Your Clients Trust You With Sensitive Information. Your M365 Should Reflect That.

Law firms, consulting firms, and accounting practices handle the most sensitive information their clients possess — matter files, financial records, strategic plans, personal data. Microsoft 365 deployed without intentional governance puts that information at risk. We design information architectures that protect client data and demonstrate the level of care your professional obligations require.

The Regulatory Reality

The Compliance Requirements That Apply to Your M365 Environment

Attorney-Client Privilege & Confidentiality

Law firms have ethical obligations of confidentiality under Model Rules of Professional Conduct 1.6 and state equivalents. M365 configuration directly affects whether those obligations are met in digital form.

ABA Rule 1.6: competent measures to prevent inadvertent disclosure of client information
Matter-level access controls — only authorized team members access client files
External sharing controls preventing client documents from leaving authorized environments
Guest access governance for clients and co-counsel with appropriate restrictions

ISO 27001 / SOC 2

Many consulting, accounting, and professional services firms pursue ISO 27001 certification or SOC 2 Type II reports to demonstrate information security maturity to clients requiring vendor security assurance.

ISO 27001 A.9 access controls implemented through Entra ID and Conditional Access
SOC 2 CC6 logical access controls — least privilege, access reviews, MFA
Evidence collection and audit trail configuration for certification periods
Information security policy controls documented and enforced in M365

Client Data Protection

Professional services firms often face contractual data protection requirements from enterprise clients — specific security controls, incident reporting timelines, and right-to-audit provisions.

Contractual data handling requirements enforced through M365 configuration
Data loss prevention policies preventing unauthorized client data egress
Incident detection and notification capability for breach reporting obligations
Vendor security questionnaire evidence produced from M365 audit logs

What We Configure

Industry-Specific Microsoft 365 Configuration

Every Microsoft 365 product we configure maps to the specific compliance controls your industry requires.

SharePoint Online

Matter and Client Information Architecture

Site hierarchy designed around client and matter structure — dedicated site collections per client or client group, permission models that enforce matter-level access control, metadata taxonomy for document classification, and lifecycle policies that manage matter file archival and retention per your firm's retention schedule.

Microsoft Purview

Client Confidentiality and DLP

Sensitivity labels for client confidential content, attorney-client privilege, and work product. DLP policies preventing client documents from being shared outside authorized recipients, forwarded to personal email, or downloaded to unmanaged devices. Purview eDiscovery configuration for legal hold and litigation support.

Microsoft Teams

Client Collaboration Governance

Teams governance for client collaboration — controlled external access that allows clients to participate in specific Teams while preventing access to other client matters. Guest lifecycle management, Teams channel governance for matter teams, and messaging retention policies aligned to your professional record retention obligations.

Microsoft Entra ID

Access Control and Identity Governance

Conditional Access policies requiring compliant devices and MFA for access to client data. Privileged Identity Management for firm administrators. B2B collaboration policies for client and opposing counsel access with time-limited, matter-scoped permissions and regular access reviews.

Microsoft Intune

Device Management and BYOD Policies

Mobile Application Management (MAM) for BYOD scenarios — ensuring client documents don't leave managed app containers on personal devices. Device compliance policies for firm-owned devices. Selective wipe capability for lost or departed-employee devices containing client data.

Powered by TenantForge

We use TenantForge to assess external sharing configuration, permission models, and guest access controls — the areas where professional services firms most commonly have inadvertent client data exposure risk. TenantForge surfaces these gaps before they become confidentiality incidents.

FAQ

Common Questions

How do you handle external sharing for law firms that need to collaborate with clients and opposing counsel?

We design tiered external sharing configurations — enabling specific, controlled external collaboration while preventing broad external access to matter files. Typical architecture: dedicated external collaboration sites or Teams with guest access for specific matters, with SharePoint external sharing locked at the organizational level. Guest users receive the minimum access necessary for the collaboration, with defined expiration and regular access reviews.

Can Microsoft 365 support attorney-client privilege?

M365 itself doesn't create or waive attorney-client privilege — that's a legal doctrine determined by communication circumstances. But M365 configuration affects whether privileged communications are inadvertently disclosed. DLP policies can flag potential disclosures of privilege-sensitive content, sensitivity labels can mark privileged documents for appropriate handling, and access controls can restrict who views matter-level privileged files. We configure the technical controls that support your privilege protection obligations.

How do we handle a partner or attorney departure in M365?

Offboarding in a professional services environment is high-stakes — departing attorneys or partners may attempt to take client files, contact lists, or matter materials. We build offboarding automation that simultaneously disables account access, preserves all content through Purview holds, revokes active sessions, and generates an inventory of recent file access activity. The automation can be triggered immediately on notice of departure.

We have multiple offices and a complex org structure. How do you handle information barriers?

Microsoft Purview Information Barriers can create ethical walls in M365 — preventing specific individuals or groups from communicating through Teams or accessing each other's SharePoint and OneDrive content. This is particularly relevant for law firms with conflict-of-interest requirements, investment banks with Chinese wall obligations, or any firm where different teams must be informationally separated. We design and implement the information barrier policies appropriate for your conflict-of-interest requirements.

Do you support accounting firms with audit client file management?

Yes. We configure SharePoint information architecture for audit engagement file management — client-specific site collections, engagement team permission models, evidence documentation workflows, and audit file retention policies aligned to PCAOB and AICPA record retention requirements. We also configure Purview to support SEC and PCAOB audit documentation retention and production requirements.

Protect Client Data. Build the Governance Layer.

Start with a free M365 assessment. We'll identify every gap that matters for your industry and build a remediation roadmap your team can act on.

No commitment required · 5-day turnaround