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Copilot 101 for the judiciary

Three identical sessions for judges, associates and clerks. Email and Word first, everything synthetic, all three recorded.

≈60 min planned 59 min of core sections 13 sections 6 anchors Judges, associates (judges' EAs) and clerks. Heads of bench primary. verified 2026-09-19
basic level on purpose — intermediate comes later

↯Pivot map — read the room, not the script

Room is mostly judges, quiet, unsure
Outlook triage. It is the surface they already live in and needs nothing new learned.
5 →
Room is mostly clerks and associates, moving fast
File referencing and comparison. Clerks do the research and drafting and will get there first.
7 →
Anyone asks is it safe, or where does my data go
Work vs Web, ZQL, and showing the sources. Andrew asked for this explicitly.
3 →
Anyone raises the shared tenancy with the Ministry
Show the sources panel. It is the honest answer and it is visible on screen.
3 →
I get a bad answer live
Turn it into the prompting lesson. Fix it in one line rather than starting again.
4 →
They ask can it write my judgment
Go back to the boundary. Do not improvise this one.
1 →
Running long, need to cut
Drop 8, 9 and 10. Keep the close and the card. Never cut the close.
11 →
Someone asks about the agents they have heard about
Researcher and Analyst, light touch only. Do not let it become the session.
10 →

AWhat you need open

1
Caldova tenant, signed in as ColinB
EVERYTHING runs from here. Colin Ballinger's account in the Caldova demo tenant, not your own. All three sessions are recorded, so nothing real goes on screen.
dedicated Edge profile, signed in before the session starts
2
Consultation paper - Remote participation in civil proceedings.docx
The long document. ~2,000 words over 11 sections, figures buried in prose. Executive briefing, / referencing, speech source.
ColinB OneDrive · Session Demos · Judicial
3
Submissions analysis - Remote participation.docx
The comparison partner. Agrees in places, contradicts in four specific checkable ways.
same folder
4
Draft speech - Judicial Education Conference 2027.docx
Half finished with [TO DO] markers. Speech prep and Word to PowerPoint.
same folder
5
Committee minutes - JTPC 12 August and 9 September 2026.docx
Two meetings. September carries August actions forward rather than closing them.
same folder
6
Court workload statistics FY26.xlsx
Excel to chart. Totals sit outside the table so Copilot charts registries, not the total.
same folder
7
JTPC papers - meeting of 14 October 2026.pdf
Four page genuine PDF for the Edge demo.
same folder
8
Copilot prompt card - judges.pdf
THE HANDOUT. Two pages, one prompt per use case on their own list. Send it after every session.
same folder
9
Mail folder 'Judicial demo'
Ten judicial messages in Colin's mailbox. Two high importance, two deliberate noise. This is the triage demo.
ColinB mailbox, Caldova

BPre-flight

!Things that will bite you

The brass tag on each section is what you must have OPEN
Every section header carries a brass-coloured tag. That is the file, folder or screen that must already be open before you send the prompts in that section. Several prompts say 'this document' or 'this sheet', and they fail silently if nothing is open - Copilot answers about the wrong thing rather than telling you. Open it first, then prompt.
All three sessions are recorded
Andrew Bain records every session and decides afterwards which to publish. That is why everything runs from the Caldova demo tenant as ColinB rather than from your own account. Never open your real inbox, a real file, or anything with a customer or colleague name on it. Close Teams notifications before you share.
SharePoint is not rolled out to the judiciary
They use OneDrive and share drives. Nathan's use case list says 'searches across SharePoint, Teams, OneDrive' but a SharePoint-centric demo will not land and will make the whole session feel like it was written for someone else. Say files and email, not SharePoint.
Some judges do not use Teams
Judges are mid-50s to 70 and mainly use email and Word. Lead with Outlook and Word. Teams is a mention, not a demo. If you open Teams as the first surface you lose part of the room in the first two minutes.
Enter sends, so a pasted prompt gets cut at the first blank line
Every prompt here copies as one unbroken block. If you paste something with blank lines in it, only the opening sentence is submitted and you get a scope with no task. Check the sent bubble contains your last sentence before you talk over it.
Judges are precise about language
Waffle loses this audience faster than a failed demo. Nathan's parting advice was: be direct and state things plainly. Do not oversell, do not say transform, and do not use the word journey.
Last year's attempt did not land
A previous effort with the judiciary struggled because they did not have the time or the prompting know-how to get output they liked. That is the bar. Low friction and a good result first time is the stated success criterion, and it is why the prompt card matters more than any single demo.
1 Open, and name the boundary anchor Nothing on screen yet Just talk ≈3m
Do this first and do not skip it

Every one of the ten tasks the Clerk asked for is administrative or governance work. None is about deciding a case. Naming that boundary out loud in the first two minutes buys more trust with this audience than any feature you can show them.

Before anything else, I want to be clear about what this hour is and what it is not. Everything I am going to show you is about the paperwork around the work. Correspondence, committee papers, briefings, speeches, meeting preparation. None of it is about deciding a case and none of it is about drafting a judgment. That line is deliberate, and it is yours to hold, not mine.

The second thing. Everything you see on my screen today is invented. The court, the committee, the consultation, the judges named in these documents, all of it. There is no real matter anywhere in this session.

Then set expectations honestly
This is the basic sessionSay it plainly. Intermediate and advanced come later. Nobody should feel they are behind.
I am going to go slowlyAimed at people who mainly use email and Word. If you are ahead, the card at the end has more.
You will get a cardTwo pages, ten prompts, one for each task on the list Nathan put together. Mention it now so they know something survives the hour.
2 Where Copilot actually lives Chat only is fine here Word, then Outlook, then Edge ≈5m

The first question I get is always the same. Where is it. So before anything clever, here is where you will find it in the things you already use.

Show these four, in this order, slowly
  1. WORD. Home tab, Copilot button on the right. Then show the icon that appears in the margin of an empty paragraph. This is the one most of them will use first.
  2. OUTLOOK. Open a message, point at Summarise at the top. Then New mail and the Copilot icon. Two different jobs, two different buttons.
  3. EDGE ON A PDF. Open the JTPC papers PDF in Edge, click the Copilot icon top right. This surprises people every time.
  4. ON ITS OWN. m365copilot.com. Mention pinning it in Teams in one sentence and move on — some of this room does not use Teams.
Do not linger in Teams

Judges are mid-50s to 70 and some do not use Teams at all. If Teams is your first surface you lose part of the room immediately. Mention it, do not demo it.

3 Work or web, and what it actually read anchor Chat only m365copilot.com ≈7m
Andrew asked for this explicitly

The judiciary shares a tenancy with the Ministry and, in Andrew's words, all the SharePoints are open by default. He asked that you cover how to see what Copilot grounded on. This section is the answer, and it is the one that decides whether this audience trusts the tool.

There is a toggle in the box. Work searches your own email and files. Web searches the internet. They are different tools and it matters which one you are in.

Web grounding, so the toggle is visiblecopies as one block
Using web sources, give me a short plain-English explanation of how other common law jurisdictions have approached remote participation in civil hearings since 2020. Three or four points, and cite where each one comes from.
Then say the thing about logging
Your web searches are not logged against youThe Ministry has zero query logging switched on for Bing. Nathan confirmed it on 1 September. That is why web grounding is available to you at all.
Say it plainly, do not oversell itThis audience will notice if you overclaim. State the setting, say who confirmed it, move on.
Now switch to Work and ask the same kind of questioncopies as one block
Search my own files and email for anything about interpreters in remote hearings. I do not know the file name. List what you find with the date and where it is saved, most recent first, and tell me in one line what each one says.
Switch the toggle on screen so they see it move. Then send this.
The moment that matters

Scroll to the sources underneath the answer and CLICK ONE. Open the actual file. Say: this is how you check. Every answer lists what it read, and you can open it. If it cites nothing, it is writing rather than reading.

If an answer is going to change what you do, open at least one source before you rely on it. That is the whole discipline. It takes ten seconds and it is the difference between using this well and using it badly.

4 Four things that make a prompt work anchor Chat only Consultation paper - Remote participation, OPEN IN WORD ≈5m
Which document

Session Demos / Judicial / 'Consultation paper - Remote participation in civil proceedings.docx'. Section 3 was in the chat. This section is not. Open it in Word, and open Copilot from the Home tab. Both prompts below say 'this document', and they only work if there is a document to point at. If you would rather stay in the chat, attach the file first using the paperclip - the prompts are the same either way.

Nathan covered some of this already, so I am reinforcing rather than teaching it fresh. There are four things. You do not need all four every time, but when an answer disappoints you it is usually because one of them is missing.

Put this on screen and leave it there
What it meansExample
GOALWhat you want, as a verbSummarise. Draft. Compare. List.
CONTEXTWho it is for and whyFor a colleague who has not read it
SOURCEWhat it should useType / then the file name
EXPECTATIONThe shape and the lengthSix bullets. No more than one page.

Watch what happens with and without them. Same document, two questions.

The weak one — send this first, on purposecopies as one block
Summarise this document.
It will produce something bland. That is the point. Do not apologise for it.
The strong onecopies as one block
Summarise this consultation paper for a colleague who has not read it and has five minutes. One paragraph on what is being asked, then the three options with the strongest argument for and against each, then what I am being asked to decide. No more than one page, plain sentences, no adjectives.
Say this while both answers are on screen

Same document, same tool, thirty seconds apart. The difference is entirely in what I asked for. This is the whole skill, and it is about ten seconds of extra typing.

Then the thing nobody tells them
Correct it, do not start againIf the answer is wrong, say what was wrong in one line. Too long. You missed the resource question. Use the September minutes not August. It revises. Starting over is the most common mistake and it is slower.
5 Outlook — triage the morning and draft a reply anchor Copilot in Outlook 'Judicial demo' mail folder, Caldova ≈8m
Which folder

Session Demos / 'Judicial demo' mail folder in Colin's Outlook, Caldova. Open that folder and nothing else — this is recorded and you are signed in as ColinB. Ten invented messages from invented people. The second prompt needs Judge Thackeray's message open.

This is the one most of you will use tomorrow. Associates especially. Ten messages arrived overnight, and the question is not what do they say, it is which of them need me.

Triagecopies as one block
Review the unread messages in this folder and group them into three lists: needs a decision from me this week, needs a short reply but is not urgent, and no action needed. For each item in the first list give me one line on what the decision is and who is waiting on it. Put the list in date order of when it is needed, not when it arrived.
What a good answer finds
Top of the listThe registry costing from Jane Ashworth, because the Ministry figure is materially different and she cannot finish the paper without a steer. And the conference opening address, because the programme goes to print on 30 September.
Pushed downThe library acquisitions and the network maintenance notice. Both are informational and neither needs anything.
The judgement callJudge Fairbairn's message needs a reply but not today. If Copilot puts it top, say so — that is a reasonable disagreement and it shows you are still the one deciding.

Now the second half. Reading is useful. Replying is where the time actually goes.

Draft a reply — open Judge Thackeray's message firstcopies as one block
Draft a reply agreeing to read the paper and offering a view before the papers go out, but saying I will not be able to do it until the end of next week. Four sentences, courteous and direct, no adjectives, and do not thank him more than once. New Zealand spelling.
Say the quiet part

Notice I told it how long and how to sound. Four sentences, direct, no adjectives. Left to itself it writes longer and warmer than any of you would. That instruction is the difference between a draft you edit and a draft you delete.

6 Word — a long paper reduced to something you can act on anchor Copilot in Word Consultation paper - Remote participation, OPEN IN WORD ≈8m
Which document

Session Demos / Judicial / 'Consultation paper - Remote participation in civil proceedings.docx'. Open it in Word, then Copilot from the Home tab. Both prompts below say 'this paper' and need it open.

Everyone in this room has a version of this document. Long, worthy, circulated on a Friday, and you are expected to have a view by Tuesday.

The executive briefingcopies as one block
Summarise this consultation paper for a colleague who has not read it and has five minutes. One paragraph on what is being asked, then the three options with the strongest argument for and against each, then what I am being asked to decide. No more than one page, plain sentences, no adjectives.
This is the same strong prompt from section 4. Say so — it shows the recipe is reusable.

Now the bit that actually saves the afternoon. I do not just want to know what it says. I want to know what I am going to be asked.

Then push it furthercopies as one block
Based on this paper, what are the three hardest questions I am likely to be asked about it, and where in the document is the weakest answer? Tell me the section for each.
Watch for this

A good answer finds the resource estimate in section 5 and the data limitations in section 2.1, both of which are genuinely soft in the document. That is the moment this stops looking like a summarising toy.

Point out on screen
It did not leave the documentNo web, no invention. Everything it said is in the paper in front of you and you can check it.
You can keep goingNow rewrite that as an email to the Chair. Now give me the version for someone who disagrees with me. Same source, different job.
7 The forward slash, and comparing two papers m365copilot.com or Word Both remote participation documents, via the / picker ≈6m
Which two documents

Both are in Session Demos / Judicial. 'Consultation paper - Remote participation in civil proceedings.docx' and 'Submissions analysis - Remote participation.docx'. You do NOT need either open - that is the point of this section. Type / and pick each one from the list.

Everything so far has been about the document I had open. This is how you point it at documents you do not have open. Type a forward slash and it offers you your own files.

Type the slash slowly and let them watch the picker appear

This is the single most useful mechanic in the session for clerks and associates, and it is invisible unless you slow down. Type /, pause, let the list appear, pick the file, then carry on typing.

Compare the two paperscopies as one block
Compare /Consultation paper - Remote participation in civil proceedings with /Submissions analysis - Remote participation. Tell me where they agree, where the submissions contradict the paper, and what the submissions raise that the paper does not address at all. Where the two documents give different figures for the same thing, give me both numbers.
Type / and pick each file from the list rather than typing the names. The picker inserts the real file name, which is what makes the reference work.
The four contradictions are real and checkable. This is what a good answer finds.
TopicThe paper saysThe submissions say
Preferred optionCommittee prefers Option BMore submitters chose Option C, 9 against 7
DemeanourRemains contested16 of 23 say the concern is overstated
Technology failures12 per cent of feedbackCloser to 30 per cent outside the main centres
Systems cost60,000 to 90,000, 0.4 FTEMinistry says 140,000 to 180,000, 1.0 FTE
And four things only the submissions raise
Not in the consultation paper at allInterpreters, recording retention, cross-border participation, and hybrid hearings. If Copilot finds these, say out loud that this is the part a human reading both documents on a Friday afternoon would most likely miss.
8 A speech, and then slides from it optional Copilot in Word, then PowerPoint Draft speech - Judicial Education Conference 2027, OPEN IN WORD ≈5m
Which document

Session Demos / Judicial / 'Draft speech - Judicial Education Conference 2027.docx'. Open it in Word. It has six sections marked [TO DO], which is what the first prompt works on.

This one is for anyone who has been asked to speak and has three quarters of a draft and no time.

Fill the gapscopies as one block
This draft has sections marked TO DO. For each one, suggest what should go there based on the argument the rest of the speech is making. Do not write the anecdotes for me, just tell me what each one needs to do. Keep the whole response under a page.
Then slidescopies as one block
Create a presentation from this speech. One slide per section, no more than four lines of text on any slide, and put the detail in the speaker notes rather than on the slide.

Do not oversell the slides. They will need editing and everyone knows it. The honest claim is that it saves the first forty minutes, not that it produces a finished deck.

9 Excel — numbers into a picture optional Copilot in Excel Court workload statistics FY26, OPEN IN EXCEL ≈4m
Which file, and which sheet

Session Demos / Judicial / 'Court workload statistics FY26.xlsx'. Open it in Excel and click into the 'By registry' sheet before you prompt. There are three sheets and Copilot works on the active one.

Short one. If you get sent workload figures and you want to see them rather than read them.

Chart itcopies as one block
Create a chart showing remote participation events by registry, and tell me in two sentences what the chart shows that the table does not.
Then the real questioncopies as one block
Which registry is the outlier in this data and why? Use the median disposal days and the clearance rate, and tell me which cells you used.
The answer is Southern

Worst deterioration at 53 days and the only registry below 92 per cent clearance. A good answer connects those two facts. Western is the only one that improved and is also the only one that changed its recording practice mid-year, which a careful answer will flag.

10 Researcher and Analyst, one minute each optional m365copilot.com Agent picker ≈4m
Light touch only

Andrew asked for a gateway, not a deep dive. Two minutes each, then stop. If this becomes the session you have lost the judges and gained the clerks, which is the wrong trade.

Two of these are worth knowing exist. You do not need them today.

ResearcherFor when the question needs more than one source and you would otherwise spend an afternoon. It takes several minutes and shows you its reasoning as it goes.
AnalystFor when you have data rather than documents. It writes and runs code to work something out, and shows you the code.
If someone asks you to actually show Analyst

The prompt below is Researcher, which needs no file. Analyst needs data attached — use 'Court workload statistics FY26.xlsx' from Session Demos / Judicial and ask it to find the registry that is the outlier and explain the method. Only do this if asked. It takes a few minutes and it is not what Andrew wanted from this session.

If you run one, run thiscopies as one block
Research how comparable common law jurisdictions have handled interpreters appearing remotely in civil hearings. I want the practice rather than the theory, with sources, and tell me clearly where you could not find an authoritative answer.
Set expectations: this takes a few minutes. Keep talking while it works.

Notice what it did at the end there. It told me where it could not find an answer. That is worth more than the parts it did find.

11 Close — the one thing, and the card anchor Nothing on screen Just talk ≈4m
Never cut this section

If you are running out of time, drop 8, 9 and 10 and keep this. A session that ends with one concrete thing and a card in their inbox is worth more than one that showed two more features and ran to the bell.

One thing to try tomorrow, and only one. Open a long document you have been avoiding, and ask it to summarise that for a colleague who has not read it and has five minutes. That is it. If that works for you, the card has nine more.

Then, in this order
  1. Send the prompt card in the meeting chat while they are still in the room. Do not promise to send it later.
  2. Say plainly that intermediate and advanced sessions are coming, so nobody feels they need to have understood everything.
  3. Hand to Andrew for the feedback question. He is collecting what worked and what missed at the end of each session and feeding it into the next.
  4. Say what changed from the previous session if this is day two or three. It shows the feedback was real.

Thank you. If something does not work the way I said it would, tell Andrew or Nathan and it will come back to me before the next session.

Between Between the three sessions optional
Content stays substantially the same

That was agreed with Andrew. Adjust only for the feedback he collects at the close of each session. Do not redesign it overnight.

After each session
  1. Get Andrew's what worked and what missed while it is fresh.
  2. Change at most two things. Judges talk to each other and the sessions should feel consistent.
  3. Re-seed the demo inbox if you replied to anything during the demo.
  4. Note which pivots you actually used. That is what tells you what the intermediate session should be.
Signals worth watching for
If they ask for more on agentsThat is the advanced session, and Andrew said he will add one if associates or clerks ask for it.
If they ask about their own documentsThat is the real win condition. It means they have stopped watching a demo and started planning their own work.
If nobody asks anythingDo not read it as failure with this audience. Ask Andrew afterwards rather than filling the silence.
Tear down After the third session optional
  1. Remove the demo content: .\deploy-to-colin.ps1 -Remove
  2. Send Andrew the prompt card as a file so he can attach it to the published recording.
  3. Write down what the intermediate session should contain while you still remember which questions came up three times.

RIf something goes wrong

Copilot is slow
Talk through what you asked for and what a good answer would contain. Do not resend, that queues a second job.
The answer is wrong or thin
Say so plainly and fix it in one line in front of them. This audience trusts a recovered mistake far more than a clean run.
A file will not appear in the / picker
Open it once in Word, then try again. Recent files surface first.
The inbox folder is empty
Redeploy with .\deploy-to-colin.ps1 -Deploy, or fall back to the Word documents and do sections 6 and 7 instead. Never open your own inbox.
Someone asks a legal or policy question you cannot answer
Say you will come back to them through Andrew. Do not guess in front of judges.
Down to 20 minutes
Sections 1, 3, 5 and 11 only. Boundary, trust, one real demo, the card.

✓Truth ledger

Public sources
Last verified 2026-09-19 · re-check by 2026-12-19 · Sush