A good ChatGPT prompt for doing legal work needs to include the specific jurisdiction, the type of document you’re working with, and exactly what you’re trying to nail down. If you don’t give ChatGPT that information, the output is often just some generic boilerplate that’s completely missing the jurisdiction-specific details that actually matter. Every single time you use ChatGPT for legal work, you should be reviewing the output with a licensed attorney to make sure it’s accurate and passes muster. These prompts can save you a ton of time on drafting and research, but they’ll never replace the kind of expertise and judgment you get from a real live lawyer.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Always, always include the jurisdiction, document type, and specific issue in every prompt you ask ChatGPT to work on.
- ChatGPT is there to help you with drafting and research, but it’s not a good substitute for actual legal judgment.
- Use it to get your ideas organized, come up with questions, and draft a first pass – but don’t rely on it to give you case law directly.
- Before you paste any client info into an AI tool, make sure to anonymize it so you’re not exposing anyone.
- Before you use any citations from ChatGPT, go ahead and verify them against Westlaw, Lexis, or whatever official sources you’re supposed to be using.
INTRODUCTION
ChatGPT has become a pretty common tool for doing legal drafting and research. Some lawyers are using it to draft clauses or summarise contracts. But, putting in a vague prompt like “draft a non-disclosure agreement” usually ends up producing generic results that miss the jurisdiction-specific requirements which are really important.
When you ask for something like “draft a mutual NDA under Delaware law for a SaaS company with a two-year term”, you get something you can actually work with. This year’s Legal Industry Report showed that 69% of legal professionals are now using generative AI tools for work, and lawyers are using AI to get tasks done like drafting letters, doing general research, brainstorming, and summing up documents. This guide is going to show you some prompts that have been tested to work with legal stuff.
WHAT MAKES A GOOD CHATGPT PROMPT FOR LEGAL WORK
When it comes to getting the most out of ChatGPT, you want to make sure your prompts have three key elements: the jurisdiction, the document type, and the specific issue you’re trying to tackle. Without those, ChatGPT is just going to produce boilerplate that probably doesn’t meet your needs.
A good prompt is one that assigns a job, sets the scene, makes a clear request, figures out what you need to cover, and gives ChatGPT some idea of what kind of output you’re looking for.
Take a look at these two prompts:
- Bad: “Draft a non-compete clause.”
- Good: “Draft a non-compete clause for an employment contract under New York law. Include a two-year restriction and a geographical scope that’s limited to 50 miles. Make sure the clause is enforceable and doesn’t get any too broad.”
The second of those prompts gives ChatGPT some clear instructions, and the output is a good starting point to work with.
35+ Conversation Starters For Lawyers – ChatGPT Edition
Making Your Life Easier – Contract Review & Summary
These questions are designed to make quick work of contract review, help you identify key risks and explain the boring stuff in plain English.
- Sum up a contract for me “Suppose I’m a senior commercial lawyer. How would I review this supplier agreement and highlight the risks related to indemnity, liability, termination and exclusivity. Can you make it sound like something a non-lawyer can understand?”
- Give me the CliffsNotes version. “How about a short, easy-to-read summary of the key terms in this statement of work that I can give to the project manager?”
I’ve had good luck with this one because it takes complex lawyer speak and turns it into something actually useful to business folk. - What’s missing? “Can you look at this contract and tell me if there are any standard clauses that this agreement is missing?”
- Let’s compare notes. “Compare this clause to our standard template and flag anything that doesn’t match. What are the implications of those differences?”
- Who’s on the hook? “Can you take a look at how the parties are sharing the risks in this agreement. Are there any clauses that are being unfairly skewed in one direction or another?”
- Red flag this NDA! “Can you go over this NDA with a fine tooth comb and make sure it protects both sides, stops reverse engineering and can be relied on for trade secrets for as long as we need it.”
Writing Stuff – Clause & Document Drafting
These questions are designed to help you draft up specific clauses and even an entire document.
- Can you draft that Liability clause for me. “How about a limitation of liability clause for a SaaS agreement. I want to cap liability at 12 months of fees paid, but only for direct damages, not indirect ones.”
- What’s the best way to cover our bases? “Can you draft a force majeure clause for me that includes things like pandemics, cyber attacks and a disruption to our supply chain? And make sure it’s clear that if something like that happens, we can just pull out of the deal for the duration, but we have to let the other side know in writing within 5 days.”
- Let me know what I need to cover in this Letter of Engagement “I need to send an engagement letter to a client. What does that look like? Should I include stuff about what they’re paying, how often they can terminate the deal and how we’ll handle things if it all goes wrong?”
- Give me a few options to play around with. “How about three different versions of that limitation of liability clause. One that favors the vendor, one that favors the customer and one that gets it just about right. Each should still cap liability at 12 months worth of fees paid.”
- Let’s give it a tweak. “Can you take this indemnification clause and rewrite it so it only covers direct damages, not indirect ones. And while you’re at it, can you keep the bit that says we still have to help each other out?”
- Draft this up for me, will you? “I need to get a partnership agreement signed off by the board. Can you draft a board resolution that lets me do that?”
Legal Research Framing Prompts
Use these prompts to get your thoughts in order and come up with research questions. One thing to remember is to never rely on AI tools like ChatGPT to do your legal research without double-checking – it’s easy for them to make up citations.
- Get a handle on the existing law. “Summarise the legal precedents on force majeure clauses in commercial contracts under English law and what they mean in practice.”
- Find the key cases to know. “Do some digging on force majeure clauses in commercial contracts – tell me about the most important cases, statutes and regulations, and give me your analysis and conclusions.”
That way you’ve got a solid starting point for more targeted research.
- Break down the legal problem. “I’m trying to understand the current state of the law on non-compete agreements in employment contracts in New York – can you run me through the key cases that’ve shaped this area, and what factors the courts usually consider when deciding whether an agreement is enforceable?”
- Work out what you need to ask. “I’ve got a set of facts – what research questions should I be asking to make a strong case?”
- Think about the different legal angles. “Based on these facts, what possible legal theories could a plaintiff use? And if anything is unclear, feel free to ask for more info”
- Explain the law in simple terms. “Explain the difference between a controller and a processor under GDPR, using examples that a SaaS company can relate to”
- Make a compliance checklist. “Can you knock up a CCPA/CPRA compliance checklist for handling consumer data access, deletion and opt-out requests?”
- Lay out the first steps to take in a breach. “What are the first steps an in-house team should take in the first 48 hours of a suspected data breach involving customer data?”
Client Communication Prompts
These prompts help you write clear and professional client communications that get your point across.
- Write a client email. “I need you to draft a client email saying we’ve got a request to extend the response deadline by 14 days. We’re inclined to agree with a bit of professional courtesy, but we need to set expectations that we won’t agree to any further extensions. The tone should be firm but not confrontational.”
- Generate a draft legal opinion. “Can you draft a legal opinion on the enforceability of this non-compete clause under New York law? Just write it in a structured memo format.”
That way you’ve got a draft to review and adapt, rather than a final opinion to send out.
- Draft a demand letter. “I need you to write a demand letter for payment of $X owed under contract. The tone should be firm but professional, with a clear deadline for response.”
- Explain the law in everyday language. “Can you explain the concept of ‘negligence’ to a client in a way that makes sense to them?”
- Sum up a court decision for your client. “Summarise this court decision in plain English for my client, and focus on how it will affect their case in practical terms.”
- Create a client intake form. “Can you craft a structured client intake questionaire for a [practice area] matter? Ask about the client’s goals, key facts, and any relevant documents they should bring.”
Case & Matter Organisation Prompts
These prompts will help you get your head around your caseload and prepare for those tough hearings.
- Due Diligence Checklist : “Help me make a list of the key questions I need to ask when doing my diligence on a potential acquisition in the software sector – let’s focus on things like IP, contracts, litigation and employment law.”
- Trial Prep Timeline : “Create a schedule for getting ready for a civil case trial. What are the key milestones I need to hit – like filing deadlines, motion cutoffs and all the stuff I need to get in before the trial starts.”
- Get My Case in Order : “Based on the facts I’ve given you, help me put my key arguments and potential counterarguments in order – I want a clear plan on how to make my case work.”
- Discovery Questions : “Can you help me come up with a list of questions to ask in a breach of contract case? I need some interrogatories and document requests to get what I need.”
- Prep My Witnesses : “Help me make a plan to prep a witness for a deposition in a personal injury case. What are the key topics I need to cover and what are some of the things the lawyer on the other side might try to ask them.”
- What’s the Judge Thinking : “I’ve got a court order. What reasoning was the judge using to make this decision. How can I use that to make my case stronger?”
- Legal Issues – Step by Step : “Let’s go through the facts of my case step by step. For each fact, can we identify any potential legal issues that might come up and what precedents I can use to back me up.”
- Jurisdiction – Got This One : “What are the best arguments I can make for why this court has got the right to hear my case – what are the strongest points to make on this one?”
Common Mistakes Lawyers Make with ChatGPT
Relying on ChatGPT to find case law – all too often it just makes things up. Courts have actually kicked lawyers in the teeth for using fake cases that the AI has phoned in. A British Columbian lawyer got sanctioned after she used two made up cases ChatGPT had come up with – she then had to pay the other side’s costs.
Not being clear about the law of the land – a clause that’s okay in Delaware might not cut it in New York. Make sure you’re always telling ChatGPT which jurisdiction you’re working with in every prompt.
—– Confidential Client Info, Be Careful What You Paste —-
Keep in mind that if you paste confidential client info to this chatbot – that can effectively void the attorney-client privilege. To avoid this, use the “hypothetical” route – even with so called “private” versions – it’s better to be safe than sorry and use hypotheticals altogether.
On Top Of That, Don’t Rely On AI-Generated Comms
Be smart and always make sure to double check AI-drafted communications for tone and accuracy before sharing with clients.
And Another Thing, Don’t Take ChatGPT’s Word For It
Fact-check any output ChatGPT gives you, especially if you want to use it in a legal context. Make sure it matches up with reliable sources before you do anything with it.
The Bottom Line
ChatGPT can be a super useful tool for lawyers. But only if you use it right. To get the most out of it, give it some clear prompts. Include the jurisdiction, document type and exactly what you need help with. Use it to knock out a first version, get your ideas in order and come up with questions. But for goodness sake, don’t rely on it to get your facts straight or replace your human judgment. No way you want to cite some dodgy case law as “proof” or try to pass off AI-generated work as your own.
Numbers Don’t Lie, People Are Getting A Lot Done Faster
Research tells us that a whopping 38% of lawyers are saving 1-5 hours a week using AI. Another 14% are racking up 6-10 hours extra a week thanks to these tools. In one court system, AI tools were responsible for a 37% boost in productivity in a pilot study. However, one last time – make sure to run all ChatGPT output past a real live lawyer before you use it.
If You Use AI, Use It Right And It Can Be A Game Changer
Used sensibly, this tool can free up a ton of time and let lawyers focus on what really matters – the high-level stuff that only a lawyer can handle.
Frequently Asked Questions
- What are ChatGPT prompts for lawyers?
ChatGPT prompts for lawyers are specific instructions that help attorneys save time on legal drafting, contract review, research organization, and client communication. Good prompts include the jurisdiction, document type, and specific issue. Always review ChatGPT output before using it professionally.
- How do I write a good prompt for legal work?
Always include the jurisdiction, document type, and specific issue. For example, “Draft a non-compete clause under New York law with a two-year restriction.” Without these details, you get generic boilerplate that may miss jurisdiction-specific requirements.
- Can ChatGPT draft legally binding contracts?
ChatGPT can draft first versions of clauses and documents, but these are starting points, not final contracts. Always have a licensed attorney review and adapt any AI-generated contract language. ChatGPT is not a substitute for legal judgment.
- Can I rely on ChatGPT for legal research?
No, you should not rely on ChatGPT for legal research because it can fabricate case citations and statutes. Use it to organize thinking and generate research questions. Always verify every citation against Westlaw, Lexis, or official court records.
- Is it safe to paste client information into ChatGPT?
Do not paste confidential client information into ChatGPT because it may not be private. This could waive attorney-client privilege. Use hypotheticals or anonymize all client data before using any AI tool.
- What are the most common mistakes lawyers make with ChatGPT?
The most common mistakes include trusting AI-generated citations without verification, not specifying jurisdiction, pasting confidential client information, and using AI-drafted communication without human review. These errors can lead to malpractice risks.
- Can ChatGPT help with contract review?
Yes, you can use prompts like “Summarize this contract and identify risks related to indemnity, liability, and termination” to speed up contract review. Always verify the AI’s analysis against the actual contract language.
- What are the best prompts for drafting clauses?
Good clause drafting prompts include “Draft a limitation of liability clause for a SaaS agreement under Delaware law” or “Create a force majeure clause that includes pandemics and supply chain disruptions.” Always specify the jurisdiction and context.
- Can ChatGPT help with client communication?
Yes, you can use prompts like “Draft a client email explaining a request to extend the response deadline” to draft first versions. Always review the tone and accuracy before sending to a client.
- Are there ethical concerns with using ChatGPT as a lawyer?
Yes, lawyers must comply with ethics rules on competence and confidentiality. You cannot rely on AI for legal conclusions without independent verification. Always inform clients if AI tools are being used in their matters. Check your jurisdiction’s rules before using ChatGPT.
