How the GitHub legal team used Copilot CLI to streamline their workflows (opens in new tab)

GitHub’s legal team used Copilot CLI to turn repetitive legal work into customizable internal tools without relying on traditional software engineering. By expressing workflows, standards, and policies in plain language and Markdown, lawyers built systems that improved consistency, reduced drafting time, and preserved human oversight. The post argues that domain expertise can be operationalized into useful AI tools by anyone who can clearly define a process.

Building a Contract Drafting Style Guide

• Principal Product Counsel Ngandu Kasuku created terms-ai to manage varied commercial agreements involving data, infrastructure, and product integrations.
• The tool stores instructions, drafting resources, workflows, and reference documents in a version-controlled repository.
• An internal style guide enforces plain-language drafting and replaces repetitive prompt copying with consistent guidance.
• A library of approved agreements lets the tool draw on prior work for addenda and new contracts.
• Sensitive agreements remain in a controlled internal environment rather than the open-source repository.
• Kasuku reports cutting drafting and review time roughly in half while producing more consistent provisions.
• The main insight was that AI could support a lawyer’s own judgment and working style, not merely perform isolated tasks.

Turning Legal Workflows into Plain-Language Instructions

• Online Safety Counsel Jesse Geraci began with a workflow for analyzing source code in DMCA notices.
• Copilot instructions covered triage, code comparison, license checks, circumvention review, policy references, and report templates.
• Instead of traditional programming, the workflow encoded legal reasoning through structured instruction files.
• Different modes were created for clients and lawyers, including faster client analysis, escalation recommendations, deeper legal review, and arguments for both sides.
• The system later grew into a desktop application supporting contract review, NDA triage, risk assessment, compliance checks, and response drafting.
• Reusable skills and agents handle tasks such as intake, playbook alignment, risk scoring, evidence verification, escalation, and report assembly.
• Legal teams can still customize the system through readable Markdown, while human review remains essential.

Broader Lessons for Nontechnical Teams

• Repetitive work in almost any profession can be a starting point for automation.
• Clear definitions of methodology, standards, and desired outputs can substitute for extensive programming knowledge.
• Teams should begin with one bottleneck, use Copilot CLI to prototype a solution, and expand based on real usage.
• These tools are decision-support systems—not replacements for professional judgment.

Teams can use Copilot CLI to turn their existing expertise into repeatable, transparent workflows while retaining control over sensitive data and final decisions.