🎯 Learning Objectives
- Save and reuse legal-specific prompts for daily productivity
- Use Copilot Memory and Custom Instructions to personalize Copilot for legal work
- Research regulations like the EU AI Act using Copilot Chat in Web mode
- Draft an executive summary in Word grounded on Copilot Chat research
- Communicate findings and recommendations to leadership via Copilot in Outlook
- Apply advanced prompting techniques to interpret legal language and run scenario analyses
📋 Demo Setup
There are no sample documents required for this demo.
Microsoft 365 Copilot License
Access to m365copilot.com
Word (Web or Desktop)
Outlook (Web or Desktop)
OneDrive / SharePoint access
📝 NOTE: Sample prompts are provided to help you get started. Feel free to personalize them to suit your needs — be creative and explore! Learn more about new features here.
Part 1: Copilot Basics — Save Prompts & Customize Copilot
💡 Why This Matters: Legal professionals run similar prompts repeatedly — clause comparisons, regulatory summaries, plain-English translations. Saving prompts and configuring Copilot Memory lets you reuse your best instructions without retyping them and ensures Copilot understands your legal context.
Practice 1: How to Save Prompts in Copilot
Saving prompts helps you quickly reuse instructions or queries without having to rewrite them each time.
Step 1: Save a Prompt
- Open a new browser tab and navigate to M365copilot.com.
- Start by running a prompt, for example:
Copilot, summarize my emails, Teams messages, and channel messages from the last 1 workday. Categorize them as internal activities, external activities, or messages from my team or manager, and prioritize them for my attention. List action items in a dedicated column and suggest follow-ups if possible, in a dedicated column.
The table should look like this:
Type (Mail/Teams/Channel) | Topic | Summarization | Category | Priority | Action Item | Follow-up.
If I have been directly mentioned, make the font of the topic bold.
- Hover over the prompt.
- Click Save Prompt.
- Give it a name for easy reference.
- Use clear names for prompts (e.g., "Weekly Legal Catch-Up", "Contract Clause Review").
- Share the most frequently used prompts with your team to maintain consistency.
- Regularly review and update saved prompts to keep them relevant.
Step 2: Access your saved Prompts
- Open Copilot.
- Click See more.
- Select Prompt Gallery.
- Go to Your prompts — from here, you can delete prompts, share them via link, or share them with a team.
Practice 2: Memory and Customization of Copilot
Copilot Memory offers a more personalized experience based on your previous chats, work profile, custom instructions, and other metadata. Copilot Customization uses this information to create tailored interactions — for example, you can tell Copilot your writing style so AI-generated drafts sound more like you.
Step 1: Access Copilot
Open a new browser tab and navigate to Copilot (or use your usual method to access Copilot).
Step 2: Add instructions
- Click on the settings by selecting "…"
- Open Settings and select Personalization.
- Then select Custom Instructions.
You can add your custom instructions in this section. For reference, here's a guide with sample instructions you can add to Copilot:
✅ Self-Check: Part 1
Part 2: Copilot Chat — Research the EU AI Act
💡 Why This Matters: Regulations evolve quickly and legal teams must assess compliance impact under tight timelines. Copilot Chat in Web mode can summarize complex regulations, identify compliance obligations, and surface legal risks — accelerating the research phase of any legal assessment.
Let's start by researching the AI Act and its potential impact on Contoso's AI hiring tool.
- Open a browser and navigate to M365copilot.com.
- Ensure Web Mode is selected.
- In the prompt window, type the following:
Contoso is launching an AI Resume Screening Software to evaluate job applicants. As a legal advisor, I need to assess whether it complies with the EU Artificial Intelligence Act. Summarize key provisions related to AI in hiring, compliance requirements for high-risk systems, and potential legal risks.
- Review Copilot's response and take notes on relevant legal risks and compliance requirements.
- Now ask Copilot a series of follow-up questions to gather more information:
Does the AI Act classify resume screening software as a high-risk AI system?
What are the key obligations for high-risk AI systems under the AI Act?
Are there any exemptions in the AI Act that could apply to Contoso's system?
- Now ask Copilot to summarize all the information so far:
Summarize all the information we've discussed into a structured list, ensuring no key details are missed. Then, export the summary to a Word document.
- Select the hyperlink Copilot provides for the new Word document to open it.
- Once opened, select Enable Editing and then turn on AutoSave. Select your OneDrive account when prompted.
- Copy the shared URL for use in the next step.
✅ Self-Check: Part 2
Part 3: Copilot in Word — Executive Summary
💡 Why This Matters: Executive leadership needs concise, well-structured summaries — not raw research. Copilot in Word can transform your research notes into polished executive-ready documents in seconds, letting you focus on the legal judgment and recommendations.
Now, we'll draft an executive summary outlining legal risks and recommendations for Contoso's leadership.
- Open a new instance of Word, either in your browser or desktop application.
- In the "Describe what you'd like to write" prompt box, type the following:
Reference the following document [Link to exported Copilot Chat summary from the first task] and draft an executive summary outlining key legal risks, compliance requirements, and recommendations for Contoso's AI Resume Screening Software.
📝 NOTE: Attach the document or paste the shared link directly into the prompt to ensure Copilot can access the relevant content.
- Review Copilot's output. Before selecting Keep it, refine the response by asking Copilot:
Add a section on the potential business impact of these compliance requirements.
Other optional refinements:
- Ask Copilot to reword sections for a more professional tone.
- Request a shorter, more concise version if the summary is too long.
- Expand with additional sections.
- After reviewing and finalizing the document, copy the generated Executive Summary to your clipboard for use in the next demo.
✅ Self-Check: Part 3
Part 4: Copilot in Outlook — Communicate with Leadership
💡 Why This Matters: A legal assessment is only useful if the right stakeholders understand it. Copilot in Outlook can package your findings into a clear, professional email — making it easier to align leadership on next steps.
Lastly, we'll draft an email to Contoso's leadership summarizing our findings and next steps.
- Open Outlook (either in your browser or desktop application).
- Select New Email.
- Select Copilot in the ribbon. From the drop-down menu, choose Draft with Copilot.
- In the "What do you want this email to say?" prompt window, type:
Draft an email to Contoso's executive leadership summarizing our legal assessment of the AI Resume Screening Software under the EU AI Act. Use the following executive summary as a reference.
[paste Executive Summary from the previous task]
Conclude the email with a request for leadership's input on the next steps, including a proposed compliance review meeting.
📝 NOTE: Paste the Executive Summary contents that you copied from the previous demo.
- Once the draft is generated, you can use the Adjust feature to modify the tone, length, or level of formality.
✅ Self-Check: Part 4
Part 5: Additional Sample Prompts
💡 Why This Matters: Beyond the core demo flow, these prompts show how Copilot can support common legal tasks — translating legalese for non-lawyers and running "what-if" scenario analyses against contract language.
Lawyer's Second Copilot Prompt: Plain-English Summary
Convert the technical language of Article I, paragraphs 1 (Normal Exercise) and 2 (Acceleration) into a plain-English summary suitable for non-lawyers, while preserving all legal obligations.
Lawyer's Third Copilot Prompt: Scenario Analysis
Scenario: What happens if the optionee voluntarily leaves the company before the second anniversary (i.e., before any shares vest on October 12, 2012)? Explain which shares, if any, remain exercisable and for how long.
⚠️ Reminder: Always validate Copilot's interpretations against the source legal text. AI outputs are a starting point for analysis — final legal judgment remains with the attorney.
🔑 Key Takeaways
⚖️
Research Faster
Use Copilot Chat in Web mode to summarize regulations and identify compliance obligations in minutes.
🔗
Chain Your Tools
Chat to research → Word to draft → Outlook to communicate. End-to-end legal workflow without context switching.
🔄
Iterate, Don't Accept First Draft
Refine and follow up. Copilot gets better with each iteration — treat it as a conversation, not a one-shot answer.
🧠
AI Assists, You Decide
Copilot accelerates research and drafting, but legal judgment and final review remain with you.