CoCounsel uses advanced artificial intelligence technology to understand your requests, process current sources of information at superhuman speeds, and provide verifiable results. What is CoCounsel?
This article explains how to request assistance from CoCounsel with 3 questions:
A. What does CoCounsel know about my situation?
B. What can CoCounsel do?
C. What, specifically, do I want from CoCounsel?
A. What does CoCounsel know about my situation?
When we request assistance, we always first consider what the assistant knows about the situation. This ensures the right person is assigned to the right task. This is also why an experienced legal assistant can bring significant value to a project: because they fully understand the context.
Think of CoCounsel as a very intelligent, very fast-working legal assistant that learns very quickly, and that works within a very specific context. The total amount of information that an AI like CoCounsel can consider at any given time is called its context window. Learn more about tokens and context windows.
Within this context window, CoCounsel will also use real, current sources of information to craft its response. Note the source of information for each category of request.
When you request… | Depending on the task, CoCounsel uses… |
Research | Casetext’s legal database or databases of your files |
Review | Your files, descriptions, and filters |
Draft | Your descriptions and filters |
Summarize | Your files and filters |
For this reason, consider these basic scenarios.
When you ask CoCounsel to draft correspondence, you would not expect a legal research memo, because the source for drafting is not Casetext’s legal database.
When you ask CoCounsel for legal research, you would not expect references to information from your documents, because the source for legal research is not your documents.
But CoCounsel can also handle more complex requests and follow-up requests, or refinements. So consider these scenarios, too.
Ask CoCounsel to draft correspondence. As you are refining CoCounsel’s response, the drafted correspondence, ask for laws that support a legal principle. CoCounsel will prepare a legal research memo. Then ask CoCounsel to incorporate portions of the legal research memo into the correspondence.
Ask CoCounsel for legal research, but include facts from your case in the request so that CoCounsel’s legal analysis applies the relevant law to your client’s particular facts.
B. What can CoCounsel do?
After considering what CoCounsel knows about the situation, then consider what CoCounsel can do.
CoCounsel is capable of completing requests to:
Research;
Review;
Draft; and
Summarize.
These categories appear when you start a new chat. These also appear when you select “Give me examples” or you expand the right sidebar.
After you start chatting, CoCounsel will consider your requests and apply its capabilities to your situation. Click "Give me examples" above the chat or expand the right sidebar. Then select a category and specific work.
But even from the start, select "What else can you do?" or just ask CoCounsel what it can do.
✨ CoCounsel can help. When in doubt, just ask.
C. What, specifically, do I want from CoCounsel?
After considering what CoCounsel knows about the situation, and what CoCounsel can do, then take time to be very clear about what you want.
1. Legal assistance has a context
Good human legal assistants can make supervising lawyers forget just how complicated legal work can be. With experience, a legal assistant can know what to do in certain situations without even being told, or they will be able to fill in gaps when they receive unclear instructions.
Remember, CoCounsel is a very intelligent, very fast-working legal assistant that learns very quickly, and that works within a very specific context. By being clear about your exact needs, you can get the most out of working with CoCounsel.
2. Crafting requests
Overall
Your requests are a very important part of the prompt CoCounsel receives, and there are many strategies you can use to craft requests. Keeping in mind the concepts above, we recommend the "intent + context + instruction format."
Consider this medical malpractice prompt example.
Intent | I'm seeking to discredit an expert witness. |
Context | The documents contains all prior testimony of the expert I'm seeking to discredit. My case involves medical malpractice. |
Instruction | Do the documents contain any explicit or implied contradiction or inconsistency among the prior testimony offered by the expert? |
The total prompt:
💬 I'm seeking to discredit an expert witness. The documents contains all prior testimony of the expert I'm seeking to discredit. My case involves medical malpractice. Do the documents contain any explicit or implied contradiction or inconsistency among the prior testimony offered by the expert?
The value of context
Consider the value of a prompt with and without context.
Without context | With context |
I need to understand the rights of Personal Representatives in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. | I am representing the beneficiary of a trust established by the decedent’s will. The beneficiary is the stepson of the decedent. The Personal Representative for the Estate is also the Trustee of the Trust. I need to understand the rights of Personal Representatives in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. |
Assign a persona
Give CoCounsel a specific identity. When you use this option, you are assigning CoCounsel the perspective of a specific person. This is a document review example.
Without an assigned persona | With an assigned persona |
Does the document contain any examples of malpractice? | You are an expert in medical malpractice claims where a surgeon’s actions caused a lifelong disability. Does the document contain any examples of malpractice? |
May not work as well with the Search a Database skill.
Provide a rule
Provide rules, like definitions or examples, that CoCounsel should follow. This is a database research example.
Without a rule | With a rule |
Will extreme events that disrupt a supply chain automatically terminate an agreement? | Extreme events are catastrophic and unforeseen. Examples include sudden police or military actions, and natural weather events like wildfires, floods, tornados, earthquakes, and other events traditionally defined as acts of god. Will extreme events that disrupt a supply chain automatically terminate an agreement? |
Provide choices
Provide choices for CoCounsel to select while responding to your request. This is a database research example.
Without choices | With choices |
What kind of fiduciary is named in this document? | What kind of fiduciary is named in this document? (A) a Personal Representative or Executor/trix, (B) a Trustee, (C) a Conservator? |
Write layered requests
CoCounsel can handle complex requests with multiple layers. This is a correspondence drafting example where a letter is being refined.
Without conditions or layers | With conditions or lawyers |
Edit the letter so it has a more formal tone. | Generally, edit the letter so it has a more formal tone. Specifically, indicate that our position in paragraph 2 is supported by case law precedent; remove current paragraph 3; and convert the list in current paragraph 4 from a comma-separated list to bullets. |
Use open, closed, or leading requests
Use open, closed, or leading requests to approach the same information. This is a legal research example.
Open | Closed | Leading |
Describe the strict scrutiny standard of review. | Is the standard of review in this case strict scrutiny? | Why is the standard of review in this case strict scrutiny? |
Meta prompting (aka, asking CoCounsel how to prompt)
CoCounsel can help determine the best way to assist you. Describe the information you need, and then consider CoCounsel's suggestion as you write your request. This is a database research example.
I need help writing a prompt to search a database of my successful Motions for Summary Judgement in slip and fall cases. The goal is to find the best argument that a defendant corporation can make against a plaintiff who suffered a broken bone as a result of ice and snow that was not cleared from a sidewalk in front of a Wisconsin grocery store.
Include a preferred format
Reviewing documents and contracts
Generally, CoCounsel cannot review a document or contract and respond with chronologies or detailed formatting.
Drafting correspondence
CoCounsel can consider preferred formatting while drafting correspondence.
Without preferred formatting | With preferred formatting |
Please write a formal letter to Harold that explains substantive due process. | Please write a formal letter to Harold that explains substantive due process. Please use bullet points for the explanation. |
Passages of text
When CoCounsel is reading a passage of text pasted into the chat to provide an answer in the chat, then CoCounsel can consider preferred formatting.
Without preferred formatting | With preferred formatting |
What are the dates and times of the events in this passage? | What are the dates and times of the events in this passage? List all identified events in chronological order as bullets right here in the chat. Each bullet should follow this format: [Date as “YYYY-MM-DD”], [Time as “HH:MM” with “AM” or ”PM”]: [Brief event description]. |