Because CoCounsel is built on the largest language model ever created, it reads, comprehends, and writes with superhuman speed. It can edit, analyze, summarize, and assist with preparing documents such as discovery responses, answers to complaints, contract clauses, deposition outlines, and legal research memos.
While CoCounsel, unlike earlier AI products, responds to natural language—that is, you can talk to it like a human—it can’t read your mind. If your questions are haphazard or unclear, your results probably will be too (similar to a subpar research memo from a law clerk or associate whom you haven’t given enough information to).
Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about what keywords or Boolean operators would optimize your search results, because CoCounsel does all that work behind the scenes. But there are a few things to keep in mind when writing prompts to make sure you’re maximizing the value the AI platform can bring.
Tip 1: Start with chat
CoCounsel has eight applications, or “skills.” Not sure which one to use? When you log in and start chatting with CoCounsel, ask your question or say what you’d like to do, and CoCounsel will recommend the best skill for accomplishing your task. If there isn’t a specific skill for your task, it could still help you by providing general information or suggested language for your project.
Tip 2: Be specific
CoCounsel performs best with narrow questions, so make sure you’re specific about what you want. While the AI technology powering CoCounsel is highly advanced, it’s not flawless. CoCounsel cannot always tell what you intend, so if you’re not direct and detailed in your requests, the AI might fill in the gaps—and not accurately.
If a question is too general or broad, CoCounsel’s answer might be too vague to be helpful. Focus your question or, instead of asking one broad question, ask multiple narrow questions. Alternatively, CoCounsel might try to help narrow the scope of the request by addressing only one portion of the request.
Tip 3: Use precise language
Avoid vague or ambiguous words. CoCounsel takes things literally, so extraneous descriptors can be confusing or misleading. It also might not understand colloquial phrases, which are unlikely to help in a legal context. And while CoCounsel should understand common legal acronyms and shorthand, spell out any terms a law student might not know or understand.
Additionally, avoid using the passive voice when possible. And note that spelling and grammatical errors can also be misinterpreted.
This example shows a Legal Research Memo prompt that isn’t focused or precise, along with an improved prompt, using the best practices in tips two and three.
| Before | After |
| What state pension funds are prohibited from considering ESG factors? | Identify each state that prohibits pension funds from considering environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors. |
The prompt on the right is more effective because it provides clear instructions by asking CoCounsel to “identify” each state, uses an active (“prohibits pension funds”) rather than passive (“pension funds are prohibited”) verb, and spells out what ESG stands for.
Tip 4: Be concise
Use the minimum number of words necessary to ask your question. Excess information can actually hinder CoCounsel’s ability to find what you’re looking for. By getting to the point, you’ll help CoCounsel deliver the most accurate, relevant results.
Tip 5: Avoid run-on or complex sentences
Because they often contain multiple ideas that are difficult to separate, longer sentences can be tough for CoCounsel to parse. Stick to simple, single-clause prompts.
The below example demonstrates incorporating tips four and five.
| Under Texas state law, does waiver apply if privileged information is exchanged during the due diligence process between companies when there is an NDA in place? | Under Texas state law, does a party waive attorney-client privilege if it provides information during due diligence under an NDA? |
The prompt on the right omits unnecessary words, uses an active voice, and specifies the type of privilege at issue.
It can take a little practice, but it’s well worth the effort. The better your prompts, the more accurate and complete your results, which lets you get the most value possible from your AI legal assistant. In the next post in our best practices series, we’ll share tips for improving prompts when using the Legal Research Memo skill.
Rapidly draft common legal letters and emails.
How this skill works
Specify the recipient, topic, and tone of the correspondence you want.
CoCounsel will produce a draft.
Chat back and forth with CoCounsel to edit the draft.
Get answers to your research questions, with explanations and supporting sources.
How this skill works
Enter a question or issue, along with relevant facts such as jurisdiction, area of law, etc.
CoCounsel will retrieve relevant legal resources and provide an answer with explanation and supporting sources.
Behind the scenes, Conduct Research generates multiple queries using keyword search, terms and connectors, boolean, and Parallel Search to identify the on-point case law, statutes, and regulations, reads and analyzes the search results, and outputs a summary of its findings (i.e. an answer to the question), along with the supporting sources and applicable excerpts.
Get answers to your research questions, with explanations and supporting sources.
How this skill works
Enter a question or issue, along with relevant facts such as jurisdiction, area of law, etc.
CoCounsel will retrieve relevant legal resources and provide an answer with explanation and supporting sources.
Behind the scenes, Conduct Research generates multiple queries using keyword search, terms and connectors, boolean, and Parallel Search to identify the on-point case law, statutes, and regulations, reads and analyzes the search results, and outputs a summary of its findings (i.e. an answer to the question), along with the supporting sources and applicable excerpts.
Get a thorough deposition outline in no time, just by describing the deponent and what’s at issue.
How this skill works
Describe the deponent and what’s at issue in the case, and CoCounsel identifies multiple highly relevant topics to address in the deposition and drafts questions for each topic.
Refine topics by including specific areas of interest and get a thorough deposition outline.
Ask questions of contracts that are analyzed in a line-by-line review
How this skill works
Allows the user to upload a set of contracts and a set of questions
This skill will provide an answer to those questions for each contract, or, if the question is not relevant to the contract, provide that information as well
Upload up to 10 contracts at once
Ask up to 10 questions of each contract
Relevant results will hyperlink to identified passages in the corresponding contract
Get a list of all parts of a set of contracts that don’t comply with a set of policies.
How this skill works
Upload a set of contracts and then describe a policy or set of policies that the contracts should comply with, e.g. "contracts must contain a right to injunctive relief, not merely the right to seek injunctive relief."
CoCounsel will review your contracts and identify any contractual clauses relevant to the policy or policies you specified.
If there is any conflict between a contractual clause and a policy you described, CoCounsel will recommend a revised clause that complies with the relevant policy. It will also identify the risks presented by a clause that does not conform to the policy you described.
Get an overview of any document in straightforward, everyday language.
How this skill works
Upload a document–e.g. a legal memorandum, judicial opinion, or contract.
CoCounsel will summarize the document using everyday terminology.
Find all instances of relevant information in a database of documents.
How this skill works
Select a database and describe what you're looking for in detail, such as templates and precedents to use as a starting point for drafting documents, or specific clauses and provisions you'd like to include in new documents you're working on.
CoCounsel identifies and delivers every instance of what you're searching for, citing sources in the database for each instance.
Behind the scenes, CoCounsel generates multiple queries using keyword search, terms and connectors, boolean, and Parallel Search to identifiy the on-point passages from every document in the database, reads and analyzes the search results, and outputs a summary of its findings (i.e. an answer to the question), citing applicable excerpts in specific documents.
Get a list of all parts of a set of contracts that don’t comply with a set of policies.
Ask questions of contracts that are analyzed in a line-by-line review
Get a thorough deposition outline by describing the deponent and what’s at issue.
Get answers to your research questions, with explanations and supporting sources.