Use Copilot Chat in Outlook to prioritize the legal request inbox

What This Does

Copilot Chat in Outlook reads your inbox and calendar and answers questions about them. For a legal request inbox, you ask what needs a reply first and in what order. Think of the answer as a second opinion on your triage. The call on what is urgent stays with you.

Before You Start

• Sign in to Outlook with your work account. Microsoft's page says to select the Copilot button in the upper region of the Outlook app.
• What you can do depends on your license. Microsoft's page lists the prioritization prompt (which unread emails are most important and in what order to respond) for users who have a Microsoft Copilot add-on license. If your admin has not assigned one, you can still use Copilot Chat for questions about your inbox and calendar. Ask IT which you have.
• Legal request emails carry privileged questions, employee matters and deal information. Use Copilot only within your company's approved Microsoft 365 setup, and follow your company's policy on AI and privileged email. This guide does not cover thread summaries.

Steps

1. Open Copilot Chat

In Outlook, select the Copilot button in the upper part of the window. The chat opens next to your inbox.

2. Ask for a priority order

If you have the add-on license, adapt the prompt Microsoft lists:

"Which unread emails in my legal requests folder are most important? Prioritize the order in which I should respond. Put anything with a stated deadline first, then anything from the executive team, then anything that mentions a contract signature."

Say in the prompt what "important" means for your team. Copilot does not know your risk rules unless you tell it.

3. If you do not have the add-on license

Microsoft's page lists these prompts for users without the add-on, and you can adapt them:

• "Summarize my emails from the last week related to [project or customer name]." Use it with a deal or matter name to see what is open for one project.
• "Flag all unread emails from my manager." Use it to be sure the general counsel's requests are not buried.

You can then sort the remaining requests yourself by risk and deadline.

4. Act on the order

Reply, delegate or flag each message the way you normally do. Ask Copilot to flag messages in Outlook if you want a visible reminder, such as "Flag all unread emails from my manager".

5. Run the check on one morning

Before you rely on it, pick one morning. Write down your own order of priority from reading the inbox. Then ask Copilot for its order. Compare. Note anything it ranked low that you ranked high, and any message it left out. Repeat on a second morning if the first shows gaps. Use what you learn to improve the criteria in your prompt.

Real Example

Scenario: Eleven requests arrived overnight at the legal request mailbox. Three mention a signature deadline, and one is from the CFO.

What you do: You ask for a priority order, and you name signature deadlines and executive requests as your criteria.

What you get: A ranked list. When you compare it with your own order, it ranks the CFO's message first, as you did. It put a procurement NDA question near the bottom because the email never used the word "urgent", although the requester needs it back before a meeting that afternoon. You note that gap and add "check for meeting dates mentioned in the body" to your prompt next time.

Tips

• Put the criteria in the prompt every time. A saved note with your standard wording saves retyping.
• Treat any email that Copilot leaves off the list as unread by the tool, and scan the inbox for it.
• Do not ask Copilot to send replies on your behalf. Draft, read, then send yourself.

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