Understanding CoCounsel skills

Skill: Draft

You may need to draft emails, letters, memos, and other correspondence. CoCounsel's Draft skill (formerly known as Draft Correspondence) uses your descriptions to draft the content.
  1. Go to the chat and enter a description of the correspondence you need. CoCounsel will take a moment to review your request and then provide a confirmation.
    note
    For example:
     Write a short, neutral email to Aunt Ginny Miller confirming that I will represent her in the criminal matter discussed during our initial intake meeting on September 30. Note that the full engagement letter is attached, that it is a binding contract, and that she should review it very closely. Please also confirm that I looked into her question about my age (whether I am too young to serve as counsel), and that it should not be an issue, especially since Lt. Cdr. JoAnne Galloway will serve as co-counsel.
  2. Review CoCounsel's response:
    1. In the upper right corner of CoCounsel's response, the Draft skill is confirmed.
    2. Under
      Request
      , the description of the requested correspondence is confirmed.
    3. If you no longer need assistance, select
      Cancel
      .
  3. When you're ready to proceed, select
    Submit request
    . CoCounsel will begin its work and show its progress
    1. To receive a notification when the results are ready, select
      Email me when complete
      .
    2. To stop CoCounsel's work, select
      Cancel
      .
  4. When your results are ready, select
    View results
    . The results window will appear.
  5. Review any warnings.
    important
    CoCounsel does not yet consult legal sources while drafting. Review and verify legal references.
  6. Review the drafted correspondence.
  7. To refine your result, select
    Refine result
    . The follow-up question box will appear.
  8. Enter your follow-up instructions and then select the send icon.
    note
    Refinements may change the length of the correspondence, reorganize the information, add or change the formatting, change the tone, or change the type (e.g., from letter to email).
  9. To copy the results to paste somewhere else, select
    Copy
    . To download the results as a Word Document, select the ellipsis icon, then select
    Download
    , and then
    Word Document
    . The results will download.

Limitations

The request length can be up to 4,000 characters
The results length (correspondence) will generally be less than about 500 words. The length of the correspondence will depend on the request and complexity and detail of the request.
CoCounsel understands nuance, humor, and implied references. This means CoCounsel finds information and references that traditional search engines cannot. The best requests are specific, clear, precise, and concise. When requests are not, CoCounsel may omit additional information to focus on just a part of a longer, complex, overbroad question.
Tone can give the same content a new meaning, but it is also always approximate because everyone interprets tone differently. Generally, CoCounsel’s responses will follow these descriptions.
  • Adversarial
    • A direct tone with no polite niceties.
    • This may be appropriate for correspondence with opposing counsel.
  • Formal
    • A respectful, non-hostile tone.
    • This may be appropriate for correspondence with a judge or a new client.
  • Neutral
    • A broad category somewhere between respectful and friendly.
    • This may be appropriate to request information from a 3rd party, like accountants or a forensic lab.
CoCounsel can't use the name, email, or position fields from your Thomson Reuters Account profile to draft correspondence. As a result, CoCounsel can't comply with instructions that rely on this information, like "Add my position and email to the signature of this email" or "include my first and last names in the letterhead."

Tips

  • Use narrow, specific questions. It's better to ask multiple, narrow questions rather than a single, broad question.
    tip
    Too broad:
     What was the Planned Parenthood case about?
    Better:
     What were the elements of the court’s reasoning in Planned Parenthood v. Casey (1992)?
  • Be precise and concise
    • Avoid using vague or ambiguous language, like passive voice.
      tip
      Passive voice:
       Where the defense was sided with by the court.
      Active voice:
       Where the court sided with the defense.
    • Spell out legal terms a law student might not know.
    • Grammatical and spelling errors in a question can be misinterpreted.
    tip
    Wordy:
    Cases where there was a minor who was the plaintiff, and who was also under the age of 14 at the time of the alleged events that the court was considering.
    Better:
    Cases with a minor plaintiff under the age of 14.

This article applies to:

  • PRODUCT: CoCounsel
  • Subject: AI
  • Audiences: Legal professionals

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