# Legal intake summary prompt: free ChatGPT template > Turn messy intake call notes into a one-page summary for the attorney: names for the conflict check, events in order, and "Not stated" for gaps. Source: https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/legal-intake-summary-prompt · Updated 2026-10-01 · Free from Stepthrough (https://learn.ynteractive.com) [Meetings and notes](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#job-meetings-and-notes) · [Law](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts#industry-law) · Works in ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Copilot Updated October 1, 2026 · By [Robert Breen](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/about) Use this after a prospective client calls or fills out your intake form, when the notes are long and out of order and the attorney needs the facts on one page before deciding on a consultation. It sorts the notes into fixed headings, pulls every name into a list for your conflict check, and writes "Not stated" instead of guessing. It summarizes; it doesn't assess. Strength, value and whether a deadline has passed are the attorney's calls. **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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompt-writing-101-role-context-task-format): Role, Context, Task and Format. Copy prompt ```text Role: You are an intake assistant at [FIRM], preparing notes for the attorney. Context: Below are my notes from a prospective client's [INTAKE SOURCE]. We handle [PRACTICE AREAS]. Use only the notes. Don't judge the matter's strength or value, or whether any deadline has passed. Task: Summarize under these headings: caller and contact preference; every other person or business named (for a conflict check); what happened, in date order; what the caller wants; documents they have; dates they mentioned, quoted as said; questions for the attorney. Write "Not stated" for anything missing. Format: Short bullets, under 300 words. Last line: whether it seems to fit our practice areas, or "Unclear, attorney to decide." Here are my intake notes: [INTAKE NOTES] ``` ## Fill in the blanks **`[FIRM]`** Your firm's name. **`[INTAKE SOURCE]`** Phone call, web form or walk-in. It tells the model how rough the notes are. **`[PRACTICE AREAS]`** The matters your firm takes, in a few words. The last line is checked against this. **`[INTAKE NOTES]`** Your raw notes or form answers, typos and all. Leave out Social Security numbers, account numbers and anything else the attorney doesn't need yet. ## 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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-client-case-update-email-law-firm). Harbor Street Law is the made-up small firm in the law firm Reply Faster lesson. Owen, the paralegal, just took a call from a print shop owner whose restaurant customer stopped paying. Copy example ```text Role: You are an intake assistant at Harbor Street Law, preparing notes for the attorney. Context: Below are my notes from a prospective client's phone call. We handle contract disputes and unpaid invoices for small businesses. Use only the notes. Don't judge the matter's strength or value, or whether any deadline has passed. Task: Summarize under these headings: caller and contact preference; every other person or business named (for a conflict check); what happened, in date order; what the caller wants; documents they have; dates they mentioned, quoted as said; questions for the attorney. Write "Not stated" for anything missing. Format: Short bullets, under 300 words. Last line: whether it seems to fit our practice areas, or "Unclear, attorney to decide." Here are my intake notes: Dev Raman, Raman Print & Sign, prefers email. Printed menus and window signs for Bayview Grill, invoice $3,200 dated June 3, net 30. Owner Rick Tan said "paid next week" twice in July. $1,500 check bounced Aug 12. Has the signed order form, invoice, bank notice, texts from Rick. Wants to get paid. Someone told him he has "a year or something" to sue. Heard Bayview may be sold to a new owner, didn't catch the name. ``` ## What a good answer looks like - Every name in the conflict-check list, including the unnamed new owner, flagged as "name not stated." - Vague dates kept vague ("July," "a year or something"), not tidied into something they aren't. - "Not stated" where the notes are silent, such as whether Bayview has a lawyer. - No view on who is right, what it's worth or whether time has run out. ## 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](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-reply-to-customer-emails): check every promise, name, date and number against what you gave it before anything goes out. - Check every claim against your notes: ask for a table of each summary line and the note it came from, and delete anything unsourced. - If the AI turned "a year or something" into a specific time limit, take it out. Deadlines are the attorney's to determine. - Run the conflict check from your original notes too, in case a name was merged or dropped. - Strip [PII](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/pii) the attorney doesn't need before pasting, per your firm's AI policy. ## Why this prompt works Fixed headings make every intake look the same to the attorney. "Not stated" comes from the [meeting summary lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-summarize-meeting-transcript): telling the model what to write when something is missing is what stops it guessing. ## Practice it in the free lesson **[Summarize a Meeting Transcript with ChatGPT](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-summarize-meeting-transcript)**: Paste a long meeting transcript into ChatGPT and get the decisions, an action items table with owners and due dates, and a follow-up email ready to send. You do every step yourself in a practice copy of ChatGPT, and nothing touches your real accounts. [Start the free lesson](https://learn.ynteractive.com/modules/chatgpt-meeting-summary) Also useful: [Reply Faster to a Client Asking for a Case Update: ChatGPT for Small Law Firms](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/chatgpt-client-case-update-email-law-firm) ## Terms used here [AI summarization](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/ai-summarization) · [Structured output](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/structured-output) · [Personally identifiable information (PII)](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/pii) · [Hallucination](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary/hallucination) ## Related prompts - [Consultation booking confirmation prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/consultation-booking-confirmation-prompt): Confirm a booked consultation in one clear email: date, time and how to join, what to bring, what it costs, and how to… - [Engagement letter draft prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/engagement-letter-draft-prompt): Draft an engagement letter from your own approved terms: scope, exclusions, fees and client duties. Gaps get flagged for review… - [Customer call notes summary prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/customer-call-notes-summary-prompt): Turn rough phone-call notes into a clean customer record: what they reported, what you promised and the next step, plus a short… - [Client case update email prompt](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts/client-case-update-email-prompt): A four-part prompt for law firm staff: turn a worried client's emails and your firm's facts into a clear case update with no… [All free prompt templates](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/prompts) · [AI glossary](https://learn.ynteractive.com/content/glossary)