Use Microsoft Word Copilot to Draft Case Documents Faster

What This Does

Copilot in Microsoft Word can draft sections of court reports, service plans, and agency correspondence directly in the document you're already working in, saving you from switching between your notes, a separate AI tool, and Word.

Before You Start

• You have Microsoft Word open (desktop app or Word Online at office.com)
• Your agency has Microsoft 365 with Copilot enabled (look for the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of the document)
• You have a document open or a new blank document ready

Steps

1. Find Copilot in Word

Open Word and look for the Copilot icon in the lower-right corner of the document window. Microsoft moved Copilot off the Home ribbon in 2026, so this corner button is now the entry point. Pressing F6 cycles focus to it, and the newer Alt + C (Windows) and Cmd + Ctrl + I (Mac) shortcuts are rolling out. If you prefer it near the ribbon, right-click the corner button and choose Move to ribbon. There is also an inline Copilot icon in the left margin for drafting mid-document.

What you should see: A Copilot panel opens on the right side of the screen, or a small inline prompt appears where you clicked.

2. Use Draft with Copilot for a New Section

Click in the document where you want to add content. Click the Copilot icon to open the inline prompt. Type what you need.

What to type: "Draft a 'Current Living Situation' section for a court report. The home was observed to have adequate conditions, food available, no safety hazards, and two school-age children present. The mother was cooperative and engaged with the children during the visit."

3. Review, Accept, or Refine the Draft

Copilot will generate the text directly in your document in a highlighted draft state. You can:

• Keep it: click the checkmark to accept
• Regenerate: ask it to try again
• Refine: type "Make this more formal" or "Shorten to 2 sentences" in the prompt box

What you should see: Drafted text appears in the document, highlighted, with options to Keep, Redo, or Discard.

4. Use "Rewrite" to Improve Your Own Drafts

If you have rough text you've already written, select it and click the Copilot icon. Choose Rewrite. Copilot will offer 3-4 improved versions you can choose from.

This is useful for court report language that you know is legally accurate but reads awkwardly.

Real Example

Scenario: You're drafting a court report and you're stuck on the "Parental Compliance" section. You know what happened, but you're struggling to write it in court-appropriate language.

What you type: "Write a 'Parental Compliance' section for a court report. The parent attended 8 of 10 required parenting classes, completed all drug tests with negative results, and maintained consistent visitation. Two visits were cancelled by the parent due to transportation issues."

What you get: "During the reporting period, [Parent Name] demonstrated substantial compliance with court-ordered services. The parent attended eight of ten scheduled parenting classes, representing an 80% attendance rate. All submitted drug screens were negative for controlled substances. Visitation occurred consistently, with two sessions cancelled due to transportation barriers reported by the parent."

That's 3 minutes of work instead of 30.

Tips

• Start with bullet points of what you know happened, then ask Copilot to "write a formal paragraph from these notes."
• Use Copilot's "Summarize this document" feature after drafting a court report to create a one-page executive summary for your supervisor.
• If Copilot is not available in your agency's Word installation, use the same prompts in a browser tab with ChatGPT or Claude and paste the result.

Tool interfaces change. If a button has moved, look for similar AI/magic/smart options in the same menu area.