AI and client confidentiality for law firms
Lawyers handle exactly the data that must not leak: client identities, case details, financial and health information. Occlira lets your firm anonymize documents locally before using AI or sharing them, and restore the originals afterwards — so client data never leaves the machine you already trust. This page is general information, not legal advice.
The duty behind the tool
Every bar imposes a duty of confidentiality, and AI puts it under pressure: a security analysis found that about 11% of what employees paste into ChatGPT is confidential data. (Source: Cyberhaven.) Your obligations depend on your jurisdiction — in the US, the ABA’s Formal Opinion 512 says inputting client information into a self-learning tool can require the client’s informed consent; in the EU, client identifiers are personal data under the GDPR and professional-secrecy rules sit on top. Across all of them, the practical safeguard regulators and bars point to first is the same: don’t send the AI the client data it doesn’t need.
Where Occlira helps
| Task | How Occlira helps |
|---|---|
| Using ChatGPT / Claude on a matter | Anonymize the brief first, run the AI on placeholders, restore the names locally. |
| Court filings & disclosure | Redact third-party personal data with a reviewed, consistent pass — and burn true PDF redactions that can’t be copied back. |
| Data-subject access requests | Remove other people’s personal data before releasing records. |
| Sharing drafts with counsel or clients | Strip sensitive identifiers from a working copy before it leaves the office. |
| Interview & call recordings | Bleep names and numbers from audio, locally, before sharing. |
The full guide for lawyers
Occlira’s guides for legal work — the duties, the risks and the how-to:
Why on-device matters for confidentiality
A cloud redaction or transcription service means handing privileged material to a third party — the very disclosure that can erode confidentiality and, potentially, privilege. Occlira keeps everything on the machine you already trust: there is no account, no upload, and no telemetry by default. You can read exactly what stays on your device on the Data & Privacy Practices page.
Human review, not blind automation
Detection combines an AI model with precise pattern rules, but every finding is shown for you to keep or redact. That keeps a lawyer in control of the result — which also means Occlira is a tool to assist you and help you meet your obligations, not a substitute for legal judgement or legal advice.
Frequently asked questions
Removing unnecessary client identifiers before AI use is one practical safeguard — not the whole answer. Whether you also need the client’s informed consent depends on the tool and the matter (in the US, see ABA Formal Opinion 512). Occlira lets you anonymize a document locally, work with an AI tool on the anonymized version, and restore the real values on your own machine, so client identifiers can be kept off the tool entirely.
It can — putting privileged material into a public AI tool may be a voluntary disclosure to a third party, and US courts have split on the question. The law is unsettled, so the safe practice is to keep privileged material out of public AI. We cover it in our attorney-client privilege and AI guide.
No. Detection, anonymization and restore all run locally on Windows and macOS. Client documents and the personal data in them are never uploaded to us or any cloud service.
Yes. You can redact third-party personal data before sharing, disclosure or a subject-access response — and for PDFs, Occlira burns real redactions that delete the underlying text, not just cover it.
Word, PDF, Excel, email and plain text, plus audio recordings such as interviews and calls.
No. Automated detection is a strong first pass, but you review and confirm every item. Occlira is a tool to help you meet your confidentiality obligations — it is not legal advice.
Try it on a real matter
Free for 14 days on Windows and macOS. One-time license, no subscription. Rolling it out across the firm? See multi-seat team licenses.
More: redact interview & call audio · what is PII? · local vs cloud redaction · how your data is handled