Use Copilot in Teams to recap an internal case meeting and check every action item

What This Does

Your weekly case meeting with your paralegals produces action items that nobody writes down. Copilot in Teams meetings can summarize the discussion, suggest action items and answer questions about what was said. This guide covers internal staff meetings only. You check every action item against what was actually said before it goes on anyone's list.

Before You Start

• The meeting is an internal staff meeting held in Teams. Microsoft says Copilot does not work in meetings hosted outside the participant's organization.
• Copilot in Teams is available to you. It depends on your Microsoft 365 plan, your Copilot license and your IT administrator's settings. Ask your IT contact whether Copilot is enabled for your meetings. This guide states no price.
• Not for client sessions. Never turn on Copilot, transcription or recording in a client consultation or hearing preparation session unless the client consented and your firm's policy allows recording. Transcripts are confidential client material, and they sit in Teams until someone removes them. Ask IT how long transcripts are kept and who can open them.
• Even in an internal meeting, speak in matter codes such as IM-26-038 rather than client names, A-numbers or case facts. Anything non-public stays out unless the firm approved Copilot for client data under your confidentiality duties and your state bar's rules on AI use, which you check yourself.
• All attendees know the meeting is transcribed.

Steps

1. Set the meeting option

As the organizer, open the meeting options in the scheduler. Microsoft's page says the setting is under Online meeting options > Copilot and other AI, where the Allow Copilot and Facilitator option has several values. Per Microsoft's page, During and after the meeting needs transcription, while Only during the meeting works from speech-to-text data that is not kept after the meeting. Off disables Copilot and also disables recording and transcription for the meeting. Choose the value that fits your firm's policy.

2. Turn on transcription if you want a recap afterward

Microsoft's page says transcription is not required to turn Copilot on, but you need it to ask Copilot about the meeting afterward or to see Copilot's conversation history after the meeting ends. Start live transcription from the meeting controls if your firm allows it.

3. Ask Copilot during or after the meeting

Select Copilot in the meeting controls to open your private chat with Copilot. Select View prompts in the Copilot pane for suggestions, or type your own. After the meeting, open Copilot from the meeting chat (upper-right corner of the chat) or from the Recap tab, both of which show the same conversation history.

Paste a prompt like this:

List the action items from this meeting. For each one, give the matter code, who owns it, and what was said that created it.
Do not add an item that nobody mentioned.
List any question that was raised and not answered.

4. Check every action item against what was said

Read each item and match it to the transcript or the chat. Microsoft's page says Copilot's responses cite the sources used, so open the citation. Check three things for each item: the owner is the person who accepted it, the matter code is right, and the task is what was agreed. Fix or delete anything that was inferred.

5. Send the confirmed list

Copy the confirmed items into your task list or a short email to the team. If Copilot's response is long, Microsoft's page says you can use Open in Word to edit it there, unless a sensitivity label or a meeting option blocks exporting.

Real Example

Scenario: Your Monday case meeting (invented) covers three matters: IM-26-038 is waiting on one document, IM-26-044 needs a cover letter drafted, and IM-26-051 has a notice with a target date to set.

What you do: Run the prompt in Step 3 after the meeting.

What you get: A list like: IM-26-038, paralegal to chase the missing document; IM-26-044, paralegal to draft the cover letter for attorney review; IM-26-051, attorney to set the internal target date. You open each citation. If Copilot put the cover letter on the wrong paralegal, you fix it before the list goes out. An unanswered question, such as whether to send a reminder this week, goes back to you as your decision.

Tips

• Say the owner's name when you assign a task in the meeting. It makes the check in Step 4 quick.
• Treat Copilot's suggested action items as suggestions. Nobody owns a task until they confirm it.
• Ask Copilot "Where did we disagree?" and read the answer against the transcript. It can show you a point you thought was settled.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for the Copilot option in the meeting controls or the meeting chat.