In the legal profession where time is money and precision is a critical factor, it is not surprising that lawyers are always looking for new tools and software to improve efficiency. Microsoft 365 Copilot comes in as a solution, containing various features built for lawyers, law firms, and legal departments. Including but not limited to document management, communication, and collaboration tools, Copilot enables legal practitioners to do their work more intelligently, quicker, and more efficiently.
Microsoft 365 subscribers will be excited to know that the long-promised AI tool that Copilot has finally rolled out to most Microsoft subscribers. It is, however, not bundled with a Microsoft 365 subscription fee. Here, it is up to you to evaluate whether Copilot is worth the cost. There are many AI alternatives on the market, including options that cost absolutely nothing. No matter which application you choose to utilize, be careful what it does with the information you provide.
Here’s why law firms choose Copilot AI, and let’s dive into how that brings so many benefits to legal practice.
Enhanced Legal Research by AI-based Insights
Copilot uses Microsoft Graph to search and make sense of countless volumes of legal information kept in your organization’s SharePoint and OneDrive libraries. This enables attorneys to instantly pull relevant case law, legislation, statutes, and rules without leaving their engagement processes.
For example, a user can look for a certain situation where the legal principle was applied, and within seconds, Copilot in legal processes will have retrieved and recommended cases from Google Scholar about what they practice as a law firm. Legal research in this manner saves time and assists in providing attorneys with the latest legal information necessary to easily prepare interesting legal arguments.
Efficient Document Drafting
Copilot AI makes the legal document drafting process from being labor and time-consuming to efficient.
Cross-document references: You no longer have to spend time on pages to look for multiple documents. With Copilot, you can have access to numerous legal papers, contracts, forms, and case law available across your organization’s Microsoft 365 ecosystem including SharePoint, OneDrive, emails, and legal eDiscovery—enabling seamless access, search, and analysis for legal and compliance needs. This enhances integration across components and eliminates the problems associated with manual referencing.
Improving Communication with Clients
Microsoft Copilot for lawyers can transform communication with clients, making interactions smoother, more accurate, and more efficient. Here are some ways Copilot enhances client communication:
Email Responses Made Quick and Easy: Copilot reviews previous email exchanges and relevant client information to propose suitable email replies, allowing you to accomplish your tasks faster and be consistent with your message.
No Language Barriers: Emails will be translated for you automatically through Copilot if you need to contact international customers, saving time and making communication easier.
Effortless Client Follow-ups: Sometimes people can forget to provide feedback reports after discussions, which is unfortunate. With the use of Copilot, you can quickly scan discussions as it summarizes the main points, and the decisions made.
Data Protection & Security
Microsoft is aware of how sensitive legal information can be. Your client’s information is protected since Copilot AI legal tools follow the strictest security guidelines and compliance requirements.
GDPR and EU Data Boundary: Copilot guarantees the safeguarding of information by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and the EU Data Boundary. Consequently, all operations will take place within these defined guidelines, thereby ensuring the privacy rights of clients from the EU are thoroughly protected.
Data Security: Microsoft applies industry best practices to secure your data. For Copilot capabilities, only prompts, responses, and information accessed through Microsoft Graphs are used and will not be applied in training the underlying AI models.
Consistency & Accuracy
Copilot offers more than just broad recommendations. It taps into the available resources present in the Microsoft 365 environment, such as email, customer details, and court files. This is because of its experience, which Copilot can achieve.
Consistency: For Copilot to maintain the same set of words in every answer, it employs the help of the company, its past communications, and legal documents. This reduces the likelihood of errors and inconsistencies that naturally occur during manual drafting.
Increase Efficiency: The more Copilot engages with the legal knowledge of your firm, the more it gets better at comprehending the given practice areas and their relevant vocabulary specifics. What this means is that suggestions and responses regarding specific tasks are more efficiently and accurately delivered to you.
Cost-Effective Solution
Whenever law firms or legal departments think of implementing new techniques, cost is an area that is looked into. Because it eliminates factors like expensive hardware, software licenses, and maintenance, Copilot serves as an economical substitute for what would otherwise be costly IT infrastructure. Furthermore, because of competitive subscription plans and scalable pricing options, legal professionals can enjoy Microsoft 365 Copilot while controlling costs and optimizing return on investment and operational costs.
The Future of Legal Practice Starts Now
The evolution of Microsoft 365 Copilot represents an incredible step in the way that legal technology develops. It enables lawyers to enhance their decision-making, become more data-oriented in their practice, and offer a greater level of service to their clients, assisted by AI. The further developments with Copilot suggest increasing the levels of automation and collaboration in the ways tasks are performed in a law firm.