Copilot for PI solicitors: what did the client agree?

Before a call with a client or an insurer, a fee earner often has to piece together what was agreed: a medical appointment, an offer the client wanted to think about, documents they promised to send. If two fee earners each do this 5 times a week and it takes 30 minutes of searching emails, Teams chats and meeting notes, that's 300 minutes a week, about 21.5 hours a month.

With a Microsoft 365 Copilot license, Copilot answers questions across the emails, Teams chats, meetings and files the fee earner can already open. The fee earner asks, for example, what the client said about the rehabilitation assessment in the last month and which documents are still outstanding, then opens each email, chat or meeting note behind the answer and checks the wording. The answer is a starting point for a file note, not a record of instructions: anything the case depends on is confirmed with the client in writing and saved to the case management system. Prompts and responses stay within the Microsoft 365 service boundary and aren't used to train the models, which matters because PI files hold health data.

A four-fee-earner personal injury firm in Newcastle runs on Microsoft 365 Business Standard alongside its case management system. The two fee earners who run the larger cases add Copilot Business.

About $858£645€768A$1,238C$1,213 a month in fee earner time saved, against $43£32€38A$61C$60 for two Copilot Business licenses paid yearly. 20 minutes saved on 10 look-ups a week is 860 minutes a month (200 × 4.3), about 14.3 hours at an assumed $60£45€54A$86C$85 an hour.

1. 1Have the COLP and data protection officer approve Copilot for client files after reviewing Microsoft's data protection addendum, then buy Copilot Business for the two fee earners: $21.41£16.10€19.16A$30.91C$30.27 per user a month paid yearly, or $25.70£19.32€22.99A$37.09C$36.32 monthly, excluding VAT.
2. 2Check each fee earner's Microsoft 365 permissions first: Copilot answers from whatever that person can open.
3. 3Ask specific questions with a client reference and a time period, such as what was agreed about the next medical appointment since 1 September.
4. 4Open every email, chat or meeting note behind the answer and check the client's own words before relying on it.
5. 5Record what matters in a file note in the case management system and confirm instructions with the client in writing.

• Copilot only sees Microsoft 365. Calls logged, letters scanned or emails filed only in the case management system won't be in its answer.
• Copilot can merge two conversations or present a suggestion as agreed. A client's instructions, especially on settlement, must come from the client's own words, checked by the fee earner, as the SRA rules expect.
• If permissions are too broad, Copilot can surface another team's files. Tidy SharePoint and Teams access before switching it on.
• Never rely on Copilot for limitation dates. Keep them in the case management system with a second person checking them.