Claude for Law Firms - April Updates
What should have been very exciting news this month for Claude ends up feeling underwhelming. It is a bit more than a simple licensing/payments model change.
Claude add-in for Microsoft Word Launches
Let's start with the new Word add-in for Claude. Anna Guo did the most on-the-nose write up so far, take ten minutes and read it here.
The CGP team noticed several similar issues, especially around block redlines. Claude is definitely not ready to replace tools such as Harvey yet, but this is a huge first step, and history shows it will continue to improve.
Good news is that Claude can (mostly) be prompted to use more precise redlines, here is an example prompt (we highly suggest building a redline skill and tweaking it as you work):
From now on, when you are ready to make changes, always ask if you should insert comments with your notes for each section, or insert actual redlines. If you are asked to do redlines, first turn on tracked changes if it is not already. Always insert changes as surgical redlines - only change the specific words being changed, do not replace the entire section, paragraph, or sentence unless necessary. For example if it says "liability is capped to the previous six months of payments" and you want to change that to twelve, only replace the number, never replace the entire sentence.
The prompt feedback loop is critical. As you correct Claude, always integrate those fixes into your skills, and do not forget to save/upload when you're done adjusting.
Another great use case for the Word add-in is quick orientation on a document. For example, create a skill that documents your common issues to look for, then ask Claude to add comments (instead of redlines) for any sections it identifies, and include suggestions/observations. This helps you narrow down sections for review faster, without causing redline headaches for counter parties. Simply use the previous/next comment buttons to navigate the document and quickly find the important parts (according to Claude.)
The Word comments buttons
Claude 4.6 Models have massive performance problems - then, on April 16th, 4.7 launches.
The Claude status page is a rainbow of performance issues and errors lately. And actually using the product reflects this on a daily basis. The Clear Guidance Partners team and our clients are seeing Claude struggle daily with simple concepts such as working in the right file format or calculating a date. 4.6 was a major step back in many cases. Firms have been rolling back to previous models such as 4.5, or heavily tweaking prompts and workflows. Individual users are hitting limits much faster.
It is not all bad, though! Claude continues to lead ChatGPT in terms of the number of integrations and ease of building new ones. Claude was a clear leader for most small firms until the 4.6 update and ensuing chaos. If the platform stabilizes again, it will easily retake that crown.
The big takeaway here? AI is evolving and changing so rapidly that your firm can no longer rely on one and done implementations or training. The CGP team is hard at work replacing/updating ChatGPT deployments for firms that were deployed in late 2025. Configurations, implementations, and training should all be revisited on a quarterly or even monthly basis. The prompts that you built 90 days are likely not the best today. When using generalist tools such as Claude, ChatGPT, and Gemini, expect that you may even be switching platforms in a year.