Letters and chasers
Drafts in each partner's own tone, from the matter file, ready for them to send.
Locul / Solutions / AI for law firms
AI for law firms that keeps client confidentiality intact.
Fee earners want help with the drafting, the chasers and the bundle nobody has read. Your COLP wants to know where client data goes. Locul gives you both: AI that drafts in your firm's voice from your own matter files, running on servers for your firm alone, with nothing sent to a client until a solicitor approves it.
The short answer
Law firms can use AI for drafting, summaries and file checks without risking confidentiality, as long as client data is processed somewhere the firm controls and a solicitor approves anything that reaches a client. Private AI does the first part. An approval step does the second.
Locul does both, for firms of 20 to 150 people, on servers in the UK, the EU or your own office.
A Thursday night in a property team
The client is angry. The partner has two minutes.
This is the kind of job AI should take off a fee earner's desk. It needs the matter file, the firm's tone and a careful line on who caused the delay. It must not go out without the partner reading it.
From: Clare Whitfield, Partner, Property
To: Locul
Fwd: completion 31st??
Can you draft something for Mr Okonjo, he is NOT happy. Do not admit we caused the delay, the search results came back late from the council and that is on file. Keep it human, he hates lawyerly. Mention the 31st is still realistic IF the lender releases funds by the 28th.
From: David Okonjo · Thu 23 Oct 2026, 22:47
Clare, I have now chased THREE times. Removal van booked for the 31st, non refundable, my kids are changing schools on the 3rd. Your office said 'early next week' last week. If this slips I want to know who is paying for the van. Also is it normal that nobody picks up after 4pm on a Friday??
David
Sent from my iPhone
To: David Okonjo
RE: completion 31st??
Dear David,
I'm sorry you've had to chase us, and you're right that you should not have needed to. Here is where things stand tonight.
The local authority search came back on 21 October, later than the 10 working days we were quoted, and we reviewed it the same day. Nothing in it changes the deal.
The 31st is still realistic. The one thing it depends on is your lender releasing the funds by the 28th. I'll call their completions team on Monday morning and update you by 12:00.
I'll also make sure someone answers your calls on Friday afternoon. Our phones close at 4pm on Fridays, so I've given you my direct line instead: 0161 496 0732.
Best wishes,
Clare
Matter 24-1187, search receipt 21/10Complaints procedure 3.1Clare's last 12 client emails
Held for approvalClare reads and sends it herselfNOT SENT
An example. The firm, client and matter are invented, and the phone number is a reserved fictional one.
What firms use it for
Four jobs that come up every week.
Bundles and long documents
A two-page summary of a 300-page bundle, with page references you can check.
File checks
Every new matter checked for ID, a signed engagement letter and a conflict search.
The office manual
"What's our process for an undertaking?" answered from your own procedures, with the section linked.
Confidentiality and privilege
What your regulator expects, in plain terms.
The rules did not change when AI arrived. Paragraph 6.3 of the SRA Code of Conduct still requires you to keep clients' affairs confidential, and the Law Society's guidance on generative AI says the same in more words. The questions below are the ones a COLP should be able to answer.
Where is client data processed?
With Locul: on servers reserved for your firm, in the UK, the EU or your office. No AI company sees it.
Could privilege be waived?
Sharing with a third-party AI provider raises the question. Keeping processing in-house keeps the answer simple.
Do ethical walls hold?
Answers come only from files the person can already open in your document system.
Who checks the output?
Nothing reaches a client, the court or the other side without a solicitor approving it.
Can you show what happened?
Every question, answer and file used is logged, ready for a complaint or a regulator.
Your options
Public AI, legal AI tools, or private AI.
ChatGPT, Copilot
Easy and capable. Client data is processed by a US provider under contract, which many firms and clients are not comfortable with.
Research and contract review
Strong on legal research and clause review, usually in the vendor's cloud and priced for fee earners only.
Locul
The whole firm, from partners to accounts, on servers reserved for you. Drafts in your voice, checks files against your rules, and asks before anything leaves.
A word on legal research. Any AI model, private or public, can produce a confident citation to a case that does not exist, and the courts have already criticised lawyers who relied on one. Locul answers from your own documents and shows the source for each answer, but always check an authority against the report before it goes near a court.
The Office AI Benchmark
We test open models on the kind of work firms actually do: angry client emails, long chains with the instruction buried at the bottom, documents with the key clause on page 31. See how they compare with the big cloud models.
Questions partners ask
AI for law firms, plainly answered.
Is AI allowed in law firms?
Yes. Nothing stops a solicitor using AI, and the SRA and the Law Society both expect firms to use it carefully rather than not at all. The duties stay the same: confidentiality, competence and supervision. You remain responsible for anything the AI produces, which is why every draft in Locul waits for a person.
Does using ChatGPT breach client confidentiality?
Not automatically, but pasting client information into a public AI tool means a third party processes it, and you need to be sure that is consistent with your confidentiality duty, your engagement terms and UK GDPR. Private AI removes the question, because the data never leaves servers reserved for your firm.
What do law firms use AI for?
Drafting client letters and chasers, summarising long documents and bundles, checking files against your own procedures, first drafts of standard documents from precedents, and answering staff questions from the office manual. Legal research needs care: always check citations against the source.
How is Locul different from legal AI tools?
Specialist legal AI tools focus on research and contract review, usually in the vendor's cloud. Locul is a private workspace for the whole firm: fee earners, secretaries and the accounts team, running on your servers or a dedicated one in the UK or EU. The two can sit side by side.
Can answers respect matter-level access?
Yes. Locul answers from the files a person can already open, so an ethical wall in your document system holds in the AI as well. Every question, answer and file used is logged.
How is it priced?
Per seat per month, and never per prompt. The price depends on where it runs. See the pricing page.
Next step
See it draft from a matter file like yours.
One call. We show Locul drafting a client letter, summarising a bundle and checking a file, on servers like the ones it would run on for you.
- Client data stays in the UK, the EU or your office
- Nothing sent until a solicitor approves it
- Priced per seat, never per prompt