Microsoft Copilot and other artificial intelligence for law firms can help legal professionals find information, summarize documents, and work more efficiently.
But before deploying law firm AI solutions, organizations need to understand how AI cybersecurity, permissions, data governance, and cloud infrastructure affect what information AI can access and return.
In Helient's webinar, The Security Behind AI: Hardening Law Firm Cloud Infrastructure, technology experts Kenon Bliss, VP of Technology at Helient, and Eric Brown, Director of Engineering at DevIQ, explored what firms should address before deploying AI.
Here are questions every law firm should consider first.
Many firms assume they're ready for Microsoft Copilot as soon as licensing and deployment are in place. The reality is that AI readiness starts with understanding who has access to what data.
Law firm AI can only work with the information a user is permitted to access.
That sounds straightforward, but permissions can become complicated quickly as:
Before AI, sensitive information might technically be accessible to someone on the team, but they may not know it exists or where to find it. AI can make that information much easier to discover, potentially surfacing information they never intended to access.
As Kenon Bliss explained: "The AI is going to be looking at everything across the board if you don't filter things correctly."
That means a Copilot deployment can expose gaps that have existed in your environment for years.
A receptionist shouldn't be able to surface payroll information simply because it happens to exist somewhere they technically have access to. A new associate shouldn't automatically gain visibility into every matter because of a broad group permission.
Firms need to understand who can access what and whether that access is still appropriate.
Watch the full webinar to explore the permissions, identity, and access considerations firms should review before introducing law firm AI
Data governance is important because AI systems rely on the quality and accuracy of the information they access.
Law firms have enormous volumes of information spread across systems and repositories. Some of it may be current and reliable, but some may be duplicated, obsolete, or unfinished. Law firm AI doesn't automatically know the difference.
"The LLM is going to give you an answer,” said Eric Brown. “Worse yet, it's going to give you an answer that looks really good."
That's particularly important in a legal environment, where a confident answer isn't necessarily a correct one. An AI system can produce a convincing response based on information that shouldn't have been there in the first place.
For law firms, securing AI means creating guardrails that control how information is accessed, processed, and returned.
Eric offered a simple way to think about it: "Don't trust the LLM. The LLM is not trustworthy. It's powerful, but it's not trustworthy. It's really a matter of trusting the architecture."
Together, these controls help determine what AI can access, what information it can surface, and how the organization can use those outputs responsibly.
Before deploying Copilot or another AI solution, firms should first build an AI-ready environment based on the fundamentals:
Identity → Permissions → Data → Governance → Security → Monitoring
hese aren't necessarily new requirements, but AI makes them more important because it can make information significantly easier to discover and use.
“You want to make sure that you're well prepared for it,” said Kenon, “that you've met the right requirements before you get started."
That preparation can help firms identify security and data gaps before they become AI-related problems.
In Helient’s webinar: The Security Behind AI: Hardening Law Firm Cloud Infrastructure, you'll learn:
If your firm is evaluating Microsoft Copilot or planning a broader AI strategy, this is an important conversation to have before deployment begins. Watch the webinar here.
AI adoption starts with understanding the environment that Copilot will operate in.
For law firms, that means looking closely at security and the underlying cloud infrastructure. When those pieces are in place, firms can move toward AI with greater confidence and a clearer understanding of what their technology infrastructure can support.
Helient works with law firms to strengthen the technology and security foundations behind their AI initiatives, from cloud infrastructure and security to Microsoft 365, data governance, and AI readiness. The goal is to create a system where AI can be introduced securely and used effectively.
If your firm is considering Copilot or a broader AI strategy, now is the time to assess what's happening underneath the technology.
Want to see what that preparation looks like? Watch The Security Behind AI: Hardening Law Firm Cloud Infrastructure webinar.