New matter client document checklist prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this after a new matter is opened and the client asks, "What should I bring?" A checklist that says why each document matters gets better answers than a long email of file names. The prompt turns your firm's standard list for the matter type into a clear request, adds a line for documents the client can't find, and keeps it from guessing what a particular case needs. An attorney should look over any list before it goes out, since it shapes what the file will contain.
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 a paralegal at [FIRM] preparing a document checklist for a new client, [CLIENT]. Context: The matter type is [MATTER TYPE]. Our standard document list for this type: [STANDARD LIST]. Facts specific to this client that change the list: [SPECIFICS]. They should send everything by [DEADLINE], using [DELIVERY METHOD]. Task: Turn the list into a checklist the client can follow. Group the items under short headings. For each item, write one plain sentence saying what it is and why we ask for it, using only reasons from my list or common sense about the document itself. Add a final section called "If you can't find something" telling them to tell us rather than skip it. Do not add documents that aren't on my list. Do not explain the law. Format: Plain text email with a subject line, a greeting, headings, hyphen-bullet lines rather than checkboxes, and a closing line with [DEADLINE] and [DELIVERY METHOD]. Under 280 words, no emoji.
Fill in the blanks
[FIRM]- Your firm's name.
[CLIENT]- The client's name.
[MATTER TYPE]- Divorce, estate plan, small business formation, lease dispute, and so on.
[STANDARD LIST]- Your firm's usual document list for that matter type.
[SPECIFICS]- Anything about this client that adds or removes items.
[DEADLINE]- The date you need the documents by.
[DELIVERY METHOD]- Portal, secure link, or in person. Say how, not just where.
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 law firm from the case-update lesson. A paralegal sends a made-up client the starting document list for an estate planning matter.
Role: You are a paralegal at Harbor Street Law preparing a document checklist for a new client, Mr. Victor Lindgren. Context: The matter type is estate planning. Our standard document list for this type: government photo ID; list of bank and retirement accounts; deed or property tax bill for any real estate; life insurance policy summaries; any existing will or trust; names and contact details of people he wants to name. Facts specific to this client that change the list: he owns a small rental property, so add the current lease. They should send everything by October 16, using the secure client portal. Task: Turn the list into a checklist the client can follow. Group the items under short headings. For each item, write one plain sentence saying what it is and why we ask for it, using only reasons from my list or common sense about the document itself. Add a final section called "If you can't find something" telling them to tell us rather than skip it. Do not add documents that aren't on my list. Do not explain the law. Format: Plain text email with a subject line, a greeting, headings, hyphen-bullet lines rather than checkboxes, and a closing line with October 16 and the secure client portal. Under 280 words, no emoji.
What a good answer looks like
- Headings such as "Identity", "Money and property" and "People".
- Seven items including the rental lease, none that you didn't list.
- A reason like "so we can confirm who owns what" that sounds like the document, not a legal theory.
- A last section that tells him to say so if something is missing.
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.
- Compare the checklist with your standard list item by item. Delete additions.
- Have an attorney approve the list for this matter before it goes out.
- Check the delivery instructions. Clients tend to email what you asked them to upload.
- Never ask for sensitive numbers in the email body itself. Keep the portal instruction clear.
Practice it in the free lesson
Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format: Ask ChatGPT for the same customer email twice, once vaguely and once with a four-part prompt, and see exactly why structure gets a better answer. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts.
Also useful: Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms
Terms used here
Related prompts
- Missing documents request prompt: Ask an accounting client for the documents you still need: what arrived, what's missing, where to find each item, a safe way to…
- Legal intake summary prompt: Turn messy intake call notes into a one-page summary for the attorney: names for the conflict check, events in order, and "Not…
- Tax season client checklist prompt: Turn last year's documents into a personal tax-season checklist email for each client: what to send, where to find it, how to…
More sops and operations prompts
- Policy summary for staff prompt: Turn a long internal policy into a plain staff summary: who it applies to, what to do, limits and deadlines, with unclear lines…
- Post-job care instructions prompt: Turn your own care notes for one job type into a leave-behind sheet: what's normal, simple upkeep, what not to touch, and when…
- Process handoff document prompt: Write a handoff document so a colleague can cover your work while you are on leave: recurring tasks, deadlines, where things…