Ground rules before you start
- Confidentiality first. Do not paste privileged or client-identifying material into a tool unless your firm, your client's terms and your regulator allow it. Where possible, remove names and identifying detail.
- You are responsible for the output. An assistant drafts, you decide. Review everything before it reaches a client, a court or a counterparty.
- Verify every authority. Assistants can produce case names and citations that do not exist. Courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing AI-generated citations that turned out to be invented, for example in Mata v. Avianca (S.D.N.Y. 2023). Check each cite against a primary source.
- Never use an assistant to calculate limitation periods or filing deadlines. Use your court or regulator's own rules and tools.
- Keep a record where your firm requires it. Note which tool you used and for what.
Professional bodies have started issuing guidance. In the United States, see ABA Formal Opinion 512 (2024) on generative AI tools. Other jurisdictions have their own guidance, so check your regulator's.
Where assistants help most
Assistants are strongest at turning messy text into structure: summaries, action lists, chronologies, first drafts of routine emails and plain-English rewrites. They are weakest wherever accuracy is the whole point: citations, calculations and anything that depends on facts not in front of them.
- Good fit: summarise, extract, reformat, draft a routine email, produce a checklist.
- Poor fit: legal research without verification, deadline calculation, anything requiring facts you have not supplied.
Twelve prompts you can copy
Replace the [bracketed] parts. Each prompt tells the assistant to stick to the text you give it, and each comes with a note on what to check.
Summarise
Matter snapshot
Summarise the notes below as a matter snapshot of no more than 150 words: parties, current status, the next three actions with dates, and open questions. Use only the information provided. If something is missing, write 'not stated'. Notes: [paste notes]
Check before use: Check every date and name against the source before relying on the summary.
Meeting notes to actions
From the meeting notes below, list every action as: owner, task, deadline (or 'none stated'). Then list decisions made and unresolved questions. Do not infer deadlines. Notes: [paste notes]
Check before use: Paste the results into your Actions database and assign owners yourself.
Key dates from a document
Extract every date and time limit from the text below as a table with three columns: date, what happens, source sentence. Flag anything that looks like a deadline for a party. Do not calculate or assume any dates. Text: [paste text]
Check before use: Never rely on an assistant for limitation or filing deadlines. Calculate them yourself.
Draft
Client update
Draft a client update email of under 200 words to [client first name] about [matter]. Plain English, no jargon. Cover what has happened since the last update, what happens next and when, and anything we need from them. Do not promise outcomes. Facts: [bullet points]
Check before use: Review for accuracy and tone, and make sure it says only what you are able to say.
Polite chaser
Draft a polite but firm email to [recipient] chasing [item] that was due on [date]. Refer to [document or earlier email]. Ask for a reply by [date]. Keep it under 120 words.
Check before use: Check the facts and your relationship with the recipient before sending.
Matter opening checklist
Draft a checklist, for review by a lawyer, of items to confirm when opening a [matter type] matter for a [client type] client in [jurisdiction]. Group the items under: conflicts and identity, engagement terms, key dates, documents to request.
Check before use: Treat the list as a starting point and check it against your own procedures and regulator's rules.
Organise and check
Next-steps checklist
Turn the summary below into a prioritised next-steps checklist. For each step add: who is responsible, by when, and what it is waiting on. Summary: [paste summary]
Check before use: Add the real steps to your Actions database so they have owners and dates.
Chronology from notes
Build a chronology from the notes below as a table: date, event, source, and whether the date is stated or inferred. Put undated events at the end. Notes: [paste notes]
Check before use: Verify each entry against the underlying documents before you use the chronology.
Issue list
List the issues raised in the text below as neutral questions. Do not answer them and do not give a view on the merits. Text: [paste text]
Check before use: Useful for structuring your own analysis. It is not legal analysis.
Plain-English rewrite
Rewrite the paragraph below for a reader with no legal background. Keep every obligation, amount and date unchanged, and list any term you simplified. Text: [paste text]
Check before use: Compare the rewrite with the original line by line. Small changes in wording can change meaning.
Differences between two drafts
Compare the two drafts below and list differences in facts, dates, names and amounts as a table. Do not say which is correct. Draft A: [paste] Draft B: [paste]
Check before use: Use your document comparison tool as the authority on changes.
Meeting preparation questions
Suggest ten questions to ask [client or witness] at a meeting about [topic], grouped by theme, based only on the background below. Background: [paste background]
Check before use: Remove names and identifying details from the background where you can.
How to write a good prompt
- Say who the output is for and the format you want, for example a table or a 150-word summary.
- Tell the assistant to use only the information you provide, and to say 'not stated' when something is missing.
- Tell it what not to do: do not infer dates, do not give a view on the merits.
- Ask for sources inside your text, so you can check them quickly.
- Give examples of the tone you want, or paste a short sample of your own writing.
Notion plans and LawyerOS
Notion's own AI features need a Notion plan or add-on that includes Notion AI. The prompts on this page work with Notion AI or any other assistant you are permitted to use.
General information only, not legal advice. Follow your regulator's guidance and your firm's policy on AI tools.