When it comes to working with AI prompts for legal teams, one simple truth stands out: the quality of your prompt determines the quality of the AI’s output. Think of prompting like giving instructions to an intern—the clearer and more detailed you are, the better the work product you’ll get back.
Whether you’re asking AI to summarize a contract, draft a policy, or explain e-billing, learning how to structure prompts can make all the difference.
Start Simple
Don’t dive in expecting perfect results right away. Begin with basic, straightforward prompts:
- “Summarize this contract in plain English.”
- “List the key obligations for the vendor in this agreement.”
These simple requests let you test the system’s capabilities and limitations while you sharpen your prompting skills. From there, you can build more complex requests.
The 3Ps of Prompting
A handy framework for crafting better prompts is the 3Ps: Prompt, Priming, Persona.
- Prompt: The core instruction. Be clear, specific, and provide examples when possible.
- Priming: Set the stage with context. Just as you’d brief a colleague, give the AI background information, client needs, or definitions upfront.
- Persona: Ask the AI to “think” like a certain type of lawyer. For example: “Respond as a patent attorney reviewing this invention for potential risks.”
This structure keeps your instructions sharp and your outputs more relevant.
Anatomy of a Strong AI Prompts for Legal Teams
The best prompts share a few key qualities:
✔ Clarity – No ambiguity in your wording
- Basic: Summarize this
- Strong: Summarize this quarterly Legal Ops KPI deck in plain English, focusing on contract cycle time, spend v budget and the top 3 risks. End with 2 actions for the next quarter.
✔ Specifics – Define exactly what you want
- Basic: Tell me about e-billing
- Strong: In 5 bullet points, explain common outside billing rules (e.g., block billing, travel caps, staffing limits) and why each rule reduces cost variance.
✔ Context – Supply enough background for nuanced answers
- Basic: Build a checklist
- Strong: Build a vendor onboarding compliance checklist covering sanctions screening, privacy Data Privacy Impact Analysis (DPIA) trigger, SOC 2/ISO evidence, data transfer mechanism, and record-of-processing entry; add RACI with Legal/IT/Security
✔ Examples – Show what a good output looks like
- Basic: Draft a how-to for Legal Holds
- Strong: Draft a how-to for legal holds in this style: “Trigger: Litigation Notice. Do now (5 min): Notify custodians, pause deletions. Do next (24 hours): confirm systems on hold, log acknowledgements.” Use 3 bolded headers and short imperative lines.
✔ Constraints – Set limits (length, jurisdiction, format, etc.)
- Basic: Compare outside counsel proposals.
- Strong: Score each of these outside counsel proposals using the following rubric: expertise 30%, staffing plan 25%, pricing/AFA 25%, timeline 10%, innovation/DEI 10%. Your output should be a table with scores and a 5 sentence recommendation capped at 120 words.
Prompt like a Pro Using AI
View on-demand webinar on the topic of AI prompting
The Gist of It
Prompting is a skill you build with practice. Over time, you’ll learn how to balance detail, context, and constraints to get outputs that truly elevate your legal work.
Want to go deeper on AI prompts for legal teams? Download the Onit eBook: The Legal Professional’s Handbook: Generative AI Fundamentals, Prompting, and Applications.
Prompting Exercise
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