Microsoft’s Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) team has selected Harvey for use across its legal and compliance operations, in a significant win for the legal AI company.
We’re told that Harvey, which is already integrated within Microsoft 365 Copilot and Cowork as of this year, was chosen following a selection process and will be used to support a broad range of workflows.
Winston Weinberg, co-founder and CEO of Harvey, said: “Microsoft’s products are foundational to the work lawyers do, so we have always been grateful for our deep relationship with their team. Today’s announcement that Microsoft’s legal team will use Harvey’s platform and that Harvey associates will use more Microsoft products to support our global growth represents the next step in our ongoing relationship with their team, and we look forward to building on it.”
Of the announcement, Antony Cook, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel at Microsoft, added that its work with Harvey is part of a broader efforts to bring the benefits of AI into its operations, observing that “this collaboration will help our teams work more efficiently and focus on the complex, high-impact work that matters most.”
Harvey announced earlier this year that it was extending its partnership with Microsoft with the 365 integration. It also said that Harvey will expand its use of Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot internally.
Harvey’s closest rival Legora is build on Microsoft Azure and has invested heavily in its Microsoft integrations, including SharePoint and Microsoft 365 integrations and a Microsoft Word add-in.
Asked by Legal IT Insider if there was a selection process, Katie Burke, chief operating officer of Harvey said: “There was a selection process, as you would expect with any deployment of Harvey. At the same time, this announcement builds on our broader collaboration with Microsoft. Our longstanding relationship and deep technical integrations created a strong foundation, while CELA’s decision to use Harvey reflects its own evaluation of the platform and how it can support its legal and compliance teams.”
The selection comes as large tech companies building their own vertical tools and products, with the risk, one would guess, that Microsoft will ultimately learn from Harvey and build its own legal AI capability. There can be no doubt, however, that it is a big win that puts Harvey within the body of Microsoft’s external and internal operations.