Private Desk for UK sole & small solicitors
- Installs on your machine - vault/files stay on infrastructure you control.
- You stay accountable - AI assists; humans verify every output.
- Set up with a person who can walk your COLP through where the text goes (proof pack when demo’d - not a slogan).
Example workflows
Everyday solicitor jobs Private Desk can help draft or structure on the practice’s machine. AI assists — fee-earners verify every output before it leaves the firm.
- Clearer client email
Paste a rough note; get a clearer, professional client email draft to edit and send.
- Summarise a decision letter
Help turn a long decision letter into a short client-facing summary you still check line by line.
- Triage a fat matter folder
Assist in scanning a bulky folder so you can spot the next actions before close of play.
- Draft an attendance note
Turn bullet points from a call or meeting into a structured attendance-note draft for your file.
- Plain-English clause explain
Help explain a dense clause in plain English for a client conversation — you remain the lawyer.
The work people actually put into ChatGPT
Not clever legal research prompts. Ordinary stuff:
- Make this client email clearer
- Summarise this decision letter for the client
- Triage a fat matter folder before close of play
When consumer ChatGPT is banned and nothing approved replaces it, the same drafting often still happens — just quieter.
What you get
Local install on the practice’s machine. AI that works on your own files and notes, on the practice’s own machine. Set up with a person who can walk your COLP through where text goes.
What it is not
- Not “SRA approved” (no vendor product is)
- Not a transfer of your professional duties
- Not a Big Law multi-agent platform
Where does the text go?
By default, Private Desk uses files that stay on your machine. Any network options stay off until you turn them on. When the proof pack is ready, we’ll show you the data path in a short demo — not as a slogan.
For technical installs
The same local-first bridges are on PyPI and GitHub for technical installs. Handy if you’re wiring Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code to local data — package names are in the GitHub repos.
Questions worth asking any AI vendor
- Where does client matter text go?
- Can we show that to a client or insurer?
- What’s the approved staff workflow?
- What does the tool explicitly not do?
- Who owns commitments at the vendor? (For us: Brooke Campbell, CEO.)
Request a pilot chat
Email William for a short pilot conversation - no deck required. If the timing’s wrong, say so.
Request a pilot chat