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Conflict check request email prompt: free ChatGPT template

Follow-upsLawWorks in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot

Updated · By Robert Breen

Use this when a new inquiry comes in and your firm must clear conflicts before anyone gives advice or collects documents. The check is only as good as the names it searches, so the request has to list the prospective client, the other side and every related party, along with the kind of matter. This prompt organizes what you know into a clean internal email and marks the names you still need. It does not run the check or say whether a conflict exists. That stays with the people who own the firm's conflicts process.

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 legal assistant at [FIRM] writing an internal email to [CONFLICTS CONTACT] asking for a conflict check on a prospective client.
Context: The prospective client is [PROSPECT]. The matter is [MATTER TYPE]. The other parties and related people or companies I know of: [OTHER PARTIES]. The inquiry came from [SOURCE] on [DATE]. Anything I'm missing or unsure how to spell: [GAPS].
Task: Write the request. List every name in its own bullet under three headings: Prospective client, Adverse or other parties, and Related people or companies. Add one line describing the matter in neutral words with no confidential detail. Then add a "Still needed" line for each gap I listed. State that no advice has been given and no documents have been collected until the check clears. Do not say whether a conflict exists.
Format: Plain text email with a subject line starting "Conflict check:" and the prospect's name, under 170 words, bullet lists for names, no emoji.

Fill in the blanks

[FIRM]
Your firm's name.
[CONFLICTS CONTACT]
The attorney or administrator who runs conflict checks.
[PROSPECT]
The prospective client's full name, and company if any.
[MATTER TYPE]
A neutral label such as "landlord-tenant dispute" or "estate planning".
[OTHER PARTIES]
Opposing parties, their counsel, spouses, business partners, as far as you know.
[SOURCE]
Referral, website form, phone call.
[DATE]
When the inquiry arrived.
[GAPS]
Names missing or spellings unsure.

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 legal assistant there handles a new inquiry. The people and company are invented.

Role: You are a legal assistant at Harbor Street Law writing an internal email to Ruth Calloway, the office administrator, asking for a conflict check on a prospective client.
Context: The prospective client is Anton Reyes, owner of Reyes Tile Supply. The matter is a contract dispute with a supplier over unpaid invoices. The other parties and related people or companies I know of: Coastline Ceramics Inc., its owner Gail Brandt, and Anton's business partner Lila Reyes. The inquiry came from the website contact form on September 30. Anything I'm missing or unsure how to spell: the supplier's lawyer, and whether Gail Brandt is spelled with a d.
Task: Write the request. List every name in its own bullet under three headings: Prospective client, Adverse or other parties, and Related people or companies. Add one line describing the matter in neutral words with no confidential detail. Then add a "Still needed" line for each gap I listed. State that no advice has been given and no documents have been collected until the check clears. Do not say whether a conflict exists.
Format: Plain text email with a subject line starting "Conflict check:" and the prospect's name, under 170 words, bullet lists for names, no emoji.

What a good answer looks like

  • A subject line you can search later: "Conflict check: Anton Reyes".
  • Each name on its own line, grouped under the three headings.
  • A neutral matter line, such as "supplier payment dispute", with no story.
  • A "Still needed" line for opposing counsel and the spelling question.

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 names with the intake form letter by letter. A misspelled name can slip past a conflicts search.
  • Make sure no confidential facts crept into the matter line. Keep it to a category.
  • Do not send this to any outside address. The prospect's details belong inside the firm.
  • Keep the clearance reply with the intake record before anyone books a consultation.

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.

Start the free lesson

Also useful: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format

Terms used here

Legal information vs legal advicePersonally identifiable information (PII)Escalation (handing off to a person)

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