In this guide, I will show you practical applications of ChatGPT in the legal industry, offer examples of successful use cases, and provide top prompts and tricks tailored for lawyers.
Key Benefits of ChatGPT for Legal Teams
- Time-Saving Automation: Automate repetitive tasks such as drafting emails, creating legal templates, and summarizing cases.
- Enhanced Research: Use ChatGPT to sift through large datasets or case law and highlight relevant precedents and jurisprudence quickly.
- Improved Client Communication: Generate client-friendly summaries of complex legal documents or FAQs for improved understanding.
- Cost Efficiency: Reduce billable hours spent on non-core tasks, allowing firms to reallocate resources more strategically.
- Accessibility: Provide instant answers to basic legal questions, improving responsiveness and client engagement.
Legal teams usually work close with Finance team. You should check ChatGPT for finance too.
10 Best ChatGPT Prompts for Lawyers
Drafting Contracts
- Prompt: “Draft a simple confidentiality agreement for a partnership between two businesses.”
- Use Case: A startup founder and an angel investor are discussing potential funding. The founder wants a confidentiality agreement to protect sensitive information shared during their negotiations. ChatGPT can quickly produce a draft, allowing them to formalize the agreement without waiting for extensive legal work.
Legal Summaries:
- Prompt: “Summarize this [uploaded] 20-page court decision in 300 words.”
- Use Case: A lawyer preparing for an appeal needs to quickly understand the key findings of a recent court decision. Instead of reading the entire judgment, they use ChatGPT to generate a concise summary, saving hours of reading and interpretation.
- Client Communication:
- Prompt: “Write an email to a client explaining the next steps in their litigation case.”
- Use Case: A legal team is juggling multiple cases and needs to update a client about their upcoming court date and required documents. ChatGPT helps draft a clear, professional email with all necessary information, ensuring timely communication.
- Case Research:
- Prompt: “Provide a summary of recent case law regarding employment discrimination in [jurisdiction].”
- Use Case: An employment attorney is drafting a defense for a corporate client accused of workplace discrimination. They use ChatGPT to identify and summarize relevant case law quickly, enabling them to focus on strategy.
- Document Review:
- Prompt: “Highlight key discrepancies in this lease agreement.”
- Use Case: A landlord is reviewing a tenant’s suggested revisions to a lease agreement. Using ChatGPT, they identify conflicting clauses and areas needing clarification, speeding up negotiations with their legal counsel.
- Legal FAQs:
- Prompt: “Create a list of FAQs about filing for divorce in [state].”
- Use Case: A family law practice is building an online resource for potential clients. ChatGPT generates an FAQ section that addresses common concerns, helping the firm attract and educate prospects while reducing repetitive inquiries.
- Compliance:
- Prompt: “Generate a checklist of GDPR compliance requirements for small businesses.”
- Use Case: A tech startup expanding to the EU wants to ensure GDPR compliance. The legal team uses ChatGPT to create a step-by-step checklist, simplifying the process and reducing potential regulatory risks.
- Speech Writing:
- Prompt: “Write a 5-minute opening statement for a court hearing on a breach of contract case.”
- Use Case: An attorney has limited time to prepare for a hearing and needs a compelling opening argument. ChatGPT drafts a professional, persuasive statement, allowing the attorney to focus on refining delivery and strategy.
- Legal Billing Descriptions:
- Prompt: “Write a detailed, professional description for a billing entry on reviewing and revising a commercial lease.”
- Use Case: A law firm needs to bill a client for work on a lease agreement. ChatGPT generates a clear, detailed description of the time spent reviewing and revising, improving billing transparency and client trust.
- Precedent Search:
- Prompt: “Find legal precedents that support the enforceability of electronic signatures in [state].”
- Use Case: A lawyer drafting a contract for a real estate transaction encounters client concerns about using electronic signatures. ChatGPT identifies relevant case law, enabling the lawyer to reassure the client and move the deal forward.
More ChatGPT Tricks for Lawyers
- Use Contextual Prompts: Provide background details in your prompts to get more accurate and tailored responses.
- Leverage Iterative Refinement: Start with broad prompts and refine based on the AI’s output for better results.
- Custom Templates: Save frequently used prompts to quickly generate standard documents or responses.
- Integrate with Tools: Connect ChatGPT with legal management software to streamline workflows (e.g., Clio, MyCase).
- Train the AI: Use specific terminology and examples to train ChatGPT to produce industry-relevant results.
- Document Security: Ensure client confidentiality by not uploading sensitive data unless using encrypted, secure AI systems.
5 Contracts Where ChatGPT Can Speed Up Drafting with Templated Prompts
ChatGPT excels at generating templates that save time while maintaining consistency and professionalism and a good proof of that is this GPT to download templated contracts.
Among them, here are five types of contracts where ChatGPT can streamline the process:
1. Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA)
Why It’s Useful: NDAs often follow a predictable format but require adjustments for parties involved, jurisdiction, and confidentiality clauses.
Prompt Example:
“Generate a standard mutual non-disclosure agreement for two companies, including clauses for jurisdiction in [State/Region] and a duration of five years for confidentiality.”
2. Service Agreement
Why It’s Useful: Lawyers frequently draft service agreements that require modifications based on the type of service, duration, and payment terms.
Prompt Example:
“Create a service agreement template for a freelance consultant providing marketing services. Include sections for scope of work, payment terms, confidentiality, and dispute resolution.”
3. Employment Contract
Why It’s Useful: Employment contracts share common elements but need tailoring for job roles, company policies, and local labor laws.
Prompt Example:
“Draft a basic employment contract for a full-time software developer, including clauses for probation period, non-compete, benefits, and compliance with [jurisdiction’s labor law].”
4. Partnership Agreement
Why It’s Useful: These agreements typically follow a standard outline but require customization based on partner contributions, profit-sharing terms, and dissolution clauses.
Prompt Example:
“Generate a partnership agreement for two individuals starting a retail business. Include sections for capital contributions, decision-making authority, profit sharing, and exit strategy.”
5. Lease Agreement
Why It’s Useful: Lease agreements often involve repetitive language with variables such as property type, duration, and tenant obligations.
Prompt Example:
“Create a residential lease agreement for a single-family home in [location]. Include terms for security deposit, pet policy, and maintenance responsibilities.”
