Trellis made state trial-court research available through Microsoft 365 Copilot, bringing court records into workflows in a U.S. system where state courts account for 98% of litigation, the National Center for State Courts (NCSC) says.
The company announced the integration Thursday, Oct. 15. Trellis says attorneys can find motions argued in comparable cases, examine records involving judges and opposing counsel, and use cited authorities to guide further research. It lists drafting motions, pleadings and research memos in Word as possible uses.
Trellis says its database contains more than 2.5 billion state trial-court records from 45 states, covering more than 3,000 courts and 30,000 judges. The NCSC also says 70 million cases are filed in state courts each year.
Alon Shwartz, Trellis chief operating officer and co-founder, said, “The real opportunity isn't just giving LLMs or agents access to more legal data.”
Microsoft lists Trellis as a federated connector. Microsoft’s documentation says this type of connector retrieves outside information in real time using Model Context Protocol (MCP), follows the user’s permissions in the source system and keeps that information out of Microsoft 365’s index. Administrators manage connector access.
The connector is available through Microsoft Marketplace. Users need a free Trellis account and an eligible Microsoft 365 Copilot license, and organizations can restrict access.
The launch comes as law firms report wider engagement with generative AI. The International Legal Technology Association’s 2026 executive summary put that figure at 94% of responding firms, compared with 80% in 2025.
Microsoft says Copilot for Legal responses are advisory and can contain inaccurate or incomplete information, including citations. It says a qualified legal professional should review them.
