For Corporate Attorneys ·
What you'll accomplish
An employee asks whether the gift policy covers a conference dinner. The answer sits somewhere across the code of conduct, the expense policy and an old FAQ. You will load those documents into Gemini Notebook (formerly NotebookLM) as sources and ask questions in plain language. Each answer comes with citations into your own documents. You open the cited passage, read it, and then answer the employee. The notebook finds the passage. You decide what it means.
What you'll need
A caution about what goes in. Use this notebook for internal policies and handbook text only. Do not add investigation notes, witness statements, HR case files, legal advice memos or anything about a specific employee. Policies that carry confidential business information still deserve a check: read Google's data terms for your account type, because Google notes that work and school accounts may be subject to different terms, and ask IT whether company policy allows the upload. Sharing needs care too. Google's help says a notebook viewer may still be able to reach the sources even when you share a "Chat View" link, so share with named colleagues in the legal department and no one else. Whether using an AI tool affects privilege is unsettled. Follow your company's policy and your state bar's guidance.
Each notebook is independent, and Gemini Notebook cannot see across notebooks, according to Google's help page. Build one notebook per policy set.
What you should see: Four to eight files with dates in their names. Troubleshooting: If two versions of a policy exist, upload only the current one. Conflicting sources produce conflicting answers.
What you should see: Your files in the Sources panel, a Chat panel with a generated summary of all sources, and a Studio panel. Troubleshooting: Sources have size limits, and the free tier has a cap on how many sources you can add. Combine small related policies into one document if you hit it.
What you should see: Answers that follow that style. Troubleshooting: Google notes that chat responses use only data from your sources. A question the sources cannot answer may return a message that Gemini Notebook cannot answer it. That is the behavior you want.
What you should see: An answer with citations linked to specific passages in your documents. Troubleshooting: If an answer has no citation, treat it as unverified and rephrase the question to ask for the exact policy language.
What you should see: A note on the noteboard with its citations intact. Troubleshooting: Notes do not update when a policy changes. Re-check before reusing an old note.
Find conflicts:
Do any of my sources give different answers about approval limits for expenses? Quote each and name the source.
Draft an FAQ entry:
Using only the sources, write a three-sentence FAQ answer on when employees must disclose a conflict of interest. Cite the section for each sentence.
Check what is missing:
List topics an employee might ask about the gifts policy that the sources do not address.
Build a one-page summary for managers:
Summarize the expense policy for managers in plain language. Use short headings and cite the section for each point.