Private Desk for UK sole & small solicitors
- Installs on your machine - vault/files stay on infrastructure you control (local-first path).
- 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
Bans without an approved alternative often push the same work underground. Leaders sometimes think the risk is covered. Fee-earners keep improvising.
What you get
Local install on the practice’s machine. AI over your own files and notes via our MCP bridges (vault-bridge, airgap-file-bridge, optional airgap-db-bridge). 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 the bridges talk to local data on your machine (stdio / local path). Your vault, files, and database stay on infrastructure you control. Optional network modes such as SSE/HTTP apply only where a given bridge supports them and only if you turn them on — airgap-db-bridge is stdio-only.
When our proof pack is ready, we’ll show that in a short demo - not as a slogan.
Prefer to install the bridges yourself?
The same local-first bridges are on PyPI and GitHub. Handy if you’re wiring Claude Desktop, Cursor, or VS Code to local data.
pip install vault-bridge airgap-file-bridge airgap-db-bridgeQuestions 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