Mike Morse Law Firm improves security, fosters efficiency with Microsoft 365 and Copilot

As CIO of Mike Morse Law Firm and Fireproof Performance, John Georgatos helps law firms with security and digital transformations. “Most law firms use technology that’s 10 years behind. They’re not able to defend against sophisticated threats, or grow efficiently,” he says.

Efficiency and security are paramount. "Our clients’ lives are in our files—from medical to estate, trust, and bankruptcy data. We’re ethically bound to protect this confidential data," says John R. Nachazel Junior, appellate attorney with Mike Morse. “We’ve also always been cutting edge with technology, to make cases go better and faster.” 

In 2022, the Mike Morse Law Firm went cloud-first, adopting Microsoft 365 in 90 days and using Microsoft Surface devices. The firm was ready to adopt AI in 2024, knowing that if it didn’t, its competitors would. Jen Harvala, Chief Learning Officer and Head of Pre-Litigation at Mike Morse Law Firm, saw it as futureproofing. “Hiring, training, and retaining top talent are pivotal to our growth,” Harvala says. “Training was an area of opportunity for us.”

Security and productivity upgrades

"We wanted employees to have AI ready to help them in any application, without logging into multiple accounts, switching environments, or compromising security,” says Georgatos. The firm chose Microsoft 365, bringing in Microsoft experts to demonstrate Microsoft 365 Copilot, and trained those who were most interested to help colleagues adopt the technology. Harvala invites solution champions to share their successes at quarterly meetings, to foster a culture of learning. 

Mike Morse applies conditional access policies to its devices. Employees log on using facial recognition or a PIN instead of passwords. The firm implemented security layers across the company, enrolling new devices automatically out of the box using Microsoft Intune and Windows Autopilot, combining this conditional access with identity management for single sign-on. 

The firm saves time and improves security. “Conditional access is tied to each employee’s Surface, so even if someone’s credentials get compromised, attackers can’t use them on another device,” says Georgatos. “By adding Microsoft Intune Autopilot and OneDrive, we provision new devices with apps in 15 minutes, versus 2 to 3 hours.”

Harvala uses natural language prompts in Copilot to create training materials, which employees gave a positive rating. Nachazel Junior uses Copilot in Outlook to draft emails on his phone, typing short, high-level answers that Copilot fleshes out into full messages. He uses Copilot in Microsoft Word with the CoCounsel Drafting add-in to write complaints and other documents based on the firm’s data and the trusted Thomson Reuters legal database service. “With Copilot and CoCounsel, I can write documents about a case without exposing clients’ data to the internet. It’s very secure,” he says.

Seamless safeguards, targeted data use

Georgatos says some sophisticated attacks had bypassed multi-factor authentication: “But with Microsoft Defender, Intune, Entra ID, and Surface devices, we’ve taken security to the next level.”  

Harvala appreciates the option to base documents on internal or external sources with Microsoft Graph connectors. ”Copilot guides us through difficult conversations—no more staring at a blank page. It uncovers organizational data, reviews documents, and helps us be more productive and efficient,” Harvala says.