Use Copilot in Word to draft an engagement scope section from your firm's template

What This Does

Your engagement letter template already holds the structure and the wording you trust. Copilot in Word can start a draft of the "what we will and will not do" section from that template and a short list of scope decisions you type, so you edit a draft instead of retyping the section for every new client. You decide what the engagement covers. Copilot only arranges your decisions in your template's style.

Before You Start

• Word is open, with your firm's engagement letter template saved as a file you can point to.
• Copilot is available to you. Microsoft's page says Copilot in Word needs an eligible Microsoft 365 subscription or Copilot license, and your organization's settings can switch features off. If you do not see the Copilot button in the corner of a document, ask your IT contact, or check the license information on Microsoft's own Copilot pages. This guide does not state a price because plans differ by firm.
• You have written your scope decisions in a few plain lines: what the engagement covers, what it does not cover, and where a fee goes.
• You know which fee wording your fee schedule uses. The draft carries the placeholder "[flat fee from your fee schedule]", and you fill in the real fee yourself.
• Data check. Practice on an invented matter first. Client names, A-numbers, receipt numbers, passport numbers, dates of birth, addresses and immigration or criminal history stay in your firm's approved systems. Use real client details in Copilot only if your firm has approved Copilot for client data, which depends on your confidentiality duties and your state bar's rules on AI use. Check those rules and your tool's data settings with your IT contact before you start. A matter code such as IM-26-031 is enough for a scope draft.

Steps

1. Open Copilot in Word

Open your engagement letter template, or a copy of it, in Word. Select the Copilot button in the corner of the document. Microsoft's page calls it the Copilot Dynamic Action Button. Copilot opens in a chat pane, and Microsoft says Edit mode is on when it opens.

Working on a copy keeps your master template untouched. If the shared document has collaborators, Copilot shows a preview of suggested changes in chat first, and nothing is added until you approve it.

2. Point Copilot to your template and your scope notes

In the chat pane, type a prompt that names the outcome and the source material. Typing / in the chat box lets you search for a document by name, so you can reference your template file.

Paste a prompt like this, with your own scope lines in place of the invented ones:

Draft the "What we will and will not do" section of the engagement letter for matter IM-26-031.
Use the style and headings of the template I referenced.
Use only the scope decisions below. Do not add any law, fee amount, deadline, timeline, or promise about the result.
Where a fee belongs, write [flat fee from your fee schedule].
If something is unclear or missing, write [attorney to supply] instead of guessing.

Scope decisions (invented example):
- Covers: preparing and filing one family-based petition packet for Client A.
- Covers: reviewing the evidence the client brings and telling the client what is still missing.
- Does not cover: any appeal.
- Does not cover: later filings or other applications unless we agree in writing.
- Fee: [flat fee from your fee schedule]

Press Enter and wait for the draft.

3. Review before you keep it

Read the draft line by line against your scope notes. Microsoft's page says you can keep it, discard it, or continue refining it with a follow-up prompt. Check four things:

• Every covered item and every excluded item from your notes appears, and nothing else.
• No sentence promises a result or a timeline.
• No fee amount, law or deadline has crept in.
• Every bracket is still a bracket, ready for you to fill.

If a line is off, type a follow-up such as "Remove the sentence about timing and keep the rest." When the section is right, keep it, fill in the fee, and send the letter through your normal review before it goes to the client.

Real Example

Scenario: You have a new family-based matter, IM-26-031, for Client A (an invented client). Your template is in Word. You want the scope section for this engagement.

What you type: The prompt from Step 2, with the five scope lines above.

What you get: A section in your template's style with a "We will" list and a "We will not" list built from your lines, and "[flat fee from your fee schedule]" where the fee goes. A good draft contains exactly the five decisions you gave. If Copilot adds a line you never wrote, such as a statement about how long the process takes, delete that line and tighten the prompt.

Tips

• Keep your scope notes short and in your own words. Copilot cannot decide what you cover, so a vague note produces a vague section.
• Compare the draft with the last scope section you approved for a similar matter. The "will not do" list is the part most often left thin.
• Ask the chat pane in Chat only mode "What decisions are needed before this section is ready to send?" Treat the answer as a to-do list for you, not as legal advice.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for the Copilot icon or a similar AI option in the same area of Word.