In
the
early
days
of
the
computer
revolution,
the
big
hardware
manufacturers
thought
they’d
just
kicked
off
an
intense
battle
for
market
dominance.
Instead,
what
Microsoft
figured
out
was
that
the
computer
on
the
desk
doesn’t
matter
as
much
as
the
programs
making
the
computer
run.
Decades
later,
Microsoft
has
a
stranglehold
on
the
business
world.
When
LawToolBox
began
in
legal
calendaring,
its
founders
bet
on
Microsoft,
forging
a
partnership
to
enrich
its
applications
for
legal
industry
use.
Which
has
paid
off
for
the
company
as
it’s
grown
from
calendaring
to
function
as
an
AI-enabled
umbrella
platform
within
Microsoft365
—
embedded
more
than
integrated
into
Microsoft
—
living
in
the
DMS,
Outlook,
Teams,
and
everything
else.
Changes
or
updates
populate
across
a
firm’s
ecosystem,
meaning
a
lawyer
can
adjust
a
deadline
in
Outlook,
and
that
update
will
reflect
across
all
relevant
matter
files,
calendars,
and
documents
in
real
time.
An
incredibly
useful
product,
but
it
remained
hard
to
succinctly
explain
the
extent
of
LawToolBox’s
role
within
the
system
without
resorting
to
incomplete
descriptions
like
“Microsoft’s
legal
helper.”
But
Microsoft’s
CoPilot
branding
unintentionally
provides
a
better
way
to
describe
how
LawToolBox
fits
into
a
Microsoft-based
environment.
The
company
uses
the
phrase
“CoPilot
for
Legal”
but
after
reviewing
what
they’re
doing,
it’s
more
like
“CoPilot’s
CoPilot”
for
this
industry.
Either
way,
it’s
a
much
more
straightforward
description
that
can
resonate
across
the
industry
and
with
clients.
The
first
legal
app
approved
for
Microsoft
CoPilot
back
in
December
2023,
LawToolBox
offers
a
lot
of
enhancements
to
the
out-of-the-box
AI
offering.
“Our
ability
to
access
a
wide
range
of
pre-built
and
customizable
Al
models
and
built
and
customizable
Al
models
and
easy-to-use
APIs
through
Azure
OpenAl
helps
our
solution
maintain
the
optimal
level
of
intelligence
to
recognize
matter-specific
dates
and
other
types
of
content,
even
from
handwritten
notes,”
COO
Carol-Lynn
Grow
notes.
There’s
also
a
legal
prompt
library
providing
pre-configured
prompts
for
routine
tasks
and
an
option
for
firms
to
design
customized
workflows
for
complex
matters.
Every
time
Microsoft
makes
copilot
show
up
in
new
places
—
like
Excel
or
PowerPoint
—
LawToolBox
is
along
for
the
ride
and
automatically
shows
up
in
those
places
too.
And
outside
of
CoPilot
proper,
LawToolBox
developed
its
own
“LawToolBox
AI,”
offering
many
of
the
same
capabilities
as
Microsoft’s
Copilot
–
reading
PDFs,
scanning
handwritten
documents,
and
organizing
data
–
without
the
CoPilot
price
tag.
“Microsoft
suggested
we
build
this,”
Grow
said.
“It’s
still
on
their
platform,
and
they’re
excited
about
making
AI
accessible
at
every
level.”
And
securely
accessible
at
every
level,
leveraging
all
the
security
that
Microsoft
offers
including
the
MACC
(Microsoft
Azure
Consumption
Commitment),
while
providing quick
access
to
documents,
deadlines,
and
co-authoring
capabilities
in
Word,
with
everything
tied
back
to
a
case
or
client
matter
with
its
Matter
Container
concept
for
organizing
legal
matters
within
the
Microsoft
ecosystem.
“The
best
story
that
we
have
to
tell
about
the
way
attorneys’
lives
are
changed,
is
that
an
attorney
is
at
a
soccer
game
and
they’ve
got
an
M&A
deal
and
they’re
like,
oh
shoot,
that’s
tomorrow
in
the
Outlook
calendar
entry,
they
just
click
on
the
documents
link
and
it
has
all
their
documents
and
everything’s
secure
and
right
there
on
their
iPhone.”
As
Microsoft
continues
to
evolve,
so
does
LawToolBox.
At
this
year’s
Microsoft
Ignite
conference,
CEO
Satya
Nadella’s
keynote
highlighted
LawToolBox
as
a
prime
example
of
a
partner
using
Copilot
to
bring
AI
into
specialized
industries.
It’s
a
recognition
not
just
of
LawToolBox’s
technical
prowess
but
of
the
vision
that
has
carried
them
from
1998
to
today.
And
a
reflection
of
Microsoft’s
vision
dating
back
to
the
early
80s.
What
matters
is
the
software
that
makes
the
system
go.
LawToolBox
operates
as
a
secure
bridge
between
Microsoft’s
applications
and
legal-specific
needs.
Empowering
law
firms
to
use
familiar
tools
like
NetDocuments
and
SharePoint
while
providing
AI
capabilities
required
to
compete
in
this
AI
moment.
When
it
comes
to
CoPilot,
LawToolBox
has
embraced
the
task
of
making
it
work
for
lawyers.
Because
even
CoPilots
need
CoPilots
sometimes.