Using AI before you send something to your lawyer

AI can save you money on legal work, or it can cost you more. It depends on what you send me.

I'm not going to tell you to stop using it. It's great for getting your thoughts out of your head and onto the page.

The problem starts when that first draft comes straight to me.

A 3,000-word AI breakdown of a contract doesn't tell me what you want. It tells me what a chatbot noticed. I still have to dig through it to find the 4 things you care about, and that digging is billable time.

Download the short PDF version

The rules

1. Read it before you send it.
If you wouldn't say it to me on a call, cut it. Every line you send is a line I have to read and respond to.

2. Tell me when AI helped.
A one-line note is enough: "I used ChatGPT to organize this." Your engagement agreement asks for this, and it helps me know what to double-check.

3. Tell me what you want.
Skip the explanation of what an indemnification clause is. I need to know which part bothers you and what you'd rather have.

4. Keep it short.
Aim for under 200 words in a first message to the firm. For contract feedback, aim for about a page, with your top 10 items at most, ranked.

5. Check AI legal analysis with me first.
AI tools still invent cases and misstate laws. If your AI says a clause is "unenforceable in California," send that to me as a question before you build your negotiation on it.

6. Describe the outcome. Let me write the clause.
"I want to keep the right to make a sequel" is perfect. A clause your AI rewrote from scratch often breaks defined terms and cross-references elsewhere in the contract, and fixing that takes longer than drafting it fresh.

7. Be careful what you paste in.

• The other side's contract. Check whether you signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) that covers it. Many free AI tools can use what you type to train their models unless you turn that setting off.
• My advice to you. In February 2026, a federal judge in New York ruled that documents a defendant created with a consumer AI tool about his own case were not protected by attorney-client privilege, even after he shared them with his lawyers. Pasting my advice into a chatbot can put that protection at risk. Ask me first.
• Use a business or paid account with training turned off for anything confidential.

What this means for your bill

My engagement agreement says that reviewing AI-generated material is billed at my hourly rate, even on a flat-fee project. That's because long AI output takes real time to sort through.

The prompts below exist so you never have to pay for that. Run your material through the right one, read the result, and send me the short version.

Prompt 1: Your first message to the firm

Copy this into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, or whatever you use. Paste your draft message where it says to.

I'm contacting a lawyer for the first time. Rewrite my message below into a short inquiry, under 200 words, with these parts:

- Who I am: my name, my company (if any), and what we make
- What I need: 1 or 2 sentences
- Why now: any deadline or event driving this
- Who else is involved: the other party, if there is one
- What I already have: contracts, filings, drafts, or other documents

Rules:
- Plain sentences only. No legal analysis, no case citations, and no background on how the law works.
- Do not invent details. If something is missing, ask me before you write it.

My message:
[PASTE YOUR DRAFT HERE]

Prompt 2: Feedback on a contract

Use this when you've reviewed a contract (with or without AI help) and want to send me your comments. Paste in everything: your notes, the AI's analysis, all of it. The prompt does the trimming.

I'm about to send my lawyer feedback on a contract. Below is everything I have so far, including my notes and any AI analysis. Turn it into a short summary my lawyer can act on quickly. Follow these rules exactly.

Output only these 3 sections, in this order:

A. DEAL CONTEXT (3 sentences max): who the other party is, what the deal is, and any deadline.

B. CHANGES I WANT (numbered, 10 items max, most important first). For each item:
   - Section: the section number and heading from the contract
   - What bothers me: 1 plain-English sentence
   - What I want instead: 1 sentence describing the outcome I want. Do not write contract language.
   - Priority: Must-have, Nice-to-have, or Can give up

C. QUESTIONS FOR MY LAWYER (5 max, 1 sentence each)

Rules:
1. Cut anything that only explains what a clause means, says a clause is standard or fine, or repeats another item.
2. Do not cite cases, statutes, or regulations. If you think a law matters, turn it into a question in section C.
3. Do not rewrite or redraft any contract language.
4. If an item depends on a business fact you don't know (my budget, my timeline, what I've already agreed to verbally), ask me before you include it. Do not guess.
5. Keep the whole response under 400 words.
6. Start the response with this line: "Prepared with AI assistance."

My material:
[PASTE EVERYTHING HERE]

Before you hit send: read every item. Delete anything you don't actually care about. If the AI asked you questions, answer them and run it again.

What good looks like

That's about 150 words. I can usually turn that into a redline the same day.

Questions about any of this? Just ask. A short email is always fine.