementary capabilities, shared values, and a joint commitment to continuing their decades of service to members, families, providers, counties, and communities.
Vaya Partners will serve more than 222,000 members across 47 counties, creating a balanced and sustainable regional model that supports the long-term viability of North Carolina’s public behavioral health system. The consolidation also establishes a more connected and cohesive region that better reflects how care is delivered and how communities function, positioning the public system to more effectively meet the needs of those it serves.
“Our highest priority is and always will be the health, safety, and well-being of the members and recipients we are privileged to serve,” said Tracy Hayes, Area Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vaya Health. “This merger represents a shared vision of a stronger health plan that will bolster North Carolina’s public behavioral health/IDD/TBI system, support our county partners, and serve even more North Carolinians on their journey toward health and wellness.”
The combined organization will be led by an experienced executive team drawn from both Vaya Health and Partners Health Management, ensuring continuity, stability, and deep expertise across the region. Tracy Hayes, current Area Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vaya Health, will serve as Area Director and Chief Executive Officer of Vaya Partners. Libby McCraw, Chief Executive Officer of Partners Health Management, will assume the role of Senior Deputy CEO. Rachel Porter, Deputy CEO of Partners Health Management, will continue as Deputy CEO.
“This consolidation brings together the strength, experience, and shared commitment of both organizations to better serve members and communities across North Carolina,” said Libby McCraw, Chief Executive Officer of Partners Health Management. “At the center of that work are our employees, whose dedication and expertise are the driving force behind the care and support we provide every day. We will build on that foundation, broaden our reach, and deliver even greater impact for members, families, providers, and communities. Together, we are advancing our shared commitment to Improving Lives and Strengthening Communities.”
Individuals who receive services through Vaya or Partners will not experience changes to their benefits or providers. Contracted providers will continue to operate as they do today, with no immediate changes to participation, billing, or administrative processes. Leadership from both organizations will work closely with the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, as well as state and local partners, to ensure continuity of care and a successful transition that puts member, provider, and community needs at the forefront.
About Vaya Health
Vaya Health is a specialty managed care organization and local government agency that oversees publicly funded health care services across a 32-county region of North Carolina for people with significant behavioral health needs, intellectual/developmental disabilities, and traumatic brain injuries. Vaya manages Medicaid, federal, state, and local funding to meet member and community needs while advancing whole-person health. Together with members, contracted providers, and local partners, we’re moving forward to a healthier North Carolina. Vaya Health can be found online at vayahealth.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/VayaHealth/, on X (formerly known as Twitter) @VayaHealth, on Instagram at instagram.com/vaya.health, and on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/company/vaya-health.
About Partners Health Management
Partners Health Management plays a critical role in ensuring access to comprehensive, high-quality care for Medicaid beneficiaries and uninsured/underinsured individuals across 15 North Carolina counties. We strategically manage Medicaid, state, and local funds to support whole-person, integrated physical and behavioral health care for individuals receiving mental health, intellectual and other developmental disability, substance use disorder and traumatic brain injury services. Partners is widely recognized across North Carolina for our innovative Partners Community Model, which is rooted in localized, person-centered care shaped by the voices of the individuals and families we serve. Our enduring partnerships with providers, community organizations, and stakeholders reflect our unwavering commitment to fostering collaboration and delivering measurable results. Together, we are advancing our mission of Improving Lives and Strengthening Communities, one member at a time. Partners can be found online at partnersbhm.org, on Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), LinkedIn, and on YouTube.
Contact Information:
Vaya Health
Allison Inman
allison.inman@vayahealth.com
Partners Health Management
Rachel Porter
rporter@partnersbhm.org
Contact Information
Name: Rachel Porter
Email: rporter@partnersbhm.org
Job Title: Deputy CEO
National Advertising Review Board Recommends Niagen Modify or Discontinue Certain Tru Niagen NAD+ Dietary Supplement Claims
New York, NY – May 21, 2026 – A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising body of BBB National Programs, has recommended that Niagen Bioscience, Inc. discontinue or modify several health-benefit advertising claims for its Tru Niagen line of nicotinamide riboside (NR) dietary supplements.
The underlying National Advertising Division (NAD) decision (Case #7487) was initiated by Reus Research LLC, a competitor in the dietary supplement industry. Niagen appealed NAD’s recommendation to modify or discontinue challenged express and implied claims for the Tru Niagen dietary supplement, including certain health-benefit, establishment, structure/function, and ‘clinically proven’ claims.
Regarding establishment claims, the panel agreed with NAD that the relied-upon clinical studies did not support the claim asserting that specified increases in NAD+ levels following use of Tru Niagen had been clinically proven for the general population.
For health-benefit claims, the panel noted that while Niagen argued these were “structure/function” claims permissible under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA), the required substantiation depends on the message conveyed to consumers, not the advertiser’s regulatory classification. The panel agreed with NAD and found that many of Niagen’s claims went beyond cell-level mechanistic effects to promise perceptible or functional health benefits that were not properly supported.
The NARB panel determined that NAD’s decision should be affirmed and recommended that Niagen discontinue its “clinically proven” establishment claims, as well as specific health-benefit claims, including those related to heart, brain, and immune health.
The panel further recommended that Niagen discontinue anti-aging claims and consumer testimonials that communicate perceptible, real-world improvements, as well as muscle health and energy-related claims that promise functional recovery or vitality benefits.
Regarding modification, the panel noted that certain claims phrased in biological or cellular terms should not be used in a context that conveys a message of a perceptible or functional health benefit.
In its advertiser statement, Niagen stated that it is “deeply disappointed with the NARB Panel’s decision but will nevertheless comply” with NARB’s recommendations.
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. This press release shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.
About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than 20 globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, promote fair competition for businesses, and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.
About the National Advertising Review Board (NARB): The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) is the appellate body for BBB National Programs’ advertising self-regulatory programs. NARB’s panel members include 85 distinguished volunteer professionals from the national advertising industry, agencies, and public members, such as academics and former members of the public sector. NARB serves as a layer of independent industry peer review that helps engender trust and compliance in NAD, CARU, and DSSRC matters.
Contact Information
Name: Jennifer Rosenberg
Email: jrosenberg@bbbnp.org
Job Title: Media Relations
National Advertising Review Board Refers Merck Animal Health to FTC and FDA for Bravecto Quantum Dosing Claims
New York, NY – May 20, 2026 – A panel of the National Advertising Review Board (NARB), the appellate advertising body of BBB National Programs, has referred Intervet, Inc. (d/b/a Merck Animal Health) to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for failure to comply with its recommendation to discontinue or modify express once-a-year dosing claims for its Bravecto® Quantum injectable flea and tick treatment for dogs.
Merck Animal Health appealed the National Advertising Division’s (NAD) (Case #7519) recommendation that Merck Animal Health discontinue or modify its express Bravecto Quantum once-a-year dosing claims, which included claims that a “quick injection” provides “1 full year* of flea and tick protection for dogs” and offers “365 days of protection, all in one dose.” The challenger in the case is Elanco Animal Health, Inc.
The NARB panel found that Merck’s express once-a-year dosing claims are inaccurate and misleading. While the first FDA-approved indication for the product provides 12 months of protection against multiple tick species in a single dose, the FDA-approved dosing interval to protect dogs from one tick species, the lone star tick, is eight months. The panel concluded that the advertising conveys to veterinarians and consumers that dogs are protected from ticks for a full year regardless of the species, placing the burden on the user to figure out the limits of the broad dosage claim.
Additionally, the panel found that website graphics identifying the tick species covered by the once-a-year dosing claim did not distinguish the lone star tick from others, and that the asterisk used in headlines referring to a statement that Bravecto Quantum also kills lone star ticks for 8 months was not noticeable. Consequently, the NARB panel recommended that Merck Animal Health discontinue the express once-a-year dosing claims or modify them to clearly communicate “up to” one year of protection in the main claim, accompanied by a clear and conspicuous disclosure in close proximity explaining that certain tick species require more frequent dosing under the FDA-approved indication.
The panel noted that it did not agree with NAD that the qualification regarding the lone star tick must be in the main claim, finding that specific recommendation too prescriptive, provided the “up to” language and a clear disclosure are used instead.
In its advertiser statement, Merck Animal Health agreed to use a clear and conspicuous disclosure, in close proximity to the main dosing claim, conveying that Bravecto Quantum should be dosed every eight months when used to target Amblyomma americanum (lone star ticks).
Merk Animal Health, however, declined to implement NARB’s recommendation to modify the main dosing claim, stating the recommendation would “require Merck Animal Health to approach tick claims differently than its competitors and unfairly restrict promotion of Bravecto Quantum’s first FDA-approved indication.” Therefore, this matter has been referred to the FTC and FDA for possible enforcement action.
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. This press release shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.
About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than 20 globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, promote fair competition for businesses, and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.
About the National Advertising Review Board (NARB): The National Advertising Review Board (NARB) is the appellate body for BBB National Programs’ advertising self-regulatory programs. NARB’s panel members include 85 distinguished volunteer professionals from the national advertising industry, agencies, and public members, such as academics and former members of the public sector. NARB serves as a layer of independent industry peer review that helps engender trust and compliance in NAD, CARU, and DSSRC matters.
Contact Information
Name: Jennifer Rosenberg
Email: jrosenberg@bbbnp.org
Job Title: Media Relations
National Advertising Division Recommends Shark NeverChange Air Purifier “Clean Air 100%” Claims be Modified
New York, NY – May 20, 2026 – In a Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by Dyson, Inc., BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division recommended that SharkNinja Operating, LLC modify its “Clean Air 100%” advertising for the Shark NeverChange Air Purifier MAX to clearly and conspicuously disclose the basis for the claim.
Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process for single-issue advertising cases reviewed by the National Advertising Division (NAD).
Dyson and Shark sell competing household air purifiers. At issue for NAD were the “Clean Air 100%” claims, which appear on product packaging and in various advertisements, and whether the challenged advertising lacks appropriate disclosure for Shark’s “Clean Air 100%” claim.
NAD determined that a claim of “Clean Air 100%” may be reasonably understood by consumers to mean that the surrounding air is 100% free of all pollutants. NAD further determined that Shark’s existing disclosures did not sufficiently communicate that the “100%” reading represents the sensor’s lowest detectable level of particulate matter rather than the removal of all impurities in the air.
To avoid conveying the message that the NeverChange eliminates all impurities in the air, NAD recommended Shark clearly and conspicuously disclose the basis for the claim when the phrase “Clean Air 100%” is clearly visible and used in conjunction with related performance claims or is otherwise prominently displayed or magnified. NAD noted that in certain advertising, the display may be obscured, or only the number “100” is visible, with no other context provided relating the display to product performance. In such instances, no disclosure may be necessary.
During the challenge, Shark informed NAD that it had permanently discontinued advertising depicting a progression from 40% to 70% to 100%. Based on this voluntary permanent modification, NAD did not address the merits of this specific iteration, and for compliance purposes, it will be treated as if NAD recommended they be discontinued and Shark agreed to comply.
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. This press release shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.
About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than 20 globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, promote fair competition for businesses, and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.
About the National Advertising Division: The National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs provides independent self-regulation and dispute resolution services, guiding the truthfulness of advertising across the U.S. The National Advertising Division reviews national advertising in all media and its decisions set consistent standards for advertising truth and accuracy, delivering meaningful protection to consumers and promoting fair competition for business.
Contact Information
Name: Jennifer Rosenberg
Email: press@bbbnp.org
Job Title: Media Relations
National Advertising Division Finds Certain Vestwell “Annual Recurring Revenue” Disclosures Sufficient; Recommends Modification to Disclose Methodology
New York, NY – May 18, 2026 – In a Fast-Track SWIFT challenge brought by Human Interest Inc., BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division found that Vestwell Holdings Inc. provided sufficient information regarding its recent acquisition of Accrue 401k, but recommended that certain claims regarding its Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR) be modified to include a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the methodology used to calculate that figure.
Fast-Track SWIFT is an expedited process for single-issue advertising cases reviewed by the National Advertising Division (NAD).
Vestwell and Human Interest compete in the workplace savings market, offering 401(k) plans and other products to businesses and their employees. At issue for NAD was whether Vestwell’s ARR claims in its press release require disclosure of the methodology used to calculate ARR and the extent to which the reported ARR includes ARR from a recent acquisition.
NAD found that, in the context of the press release, it was not necessary to require any specific disclosure of the extent to which the ARR figure is attributable to the recent acquisition. The press release includes a reference to the Accrue acquisition, with a bullet point stating “Nearly 30,000 plans added through the Accrue 401k acquisition,” a hyperlink to the press release announcing the acquisition. Thus, there was sufficient information in the press release to inform consumers that the reported ARR figure is inclusive of growth through acquisition.
However, regarding the ARR claims, NAD determined that the press release may be relied upon by potential customers to compare providers, as with any other advertising format, and that a succinct disclosure describing the method used to calculate ARR allows those potential customers to assess the claimed revenues for comparative purposes.
Therefore, NAD recommended Vestwell modify the claims “The Series E doubles Vestwell’s valuation as the company surpasses 2 million active savers, $50 billion in assets, and $200 million in annual recurring revenue,” and “Vestwell has surpassed $200 million in annual recurring revenue and continues to grow profitability” to include a clear and conspicuous disclosure of the methodology used to calculate the reported ARR.
In its advertiser statement, Vestwell stated that though it disagrees with certain elements of the decision, it will “comply with NAD’s recommendations.”
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. This press release shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.
About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than 20 globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, promote fair competition for businesses, and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.
About the National Advertising Division: The National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs provides independent self-regulation and dispute resolution services, guiding the truthfulness of advertising across the U.S. The National Advertising Division reviews national advertising in all media and its decisions set consistent standards for advertising truth and accuracy, delivering meaningful protection to consumers and promoting fair competition for business.
Contact Information
Name: Jennie Rosenberg
Email: press@bbbnp.org
Job Title: Media Relations
National Advertising Division Finds Certain TerpLoc® Cannabis Packaging Claims Supported; Recommended Grove Bags Modify or Discontinue Others
New York, NY – May 14, 2026 – In a challenge brought by Calyx Containers, LLC, BBB National Programs’ National Advertising Division recommended that Kinzie Advanced Polymers, LLC, d/b/a Grove Bags, modify certain express and implied claims for its TerpLoc® cannabis storage products.
Calyx Containers and Grove Bags compete in the cannabis packaging industry offering specialized, high-performance storage solutions designed to preserve product quality. At issue for the National Advertising Division (NAD) were advertising claims across multiple media channels related to humidity control, weight retention, and terpene preservation for Grove Bags’ TerpLoc® cannabis curing and storage products.
NAD found that Grove Bags’ internal testing and independent third-party studies provided a reasonable basis for claims that TerpLoc® packaging functions as an effective passive modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) system that maintains moisture stability and preserves cannabinoids and terpenes better than conventional storage methods when following product use instructions.
However, NAD determined that the moisture stability and terpene preservation claims are expressly dependent on specific conditions of use and found that the evidence does not directly establish that TerpLoc® packaging consistently maintains a precise relative humidity range of 58–62% under all conditions.
NAD recommended that Grove Bags modify its advertising to clearly and conspicuously disclose the conditions under which the claimed results can be achieved and to avoid language suggesting guaranteed or universal performance.
NAD also determined that the ads, in context, do not reasonably convey the challenged implied message that Grove Bags regulate the relative humidity to the claimed level, no matter the level of moisture of the product when placed in the bag.
NAD found that the product’s instructions for use are material terms that must be clearly and conspicuously disclosed in close proximity to the performance claims. NAD found that the challenged claims without qualification, that the bags will “create” a specific microclimate to achieve the advertised relative humidity (RH) or that the bags “ensure” weight retention and terpene preservation, were not supported.
During the proceeding, Grove Bags voluntarily discontinued claims related to mold prevention. These claims will be treated for compliance purposes, as though NAD recommended they be discontinued.
In its advertising statement, Grove Bags stated, “it will comply with NAD’s recommendations.”
All BBB National Programs case decision summaries can be found in the case decision library. For the full text of NAD, NARB, and CARU decisions, subscribe to the online archive. This press release shall not be used for advertising or promotional purposes.
About BBB National Programs: BBB National Programs, a non-profit organization, is the home of U.S. independent industry self-regulation, currently operating more than 20 globally recognized programs that have been helping enhance consumer trust in business for more than 50 years. These programs provide third-party accountability and dispute resolution services that address existing and emerging industry issues, promote fair competition for businesses, and a better experience for consumers. BBB National Programs continues to evolve its work and grow its impact by providing business guidance and fostering best practices in arenas such as advertising, child-and-teen-directed marketing, data privacy, dispute resolution, automobile warranty, technology, and emerging areas. To learn more, visit bbbprograms.org.
About the National Advertising Division: The National Advertising Division of BBB National Programs provides independent self-regulation and dispute resolution services, guiding the truthfulness of advertising across the U.S. The National Advertising Division reviews national advertising in all media and its decisions set consistent standards for advertising truth and accuracy, delivering meaningful protection to consumers and promoting fair competition for business.
Contact Information
Name: Jennifer Rosenberg
Email: press@bbbnp.org
Job Title: Media Relations
LexisNexis Adds Protégé™ AI Assistant in LexisNexis® PatentSight+™ to Deliver Decision-Ready Patent Intelligence in Minutes
Protégé uses AI to immediately turn plain-language questions into strategic business insights grounded in trusted data and transparent reasoning
New York, NY – May 13, 2026 – LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a leading global provider of AI-powered analytics and decision tools, today announced the launch of Protégé in LexisNexis PatentSight+, a powerful AI assistant that helps professionals quickly analyze data across tens of millions of harmonized and verified patent records to uncover relevant, and actionable business insights within minutes.
LexisNexis Protégé
is purpose-built for patent intelligence. It allows professionals to ask plain language questions, without any complex filters or queries, and receive reliable, decision-ready insights. Integrated with PatentSight+ and based on trusted data, analytics, and industry-established metrics, including LexisNexis® Patent Asset Index methodology, Protégé provides a structured starting point for deeper analysis. It keeps professionals in the driver’s seat by explaining every step of the analysis, displaying the full queries, contextualizing results, and suggesting next steps, with full transparency into how insights are generated so they can be easily understood and validated.
“Protégé fundamentally changes how organizations work with patent data by replacing complicated filters with simple questions, so business leaders can easily get timely, verifiable, and valuable insights to inform their strategic business decisions,” said Andrew Matuch, president for LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions. “Protégé helps experienced patent professionals do their jobs better and get more done in less time, while expanding access to patent data to key players in other parts of the organization.”
Protégé was developed in close collaboration with hundreds of the world’s leading innovators through the LexisNexis® AI Insider program. Feedback from PatentSight+ users with early access to the AI tool helped refine its agentic reasoning, and shape Protégé to reflect the best-practice workflows of highly skilled IP analysts. Users also reported that Protégé reduces manual analysis effort by up to 70 to 90 percent and enables them to deliver up to 3x more output while maintaining trustworthy and transparent results.
“What I find most valuable about Protégé is seeing how it reasons through a problem,” said Christopher Hauke, Head of Strategic IP and Innovation, Schott Pharma AG & Co. KGaA. “It makes the analysis transparent and gives me confidence in the results. By bringing together patent data and business context in one place, it’s much easier to connect what’s happening in the market with what I see in the data. It also gives me a clear starting point, instead of figuring out where to begin, I immediately see the key insights and where to dig deeper.”
Protégé also democratizes access to patent intelligence beyond traditional IP teams, so patent data and analytics can be used by other executives to support high-value business decisions such as competitive positioning, R&D strategy, and M&A, partnership or licensing evaluations.
Protégé presents results through clear, presentation-ready visualizations, including charts and graphics that follow common formats for annual reports, strategy documents, corporate communications, and media coverage, so teams across IP, corporate strategy, competitive intelligence, legal and other functions can communicate insights more effectively to the C-suite or other internal and external stakeholders.
With Protégé in PatentSight+, organizations can:
-
- Turn business questions into structured analysis instantly
- Reduce manual effort and accelerate time to insight from hours or days to minutes
- Identify competitive threats and strategic opportunities faster
- Generate clear, executive-ready outputs to support decision-making
- Expand access to patent intelligence beyond technical experts
The launch of Protégé in PatentSight+ reflects growing demand for faster, more transparent ways to turn complex data into actionable business insights. Protégé is available now, both as an add-on for existing customers and as part of the core offering for new subscriptions, enabling organizations to immediately extend their existing workflows with AI-powered patent analytics.
More about Protégé in PatentSight+: https://www.lexisnexisip.com/protege/
About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics, and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
About LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions
LexisNexis® Intellectual Property Solutions brings clarity to innovation for businesses worldwide. We enable innovators to accomplish more by helping them make informed decisions, be more productive, comply with regulations, and ultimately achieve a competitive advantage for their business. Our broad suite of workflow and analytics solutions, including LexisNexis® PatentSight+ with LexisNexis Protégé, LexisNexis® Classification, LexisNexis® TechDiscovery, LexisNexis® IPlytics, LexisNexis PatentOptimizer®, LexisNexis PatentAdvisor®, and LexisNexis TotalPatent One®, LexisNexis® IP DataDirect, enables companies to be more efficient and effective at bringing meaningful innovations to our world.
By combining trusted, enriched data, industry-proven metrics, and AI-powered capabilities such as Protégé, we help organizations turn complex intellectual property data into clear, actionable insights that support confident strategic decision-making. We are proud to directly support and serve these innovators in their endeavors to better humankind.
Media Contact:
Andrew Weinstein
Andrew.Weinstein@LexisNexis.com
LexisNexis® | Intellectual Property Solutions
Bringing clarity to innovation
Contact Information
Name: Andrew Weinstein
Email: andrew.weinstein@lexisnexis.com
Job Title: PR Consultant
LexisNexis Expands Lexis+ with Protégé by Integrating Anthropic’s Claude Legal Plugin Suite
NEW YORK, MAY 13, 2026 — LexisNexis® Legal & Professional today announced the integration of Anthropic’s Claude legal plugin suite into the Lexis+® with Protégé
platform. In collaboration with Anthropic, this integration extends existing legal skills now available via Lexis+ with Protégé and is part of the company’s process to continuously evaluate and incorporate new technologies or capabilities that help customers achieve better outcomes in trusted LexisNexis solutions.
The integration enables Lexis+ with Protégé users to complete a wide range of legal tasks grounded in LexisNexis’s repository of 200 billion legal documents – with four million new documents added daily – comprising essential, unique, constantly updated, Shepardized, and linked legal content. The Claude legal plugins span legal work and practice areas such as Product Counsel, Employment Counsel, AI Governance Counsel, Litigation Associate, Law Student, as well as tools for legal AI developers. Anthropic’s Claude legal plugin suite operates within the Lexis+ with Protégé private, secure, and trusted technology environment.
“We are pleased to expand our collaboration with Anthropic to bring the Claude legal plugin suite into Lexis+ with Protégé to further enhance our authoritative legal skills and workflows, delivering more value to customers,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO, LexisNexis Global Legal. “Legal professionals want a simple, integrated, and secure environment with the latest cutting-edge AI technology to complete authoritative legal work, grounded in the most comprehensive collection of legal content, and we are delighted to deliver that through Protégé.”
Lexis+ with Protégé combines skills from LexisNexis and technology partners, agentic workflows and drafting, multimodal Vault intelligence, secure collaboration, Shepard’s® Verify Trust Markers, authoritative legal content, and enterprise-grade governance to help legal professionals produce trusted, review-ready legal work at scale.
The 12 Claude legal plugins advance work within Lexis+ with Protégé.
Lexis+ with Protégé will continue to integrate additional skills within the platform’s easy-to-use prompt box.
LexisNexis supports customers in using and adopting skills, workflows, and other capabilities via a white glove service that helps organizations unlock the full value of Lexis+ with Protégé with expert guidance and practical support. Specialized teams help customers build custom skills and workflows, standardize them across organizations, and provide team training and onboarding.
Lexis+ with Protégé brings together an advanced AI infrastructure developed specifically for legal work and the world’s most comprehensive content collection of citable legal authority to help professionals complete higher-quality legal work faster while maintaining the rigor and control required for legal practice.
To learn more about Lexis+ with Protégé: www.lexisnexis.com/ai.
About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics, and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
Contact Information
Name: Jill Van Nostran
Email: jill.vannostran@lexisnexis.com
Job Title: VP, Communications & Global PR
LexisNexis Launches Next Evolution of Lexis+ with Protégé, the Legal AI Platform Built on the Authority Legal Work Demands
NEW YORK, MAY 7, 2026 — LexisNexis® Legal & Professional today announced a major expansion of its legal AI platform Lexis+® with Protégé
, designed to help law firms and corporate legal departments complete complex legal work faster, with greater accuracy, consistency, confidence and control.
The legal AI market is moving quickly. New solutions can generate text, summarize documents and automate isolated tasks. But legal work requires something more demanding: current, authoritative legal content; verification tools; a connection to files; governance for confidentiality and privilege; and workflows that reflect how lawyers practice.
That distinction matters. AI without deep legal authority and built-in verification may accelerate work, but it can also accelerate risk from invented citations and unsupported conclusions to inconsistent drafting, uncontrolled matter data and weak auditability. Lexis+ with Protégé is built to address that reality, combining LexisNexis’s authoritative legal content, Shepard’s® intelligence, customer knowledge and enterprise-grade security in one integrated platform for the full arc of legal work.
“Legal AI must do more than produce plausible answers. It must produce work that lawyers can verify, defend and trust,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO, LexisNexis Global Legal. “Lexis+ with Protégé brings together the content foundation, workflow intelligence, security and model flexibility legal professionals need to use AI at scale without compromising the standards of the profession.”
At the center of the release is Protégé Work, a workflow capability that changes how lawyers use AI to complete complex tasks. Users can select a skill directly or describe a legal goal in natural language. Protégé intelligently routes the request to the appropriate skill or workflow. Instead of generating a single response, Protégé presents a structured plan for the work, giving users visibility and control as it executes tasks and produces review-ready legal work product. Skills support repeatable tasks such as contract comparison, complaint analysis, research synthesis, checklist generation, due diligence, compliance review and playbook-based review. This allows legal teams to reuse proven workflows, apply firm and department standards consistently, and benefit from broader market innovation while keeping work grounded in authoritative LexisNexis content, firm knowledge and trusted workflow safeguards. Lexis+ with Protégé incorporates LexisNexis-developed and Anthropic-powered skills, with additional skills and capabilities planned over time.
Protégé Agentic Drafting helps lawyers and legal teams produce review-ready work product in minutes. Purpose-built drafting agents create contracts, motions, briefs and deal documents grounded in LexisNexis content, firm templates, prior work and matter materials. Drafts can reflect an organization’s preferred style, apply vetted exemplars, preserve formatting and surface risk considerations before work reaches a client, counterparty or court.
Outputs from Protégé Skills can be delivered in the formats legal teams already use every day. This includes Microsoft Word for drafts, Excel for review tables and structured findings, PowerPoint for client-ready summaries, and PDF for polished, ready-to-use work product.
Protégé Workrooms extends legal AI into secure collaboration. Law firms, corporate legal departments and counsel can work together in private, permission-aware spaces where documents, drafts, analysis and AI workflows are shared only as authorized. Dual approvals, least-privilege access, role-based permissions and audit trails help teams collaborate across organizational lines while maintaining control of confidential information.
Shepard’s® Verify Trust Markers bring LexisNexis’s trusted citation authority directly into AI-assisted work. The capability identifies legal citations in AI-generated and attorney-drafted content, checks them against LexisNexis authoritative legal sources, and flags citations that cannot be verified as existing. By confirming that cited authority exists and is retrievable at the point of use, Shepard’s Verify helps legal professionals protect their professional reputation and move from draft to final with greater confidence.
A reimagined Protégé Vault gives legal professionals a secure intelligence layer for large, complex matters. Teams can analyze documents, PDFs, spreadsheets, images, audio, video and other matter materials in one workspace, with support for up to 100,000 documents per Vault. Outputs link back to source material including exact document passages, spreadsheet rows, images or timestamps so legal teams can verify findings and defend the work product that follows.
Protégé BYOK gives enterprise and government customers additional control over sensitive information. With Bring Your Own Key encryption, customers can manage their own encryption keys through their chosen key management service and revoke access when required, supporting the data-control expectations of law firms, regulated industries and public-sector legal teams. With BYOK, LexisNexis integrates directly with a customer’s own Key Management Service (KMS) — including AWS KMS, Azure Key Vault, Google Cloud KMS, and HashiCorp Vault — to encrypt all customer data at rest using keys that only the customer controls. After extensive testing, BYOK has been deployed in AmLaw 100 firms.
For customers, the result is practical and immediate: faster research and drafting cycles, stronger first drafts, more consistent application of firm and client standards, reduced citation and review risk, better handling of large matter files, and more secure collaboration between legal teams and clients. Instead of forcing legal professionals to choose between speed and trust, Lexis+ with Protégé brings both into a single legal AI platform.
“Legal teams do not need another disconnected AI tool,” said Sean Fitzpatrick, CEO, LexisNexis Global Legal. “They need one trusted environment where authoritative content, firm knowledge, advanced models, legal workflows and security controls work together. That is what Lexis+ with Protégé delivers.”
Following its US launch, the new and evolved Lexis+ with Protégé legal AI platform – for automating complex legal work – will be rolled out globally throughout 2026. To learn more about Lexis+ with Protégé: www.lexisnexis.com/ai.
About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics, and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional, which serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide, is part of RELX, a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers.
Contact Information
Name: Jill Van Nostran
Email: jill.vannostran@lexisnexis.com
Job Title: VP, Communications & Global PR
RELX Group enters into agreement to acquire French Legaltech company Doctrine
RELX Group is planning to acquire Doctrine, strengthening authoritative legal AI workflows in France and across Europe.
Paris, France / New York, NY – April 28, 2026 – RELX Group, which owns LexisNexis® Legal & Professional, a global leader in information, analytics, and AI-powered legal workflow solutions, today announced it has offered to acquire Doctrine, France-based Legal AI platform recognized for its advanced AI tools in legal search, analysis, drafting and practitioner workflows, including Flow Litigate and Flow Counsel.
This proposed acquisition would accelerate the delivery of enhanced, trusted, intuitive and authoritative legal AI workflow solutions in France and across key European jurisdictions, including Germany, Spain and Italy and should assist customers to improve productivity and achieve better outcomes.
Sean Fitzpatrick, Chief Executive Officer, Global Legal, LexisNexis Legal & Professional, said:
“We are excited about the prospect of welcoming Doctrine, so that we can serve customers in France, across Europe, and beyond in even greater ways. Doctrine’s customer-centric innovation approach, powerful platform, and expert talent, complement LexisNexis’s global capabilities in authoritative legal AI workflow solutions, and we look forward to delivering even more value to customers.”
Guillaume Carrère, Chief Executive Officer of Doctrine, said:
“From the start, we have been obsessed with one thing: building cutting-edge AI solutions for legal professionals across Europe. Joining RELX is the natural next chapter for that mission. LexisNexis brings unparalleled depth of content, global reach and a shared conviction that AI, applied responsibly, will transform how legal work gets done. For our customers, this means faster access to a richer set of capabilities; for our team, it means joining a company that recognises and will invest behind the technical and product excellence we have built.”
Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Paris, Doctrine combines a comprehensive corpus of case law, legislation and regulatory content for civil law jurisdictions with a suite of AI-powered research, drafting and analytics tools. The platform is used daily by 27,000 legal professionals across France, Italy, Germany and Spain, including law firms ranging from solo practitioners to top-tier Anglo-American firms, multinational corporations and public entities including French ministries, local authorities, and universities.
The proposed acquisition is subject to the completion of applicable information and consultation procedures with the relevant employee representative bodies and customary regulatory consents. The terms of the transaction have not been disclosed. The two companies will continue to operate separately in the interim.
About Doctrine
Doctrine is a leading legal AI and intelligence platform for civil law jurisdictions in Europe. Founded in 2016 and headquartered in Paris, Doctrine combines a comprehensive corpus of case law, legislation and regulatory content with AI-powered research, drafting and analytics tools. The platform is used daily by legal professionals at law firms, corporates and public institutions across France, Italy, Germany and Spain. For more information, visit www.doctrine.fr.
About LexisNexis® Legal & Professional
As part of RELX, LexisNexis® Legal & Professional provides AI-powered legal, regulatory, business information, analytics, and workflows that help customers increase their productivity, improve decision-making, achieve better outcomes, and advance the rule of law around the world. As a digital pioneer, the company was the first to bring legal and business information online with its Lexis® and Nexis® services. LexisNexis Legal & Professional serves customers in more than 150 countries with 11,900 employees worldwide. It has a long tradition in the French market, grounded in the ownership of JurisClasseur since 1993.
About RELX
RELX is a global provider of information-based analytics and decision tools for professional and business customers. RELX serves customers in more than 180 countries and territories and has offices in about 40 countries. It employs more than 37,000 people, around 40% of whom are in North America. The shares of RELX PLC, the parent company, are traded on the London, Amsterdam and New York Stock Exchanges using the following ticker symbols: London: REL; Amsterdam: REN; New York: RELX. The total market capitalization is approximately £47.7bn, €55.1bn, $64.4bn.
Contact Information
Name: Jill Van Nostran
Email: jill.vannostran@lexisnexis.com
Job Title: VP Global PR