Microsoft Copilot for Legal vs Scriptum: what UK transactional firms should know
Copilot for Legal is a strong general addition to Word for firms already licensing Microsoft Copilot: it reviews contracts, proposes redlines as tracked changes and drafts from precedents in SharePoint. Scriptum goes further on the deal itself. It runs each negotiation round inside limits your partner sets, keeps a clause library with the firm's negotiation history, and gives your client and the other side one secure workspace. Many transactional firms will find the two work well side by side.
On 15 October 2026, Microsoft launched Copilot for Legal. LawSites described it as the fourth major AI company in five months to build a legal offering, after Anthropic's Claude for Legal in May, Google's Gemini Enterprise for Legal in August and OpenAI's Astra for Law in September.
For a mid-sized UK firm, Microsoft's move matters more than the others, because your lawyers already live in Word. So it is worth being clear about what Copilot for Legal does, and where a specialist tool still earns its place.
What is Microsoft Copilot for Legal?
According to LawSites' report of the launch, Copilot for Legal includes:
- More than 20 legal skills in Copilot, covering drafting, review and negotiation, obligations, research-to-guidance and matter management.
- A Legal Agent for contract review and redlining, first released to Microsoft's Frontier early-access programme in April 2026.
- In Word, proposed clause changes applied as native tracked changes, with drafting from approved precedents held in SharePoint.
- Multi-document work in Cowork, Microsoft's agentic workspace, such as comparing key terms across a portfolio.
- Partner plugins from legal technology vendors, including Harvey and Legora.
It is available to Microsoft Copilot customers. LawSites noted that Microsoft's performance figures come from its own internal evaluations rather than an independent benchmark.
How does Copilot for Legal compare with Scriptum?
| Factor | Scriptum | Copilot for Legal |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A specialist platform for transactional deals | Legal skills and a Legal Agent inside Microsoft Copilot |
| Where it runs | Word add-in plus a secure matter workspace | Word, Copilot and Cowork |
| First drafts | From your template, the term sheet and the email chain, flagging conflicts between them | From approved precedents in SharePoint |
| Reviewing the other side's markup | Review agent builds a plan against your playbook for partner sign-off | Legal Agent reviews and proposes redlines |
| Negotiation rounds | Negotiation agent answers inside limits a partner sets, escalating anything outside them (Pro) | Review and negotiation skills |
| Client and opposing counsel | One workspace with approval flows; clients never see your limits | Your existing Microsoft 365 setup |
| Firm memory | Clause library with negotiation history and counterparty history, captured as you work | Your SharePoint precedents and Microsoft's Work IQ layer |
| Pricing | £79 or £119 per user per month, excluding VAT | Through Microsoft Copilot licensing |
Copilot for Legal details are from LawSites' launch report of 15 October 2026.
What does Copilot for Legal leave to you?
Copilot works from what you already hold in Microsoft 365. That is powerful if your precedents are well organised in SharePoint, and much less so if, like most mid-sized firms, your best drafting sits in old matter files and the heads of three partners.
The bigger gap is the negotiation history. A precedent tells you where you started. It does not tell you what the other side changed, which fallback you accepted, or what this counterparty conceded last time. That record only exists if something captures it during the deal. Scriptum does that as a by-product of the work, and the Pro plan's negotiation agent uses it when it answers the next round.
See Scriptum's review and negotiation agents work through a round of markup in Word. Book a 30-minute demo.
Why Scriptum is the better choice for a mid-sized transactional firm
- It is built around the deal, not the document. Draft, review, negotiate and close in one flow, with a running issues list across every turn.
- Partners set the limits. The negotiation agent only answers inside them. Everything else goes back to the partner.
- The knowledge compounds. Every agreed clause makes the next first draft and the next negotiation better, and the library belongs to the firm.
- Your client and the other side are in the loop. Clients comment on the clause itself, and their feedback becomes proposed drafting that waits for your approval.
Can you use Copilot for Legal and Scriptum together?
Yes. Both work in Word. A sensible split for many firms is Copilot for general drafting, email and document tasks across the firm, and Scriptum for the deal teams who draft and negotiate transactional documents every day.
Sources
Common questions
What is Microsoft Copilot for Legal?
Copilot for Legal is Microsoft's legal offering, launched on 15 October 2026. It adds more than 20 legal skills and a Legal Agent for contract review and redlining to Microsoft Copilot, with changes applied in Word as tracked changes.
Does Copilot for Legal replace specialist legal AI?
For general tasks it may. For transactional deal work, a specialist tool still adds negotiation inside partner-set limits, a firm-owned negotiation history and a shared workspace for the client and the other side.
Is Scriptum compatible with Microsoft 365?
Yes. Scriptum runs as a Microsoft Word add-in, so it works alongside Copilot and the rest of Microsoft 365.
Which is better for UK law firms, Copilot for Legal or Scriptum?
For firm-wide general productivity, Copilot for Legal is a natural choice if you already license Copilot. For mid-sized firms whose deal teams draft and negotiate documents every day, Scriptum is the better fit because it is built around the negotiation and keeps the firm's history of what it agreed.