ChatGPT prompts for Australian lawyers

These ChatGPT prompts for lawyers cover work where AI saves real time without taking over your judgement: summarising documents, building chronologies and issue lists, drafting correspondence, explaining concepts to clients and writing file notes. Each has [placeholders] for your matter details and works in any AI assistant your firm approves, including ChatGPT, Claude and AusGPT.

Read this first: court rules and verification#

Supreme Court of NSW, Practice Note SC Gen 23 applies to all proceedings from 3 February 2025. In summary:

• Material subject to suppression or non-publication orders, the Harman undertaking, material produced on subpoena, or a statutory prohibition on publication must not be entered into any Gen AI program unless strict conditions are met, including that it stays in a controlled environment and isn't used to train any model.
• Gen AI may be used for chronologies, indexes and witness lists, summarising or reviewing documents and transcripts, and preparing written submissions, subject to those conditions.
• Gen AI must not be used to generate the content of affidavits, witness statements or character references, which must contain a disclosure that Gen AI wasn't used to generate their content.
• Where Gen AI helped prepare written submissions, the author must verify in the submissions that all citations and references exist, are accurate and are relevant, and that verification must not be done solely with a Gen AI tool.
• Gen AI must not be used to draft or prepare the content of an expert report without prior leave of the Court.

Federal Court of Australia, GPN-AI (16 April 2026) expects anyone using Gen AI to understand its limitations, and expects the responsible person to have confirmed that cited authorities exist and support the proposition stated, that evidence cited exists, and that chronologies are accurate. It requires disclosure of Gen AI use in some evidentiary material and warns about entering confidential, privileged or suppressed information into Gen AI tools.

Other courts and tribunals have their own practice notes or guidelines. Check the current rules for the jurisdiction you're in before you start.

Professional obligations. In a joint statement in December 2024, the Law Society of NSW, the Legal Practice Board of WA and the Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner said lawyers can't safely enter confidential, sensitive or privileged client information into public AI chatbots, must be able to personally verify AI-assisted work, should supervise staff use of AI, and should be transparent with clients about how AI was used, including, if the client asks, its effect on costs.

De-identify where you can. Use [Client], [Other party] and [Witness 1] instead of names, and only upload documents you're permitted to use this way.

Summarising documents#

Summarise a contract#

Summarise the attached [contract type] for a supervising lawyer. Use headings: Parties and roles, Term and termination, Key obligations of each party, Payment, Liability and indemnities, Dispute resolution, Unusual or one-sided clauses. Give the clause number for every point. Quote the exact wording for anything unusual. If a topic isn't covered, write "Not addressed". Don't give legal advice.

Summarise a correspondence chain#

Summarise the attached correspondence between [Client] and [Other party] in chronological order. For each letter or email, give the date, author (by role), the key points made and any deadline or offer. Finish with a list of open issues and outstanding requests. Quote any offer or deadline exactly.

Summarise a transcript#

Summarise the attached transcript of [hearing/interview] by topic. For each topic, list what was said and by whom (by role), with page and line references. Quote any concession or admission word for word. Don't characterise the evidence or assess credibility.

Summarise a judgment I've uploaded#

Using only the attached judgment, summarise: the parties (by role), the issues, the court's findings on each issue with paragraph numbers, the orders made, and any statements of principle with paragraph references. Don't cite any case or legislation that doesn't appear in the judgment.

Chronologies#

Build a chronology from documents#

From the attached documents, build a chronology table with columns: Date, Event, Source document, Page or paragraph. Use only events stated in the documents. Where a date is approximate or inferred, mark it "approx." and explain why in a notes column. Flag any conflicting dates between documents.

Reconcile two chronologies#

Compare these two chronologies [paste or attach both]. List every event that appears in one but not the other, and every event where the dates or details differ, in a table with the source for each version.

Find gaps in a chronology#

Review this chronology [paste]. Identify periods with no recorded events, events that would normally generate documents we don't appear to have, and questions to ask [Client] to fill the gaps. Don't assume what happened.

Index of documents#

Create an index of the attached documents in a table with columns: Document number, Date, Document type, Author (by role), Recipient (by role), Short description. Order them by date. Where a date is missing or unclear, write "undated" instead of guessing.

Draft witness list#

From the attached documents, list every person (by role or initials) who appears to have direct knowledge of the events, with the events they were involved in and the documents that mention them. This is a working list for me to review, not an assessment of their evidence.

Issue lists#

Draft an issues list#

Based on the attached documents and my summary of instructions below, prepare a draft list of factual and legal issues in dispute. For each issue, note which documents are relevant and what further information is needed. Frame issues neutrally. Don't state the law or cite authorities; I'll add those.

Instructions summary: [paste de-identified summary]

Questions for a client conference#

Prepare a list of questions for a conference with [Client] about [matter type], grouped by topic, based on the attached documents. Focus on gaps, inconsistencies and documents we need. Phrase questions in plain English and avoid leading questions.

Risk table for a supervisor#

From my de-identified notes below, prepare a table with columns: Issue, Facts helping [Client], Facts against [Client], Evidence available, Evidence needed. Don't assess prospects. Leave that column for me.

Notes: [paste]

Drafting correspondence#

Client update email#

Draft an email update to [Client] about their [matter type]. Cover: what has happened since the last update, what happens next, what we need from them and by when, and any costs update I've noted. Plain English, warm but professional, under 300 words. Use only these facts: [paste].

Letter requesting documents#

Draft a letter to [Other party's solicitors] requesting copies of [documents] relating to [matter description]. State the basis of the request as I describe it here: [basis]. Set a reasonable deadline placeholder. Courteous, firm and concise. Don't cite any rule or authority unless I've included it here.

Reply to a letter from the other side#

Draft a response to the attached letter from [Other party's solicitors]. My instructions: [paste key points of response]. Address each point in their letter in order, adopt a measured tone, and don't concede anything not in my instructions. Mark any point you weren't sure how to respond to with [CHECK].

Tone check before sending#

Review this draft letter [paste] for tone, clarity and unintended concessions. Suggest edits in a table with columns: original wording, suggested wording, reason. Don't change the substance.

Outline of a brief to counsel#

Prepare an outline for a brief to counsel in [matter type] using the attached documents and my notes below. Headings: Parties and representation, Background facts (with document references), Procedural history, Issues, What counsel is asked to do, Key dates, Index of enclosed documents. Leave the analysis of the law to me.

Notes: [paste]

Plain-English explanations#

Explain a clause to a client#

Explain this clause to [Client], who isn't a lawyer, in plain English: what it means, what they must do, and what happens if it isn't followed. Under 200 words. Base the explanation only on the clause's wording and don't give advice about their specific situation.

Clause: [paste]

Explain a process using our own notes#

Using only the process notes I've written below, explain to a client what happens next in their [matter type], step by step, with what we'll need from them at each stage. Plain English, under 300 words. Don't add steps or timeframes that aren't in my notes.

Notes: [paste]

Turn advice into a plain-English summary#

Turn my advice below into a one-page plain-English summary for [Client]: the question, the short answer, the main reasons, the options, and the recommended next step. Keep my conclusions exactly as written and don't add any authority.

Advice: [paste]

File notes#

File note from rough notes of a call#

Turn my rough notes of a phone call into a file note with: date and time (placeholders), attendees by role, matters discussed, instructions received, advice given (as I've noted it), and action items with owners. Record only what's in my notes. Mark anything ambiguous with [CHECK].

Notes: [paste]

Attendance note after a meeting#

Prepare an attendance note from these notes of a meeting with [Client]. Use numbered paragraphs, record instructions and advice separately, and list documents provided by the client. Don't add anything that isn't in my notes.

Notes: [paste]

Check consistency of defined terms#

Review the attached draft [agreement/letter of advice]. List every defined term, where it's defined, and any place it's used inconsistently, used before it's defined, or never used. Also list capitalised terms that aren't defined. Don't redraft anything.

Time entry narratives from my notes#

Turn my notes of work done today into short, clear time entry narratives, one per task, describing what was done in plain words. Use only the tasks in my notes; don't combine, inflate or add tasks, and don't estimate time. I'll enter the time myself.

Notes: [paste]

Save these prompts to a shared prompt library#

Firms get the most from AI when everyone uses the same checked prompts. In AusGPT you can save prompts to a shared prompt library with folders, such as "Litigation", "Property" and "File notes", and share them with your team workspace.

Copy the prompts you use, adapt the headings to your precedents, keep the [placeholders], and save them for your team. AusGPT stores and processes conversations and documents in Australia and never uses them to train AI models. Whether a particular use meets SC Gen 23's conditions or the regulators' expectations is still your judgement: check the rules of your court, keep restricted material out unless you're satisfied the conditions are met, and verify every citation. See how AusGPT works for legal and compliance teams.