Client case update email prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when a client emails asking where their case stands, when they go to court or whether they'll win. You give the AI the thread, a numbered list of what has actually been filed and set, and your firm's rules, so the draft answers every question without guessing at an outcome. Clients ask what nobody can answer in writing, and a helpful-sounding model answers anyway ("you'll likely win by default"), so treat the result as a draft for your firm to approve.
Have a professional review it. This prompt helps you draft, not decide. AI can get the law wrong and doesn’t know your jurisdiction or your facts, so have a licensed attorney review anything legal before you send or sign it.
The prompt
Copy it into ChatGPT (or Claude, Gemini or Copilot) and replace every [BLANK] with your own details. It uses the four parts from Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task and Format.
Role: You are [SENDER], writing for [FIRM] to a client you know. You draft; an attorney decides anything that is legal advice. Context: The client's emails are below. These numbered facts are the only things the reply may state: [CASE FACTS]. Firm rules: no predictions about the outcome, a settlement, payment or what the judge will do, and no legal advice by email. Describe each court date exactly as the facts do. Task: Reply to the client. Apologize once if we were slow. Answer every question in the order asked. Where we can't predict something, say so kindly and offer the next real step from the facts. Format: Under [WORD LIMIT] words, calm and warm, with short bullets for where things stand. No subject line. Sign as [SENDER]. Here is the email thread, oldest message first: [EMAIL THREAD]
Fill in the blanks
[SENDER]- Your name and title for the signature, such as "Owen Park, Paralegal."
[FIRM]- Your firm's name.
[CASE FACTS]- A numbered list: what was filed, every deadline and court date exactly as set, what you can't predict, how the client sends documents, and call times with the attorney.
[WORD LIMIT]- 150 to 200 words covers most updates.
[EMAIL THREAD]- The messages, oldest first. Follow your firm's AI policy and leave out anything the reply doesn't need.
Example, filled in
A made-up example from the free lesson Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms. Harbor Street Law is the made-up small firm in the law firm Reply Faster lesson. Its client Carla is suing an event venue for $8,400 and wants to know if the venue responded, when her court date is and whether she'll win.
Role: You are Owen Park, Paralegal, writing for Harbor Street Law to a client you know. You draft; an attorney decides anything that is legal advice. Context: The client's emails are below. These numbered facts are the only things the reply may state: 1. Lakeshore's answer, after a routine two-week extension, is due Oct 2; nothing is filed yet. 2. A missed deadline is not an automatic win; the judge decides any default judgment. 3. The only date set: a case management conference, Tue Nov 17, 9:30 a.m., by video. It is a scheduling hearing, not a trial. 4. We can't predict the outcome or when she'll be paid. 5. Screenshots go to the client portal, not by text. 6. Attorney Hale can call Mon Oct 5 at 11 a.m. 7. We missed her Sep 21 email. Firm rules: no predictions about the outcome, a settlement, payment or what the judge will do, and no legal advice by email. Describe each court date exactly as the facts do. Task: Reply to the client. Apologize once if we were slow. Answer every question in the order asked. Where we can't predict something, say so kindly and offer the next real step from the facts. Format: Under 200 words, calm and warm, with short bullets for where things stand. No subject line. Sign as Owen Park, Paralegal. Here is the email thread, oldest message first: Carla Mendes (Sep 21): It's past the 18th. Did they answer? Doesn't that mean we win automatically? Can I just text you the screenshots? Carla Mendes (today): Nobody has answered me in a week. When is our court date? Are we going to win? I need to know if I'm getting my $8,400 before the holidays.
What a good answer looks like
- Every question answered in the client's order: did they respond, when is court, will I win, when will I be paid.
- A scheduling conference called a scheduling conference, never "your day in court."
- An honest "we can't predict that" paired with something concrete: the new deadline, what happens if it passes, two call times.
- Firm rules carried through, like evidence going to the portal instead of a text.
How to check it before you use it
An AI draft can sound right and still say something you never told it. Use the habit from the Reply Faster lesson: check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out.
- Check every promise: ask for a table of each claim in the reply and the numbered fact behind it, flagging anything unsupported. In the Harbor Street Law lesson, three of eight claims failed.
- Search for prediction words: "likely," "strong case," "automatically," "expect to be paid." Replace each with wording your facts support.
- Compare every date with the court's notice or your docket, not with the AI's version.
- Ask for specific fixes, not "make it better." If an attorney approves client updates, they read the final version.
Why this prompt works
The Context does the protective work: numbered facts plus standing rules give the model a fence, which is grounding in practice. The Task names the hardest move, saying "we can't predict that" kindly, so the draft neither dodges the question nor answers it wrongly.
Practice it in the free lesson
Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms: A client wants a court date and a promise she'll win. Give ChatGPT the thread and your firm's facts, catch the lines that predict an outcome, and send a clear, kind case update from Gmail. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Reply Faster: Turn a Messy Customer Email Thread into a Clear, Friendly Reply
Terms used here
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