Checklist: AI Prompt Writing

Before You Prompt

• Identify exactly what you need before you start typing. A vague question produces a vague answer.

• Provide relevant background before asking your question: your role, the case type, your legal theory, the key disputed facts, and any applicable statutes or precedents.
• Decide how you want the output formatted before you ask (e.g. a bullet list, a table, a narrative summary) and include that in your prompt.

Writing the Prompt

• Be specific rather than broad; instead of "what happened," ask "what did the witness say about the events on the evening of March 4."

• Ask one question at a time; compound prompts produce answers that may only address part of what you asked.
• Avoid ambiguity. If a term or reference could be interpreted multiple ways, define it in the prompt.
• State the output you need explicitly rather than leaving it to the AI to decide.

After the First Response

• Treat the first response as a starting point, not a finished product. Follow up with more specific questions to go deeper.

• If the output isn't what you needed, correct it directly and ask again with more context rather than starting over.
• Push further when a response is useful but incomplete; ask the AI to expand on specific points or approach the same material from a different angle.
• The more you work with AI prompting, the better your instincts become. Treat each session as practice, not just output.