NDA key terms summary prompt: free ChatGPT template
Updated · By Robert Breen
Use this when an NDA lands in your inbox and someone needs a fast picture of what it says before an attorney reads it closely. This prompt puts the usual NDA terms, from the parties to what happens to the information at the end, in one table with clause numbers, so a reviewer can jump straight to the wording.
It also flags terms that reach past confidentiality, such as a non-solicit, a non-compete or an ownership clause, because those are easy to miss in a short document. It does not say whether a term is fair or whether anyone should sign.
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 an assistant at [FIRM] preparing a key terms summary of an NDA for [REVIEWER] to review. Context: The NDA is between [PARTIES]. Our client is [CLIENT SIDE]. The purpose the client gave for the NDA: [PURPOSE]. The full text of the NDA is pasted below. Task: Make a table of these terms: parties, one-way or mutual, definition of confidential information, exclusions, permitted use, who inside each party may see it, length of the agreement, how long confidentiality lasts after it ends, return or destruction, governing law and venue, remedies. For each, give the clause number and a plain summary of what that clause says. If the NDA is silent on a term, write "Not addressed". Then list any clause that does more than protect confidential information, such as non-solicit, non-compete, ownership of ideas or exclusivity, under "For attorney review". Quote the clause, don't interpret it. Do not say whether a term is standard, fair or acceptable. Format: A two-column table, Term and What the NDA says (clause number), then the "For attorney review" list. Plain wording, no emoji.
Fill in the blanks
[FIRM]- Your firm or company name.
[REVIEWER]- The attorney or manager who will read the summary.
[PARTIES]- Both parties' names exactly as written in the NDA.
[CLIENT SIDE]- Which party you are on, so "our side" is clear in the summary.
[PURPOSE]- Why the NDA exists, in a sentence, such as "sharing pricing for a supply bid".
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. In this made-up scenario, its client Carla Mendes of Mendes Floral has been asked to sign a mutual NDA before pitching a regular floral contract to a hotel. She forwards it, and paralegal Owen Park prepares a summary for Attorney Rachel Hale. The hotel is invented.
Role: You are an assistant at Harbor Street Law preparing a key terms summary of an NDA for Attorney Rachel Hale to review. Context: The NDA is between Mendes Floral LLC and Bayview Grand Hotel Group. Our client is Mendes Floral LLC. The purpose the client gave for the NDA: sharing her pricing, supplier list and event designs so the hotel can consider her for a year-round floral contract. The full text of the NDA is pasted below. Task: Make a table of these terms: parties, one-way or mutual, definition of confidential information, exclusions, permitted use, who inside each party may see it, length of the agreement, how long confidentiality lasts after it ends, return or destruction, governing law and venue, remedies. For each, give the clause number and a plain summary of what that clause says. If the NDA is silent on a term, write "Not addressed". Then list any clause that does more than protect confidential information, such as non-solicit, non-compete, ownership of ideas or exclusivity, under "For attorney review". Quote the clause, don't interpret it. Do not say whether a term is standard, fair or acceptable. Format: A two-column table, Term and What the NDA says (clause number), then the "For attorney review" list. Plain wording, no emoji.
What a good answer looks like
- Eleven rows, each with a clause number, so Attorney Hale can check any line in seconds.
- "Not addressed" where the NDA is silent, rather than a guess at what it probably means.
- A "For attorney review" list that quotes, for example, a clause giving the hotel rights to designs shared during the pitch.
- No verdicts like "this is standard" or "safe to sign".
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.
- Open the NDA and confirm every clause number. A summary that cites the wrong clause sends the reviewer to the wrong place.
- Read the definitions section yourself. A broad definition of confidential information changes what every other row means.
- Make sure the summary didn't merge two clauses or skip a schedule or exhibit at the end.
- The client should not sign based on this table. It is a reading aid for the attorney.
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: Prompt Writing 101: Role, Context, Task, Format
Terms used here
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