Burges Salmon enhances AI capabilities for legal services

Independent UK law firm Burges Salmon has announced an important advancement in its Digital Enablement Programme (DEP), a comprehensive initiative aimed at modernising the delivery of legal services. This new phase is built on the existing foundation of Microsoft Copilot and follows a successful trial that led to the adoption of Harvey, a generative AI platform specifically designed for legal workflows.

Over the past year, Burges Salmon successfully rolled out Copilot across the firm, fostering innovation and knowledge-sharing through its Digital Champion Network. Currently, around 1,300 members of the firm are empowered by this technology, which has generated approximately 700,000 prompts to date. The adoption of AI "agents" has also seen significant acceleration, with 4,000 research and analysis tasks completed and the launch of the Facilitator agent for Business Services colleagues. This strategic approach establishes a solid foundation with Copilot, enabling a transition to work-specific tools and targeted agent scenarios that are practical and relevant.

Burges Salmon’s decision to implement Harvey was arrived at after a thorough internal trial and evaluation, confirming the alignment of the platform with the firm’s needs. Feedback from various pilot groups and legal teams, especially in Real Estate, indicated that notable benefits emerged from the new approach regarding lawyer behaviour and operational maturity. Harvey will be implemented via carefully structured, practice-led use cases that complement the established Copilot integration.

As part of its mission to enhance its AI expertise and maintain awareness of industry advancements, Burges Salmon is actively involved in events like Microsoft Ignite. This engagement is crucial for ensuring that the firm’s DEP roadmap incorporates the latest developments and best practices in enterprise AI.

In the interest of responsible innovation, Burges Salmon has set up a Responsible AI Board. This group comprises colleagues across the firm, ensuring that the integration and utilisation of AI are aligned with the firm’s strategic obligations and values. Collaborating with the DEP team and the Harvey project team, the Board is charged with embedding responsible AI principles into policy, process, and training, supported by Burges Salmon’s leading AI advisory team, which helps clients navigate similar opportunities and challenges.

Roger Bull, Burges Salmon’s Managing Partner, states, “Burges Salmon’s Digital Enablement Programme is focused on investing in the tools, data and ways of working that help our people deliver the highest quality outcomes for clients. With Copilot embedded firm wide and Harvey adopted for targeted legal workflows, we’re maturing how AI supports our work; responsibly, securely and at scale.”

Emma Dowden, the Chief Operating Officer at Burges Salmon, emphasises, “Our Digital Enablement Programme is ultimately about equipping our people with the tools, skills and confidence to work in smarter and more modern ways. What’s important about this next phase is not just the introduction of new technology, but the way we are embedding AI thoughtfully and responsibly across the firm. With Copilot firmly established as our foundation and Harvey now supporting more sophisticated legal workflows, we are creating the conditions for meaningful innovation where our lawyers can focus more of their time on the higher value thinking that clients rely on. It’s a significant step forward for the firm, and one that reflects our commitment to investing in the future of how we deliver legal services.”

Eddie Twemlow, Head of Technology at Burges Salmon, adds, “We took a purposeful approach to selecting Harvey, grounded in trials, feedback and real use cases. Combined with Copilot and our growing set of AI agents, the next phase focuses on behaviour change, operational practices and measurable value in our teams.”

Looking ahead, Burges Salmon has outlined critical next steps for its DEP journey, including scaling real-world use cases across selected practice areas, expanding the agent ecosystem, enhancing governance and skills in conjunction with the Responsible AI Board, and delivering client value by utilising deployment insights to aid clients in adopting AI responsibly and effectively inside their organisations.

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