As law firms embrace AI to improve efficiency, productivity and client service, they must also protect the confidentiality, legal privilege and client information at the heart of their work. The legal sector already manages vast amounts of highly sensitive information, from privileged communications and financial transactions to personal data and market-sensitive material. As AI tools become embedded in daily workflows, controlling who has access to that information, and under what circumstances, is becoming one of the firm’s most critical security challenges.
The stakes are particularly high for law firms because access is rarely uniform across the business. Lawyers, clients, partners and third parties often need access to specific matters, documents and information, with permissions changing as teams form, cases progress and transactions close. Those controls must be robust enough to protect matter confidentiality and privileged material, without hindering collaboration or slowing the delivery of legal services.
Striking that balance is not straightforward. Large corporate clients may expect federated access to firm systems, granular audit trails and strict identity controls, while smaller businesses may communicate through personal email accounts with far less mature security practices.
The need for modernised identity security
Security has also become more complex as law firms increasingly employ AI applications for document search, summary preparation and streamlining of a host of internal business processes.
This changes the security equation by introducing non-human identities that firms need to manage and monitor alongside human access privileges. The emergence of semi-autonomous AI agents makes this task even more urgent. Semi-autonomous AI agents make this task even more urgent because they may inherit every gap, exception and overlooked permission governing access to client matters and sensitive information. If those identities are compromised, the potential damage is substantial.
As AI advances, identity creation and supervision can quickly outpace governance. Many law firms, however, already struggle with identity management. They operate hybrid environments where legacy applications sit alongside cloud services and collaboration tools. Ensuring appropriate access to client matters and information becomes increasingly complex as people, responsibilities and matter teams change, while outdated privileges can create unnecessary risks to confidentiality and legal privilege.
Permissions can also reflect status rather than need or cybersecurity good practice. Senior partners or select individuals may expect broad access because of their position, even though their public profiles make them attractive targets for impersonation, phishing and credential theft. The more privileged an account is, the greater the impact if it is compromised.
Attackers can use stolen credentials and AI to generate persuasive phishing emails, create deepfake video calls and produce malware that changes to avoid detection. For law firms, the real risk is unauthorised access to confidential client information, privileged communications and sensitive matters, with potentially significant consequences for client trust and professional obligations.
Law firms need to establish a better cybersecurity baseline
The best approach to these threats is to build a strong internal security baseline that satisfies most client expectations, rather than reinventing the model for every client. Controls should support the way clients engage with the firm, while protecting confidentiality and ensuring appropriate governance of client information.
Identity-based threats demand a sharper focus on access. Service accounts, emergency accounts and third-party identities can all become weak points when monitoring and oversight are limited.
Access must be role-based, time-bound, and limited to the task in hand. Where firms cannot rely on federation or strong identity assurance, they need tighter sharing controls, clear approvals, regular reviews, and better monitoring.
Good access governance should be business-led, policy-driven and built around the full identity lifecycle. That means automating joiners, movers, and leavers wherever possible, applying least privilege, and carrying out regular and meaningful access reviews that are more than list-ticking.
Why firms must manage AI-related identities
Identity governance must keep pace with AI adoption. AI and machine identities need to be subject to the same supervision as human identities, with limited permissions, review dates and revocations where necessary. The focus must be on putting the right guardrails in place early, with clear policy that is actively enforced.
Where firms tend to fall short is in relying on manual workarounds, making too many exceptions, and designing governance models out of touch with day-to-day requirements.
The overlap of email, identity and security solutions creates gaps that attackers can slip through, while a highly defensive approach to staff cyber training produces a rolling storm of low-value alerts.
Law firms with a security operations centre (SOC) are at an advantage not just because of round-the-clock monitoring. Today’s advanced tools and techniques use AI and machine learning to distinguish real threats and behaviour indicative of a compromised identity in real time. This is a vital decision-support layer providing security analysts with quicker answers and tighter controls.
Unifying control for a more productive future
Even without a SOC, firms must bring identity, security, and digital transformation together rather than treating them as separate workstreams. This unification also reduces the blind spots in security supervision.
Ultimately, identity governance is not just a security issue. It ensures that the right people have access to the right matters and information at the right time, while protecting confidentiality and maintaining legal privilege. As AI use grows among law firms, these controls become even more important. Firms that can demonstrate strong governance over access to client information will be better placed to build trust, meet their professional obligations and strengthen client relationships over the long term.
