Microsoft Expands Copilot for Legal

Microsoft says Copilot for Legal, launched on 15 October, is a long-term effort that could eventually reach potentially 100,000s of lawyers worldwide. Carina Negreanu, Microsoft’s Legal Vertical leader, said in an interview that the service is intended to support legal work across multiple functions, including HR. The legal capabilities are automatically available to people signed up to Copilot, which has over 30 million users globally; only some are lawyers, but HR directors, compliance experts and procurement heads may also use the tools for legal input.

When Copilot detects legal documents, its legal capabilities can make themselves available within the workflow. The service offers three core workflows—Q&A, review and editing—plus 20 skills, including work on obligations and playbook generation. Copilot Cowork supports larger tasks such as reviewing multiple contracts. Microsoft says the available models include those from OpenAI and Anthropic through Copilot’s model picker, subject to regional restrictions.

Negreanu said suggested review changes already have acceptance rates of 70%-plus; the interview’s key points put edit retention in the “high seventies.” Microsoft also tests whether reviews using the same playbook produce consistent results and plans further public benchmarking. Copilot for Legal connects with Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, and uses connectors to bring in specialist legal technology providers and data. Microsoft’s stated aim is to let users handle more of their legal workflow in one place, while building its own legal capabilities alongside partner offerings. The article says some partner offerings may eventually be replaceable by Copilot for Legal.

Microsoft says Copilot for Legal, launched on 15 October, is a long-term effort that could eventually reach potentially 100,000s of lawyers worldwide. Carina Negreanu, Microsoft’s Legal Vertical leader, said in an interview that the service is intended to support legal work across multiple functions, including HR. The legal capabilities are automatically available to people signed up to Copilot, which has over 30 million users globally; only some are lawyers, but HR directors, compliance experts and procurement heads may also use the tools for legal input.

When Copilot detects legal documents, its legal capabilities can make themselves available within the workflow. The service offers three core workflows—Q&A, review and editing—plus 20 skills, including work on obligations and playbook generation. Copilot Cowork supports larger tasks such as reviewing multiple contracts. Microsoft says the available models include those from OpenAI and Anthropic through Copilot’s model picker, subject to regional restrictions.

Negreanu said suggested review changes already have acceptance rates of 70%-plus; the interview’s key points put edit retention in the “high seventies.” Microsoft also tests whether reviews using the same playbook produce consistent results and plans further public benchmarking. Copilot for Legal connects with Excel, PowerPoint and Teams, and uses connectors to bring in specialist legal technology providers and data. Microsoft’s stated aim is to let users handle more of their legal workflow in one place, while building its own legal capabilities alongside partner offerings. The article says some partner offerings may eventually be replaceable by Copilot for Legal.