Using Paxton AI
The all-in-one workspace for legal drafting, research, analysis, and strategy.
Drafting, Research, and Document Analysis Inside a Matter
Paxton is trained on millions of legal documents, so it understands legal language, context, and structure. Conversations with Paxton happen inside your matter — every chat starts with your matter's files, jurisdiction, and drafts already in context, plus Paxton's legal research library. Ask Paxton to draft a filing, analyze a deposition, pull a rule for your jurisdiction, or pressure-test an argument, without setting anything up first.
✨ What changed: Chats no longer live in a separate tab. You now start a conversation from inside the matter it belongs to, and Paxton already knows that matter's files and jurisdiction. Older chats that weren't linked to a matter are preserved in the Unassigned matter — see Using Matters in Paxton.
Getting Started
Open your matter From your matters list, select the case or client you're working on. You'll land on the Matter Overview, which shows the matter's files, recent drafts, chat history, and skills. Use Back to all matters in the left sidebar to switch matters.
Confirm the jurisdiction The jurisdiction appears directly under the matter name (for example, Texas). Paxton uses it to pull the right case law, statutes, and court rules — no sources to toggle and no jurisdiction to re-state in every prompt. If it's wrong, correct it on the matter before you start, or name a different jurisdiction in your prompt for a one-off question.
Add your files Select Manage Matter Files to upload documents or connect a cloud drive. Files added to the matter are available to every conversation in that matter. See Matter Files for supported sources and size limits.
Start a chat Select Chat in the top right, or New Chat under Chat History in the left sidebar. The conversation opens scoped to the current matter.
Type a prompt Ask Paxton to draft, analyze, summarize, research, or explain. Paxton supports follow-up questions and multi-turn conversations, and it keeps the matter's context across the whole thread.
💡 Not sure where to begin? Select Explore Skills on the Matter Overview for guided starting points built around common legal workflows, or browse the Prompt Library.
What Paxton Already Knows
Because a conversation runs inside a matter, you don't have to re-attach files or re-explain the case each time. Every chat starts with:
Matter files
Documents in Matter Files are available to the conversation. Reference them by name — "the Vertex offer letter" — instead of re-uploading.
Jurisdiction
Research answers, rules, and citations follow the jurisdiction set on the matter.
Legal research library
Case law, statutes, and court rules are built in. See what your subscription includes.
Drafts and chat history
Earlier conversations and drafts stay with the matter, so you can pick a thread back up or build on a draft you already generated.
You can still upload a file or paste text into a single chat when you want to work with something one time without adding it to the matter.
What You Can Ask Paxton
📝 Draft Legal Documents
Ask Paxton to create contracts, letters, discovery, or filings from the matter's own record. Example: "Draft Plaintiff's first set of interrogatories to Vertex Solutions on the restructuring."
📄 Analyze Matter Files
Ask questions across the documents in the matter, extract summaries, or find specific content. Example: "Summarize the key takeaways from this 100-page deposition." "What clauses in the NDA reference indemnification?"
⚖️ Conduct Legal Research
Ask research questions in plain language. Answers are grounded in the matter's jurisdiction and returned with citations. Example: "What's the Texas standard for pretext under McDonnell Douglas?"
🔍 Locate and Highlight Key Information
Use targeted instructions to surface precise content across the file set. Example: "Highlight every mention of the force majeure clause across the contracts in this matter."
💡 Brainstorm or Strategize
Use Paxton as a thought partner to develop arguments or test case angles. Example: "Outline three argument strategies for opposing summary judgment based on the facts in this matter."
Where Your Work Goes
Everything a conversation produces stays attached to the matter:
Recent Drafts — Documents Paxton generates appear on the Matter Overview. Select Open to continue editing in Canvas.
Chat History — Every conversation is listed on the Matter Overview and in the left sidebar, with the drafts it produced shown beneath it. Rename a chat to make it easier to find later.
Matter Record — Structured outputs built from the matter's files live here, including the Matter Timeline, Medical Chronologies, and Billing Summaries.
Working with Your Team
Select Add Members to share a matter. Added team members can manage files and view the chats, drafts, chronologies, and timelines for that matter, so a colleague can pick up where you left off instead of starting a new conversation from scratch. Viewing medical billing summaries is coming soon.
See Collaborating Across Matters in Paxton for roles and sharing details.
Supported File Types
You can upload and analyze files in the following formats:
.pdf (text-based), .docx, .xlsx, .xls, .pptx, .txt, .csv, .json, .html, .xml, .md, .markdown
❗ Note: Paxton can process scanned PDFs using OCR, but results depend on scan quality; low-resolution or heavily marked scans may limit accuracy.
Tips for Better Results
Keep the matter clean. Paxton draws on the files in the matter, so an organized, current file set produces sharper answers. Group documents into folders in Matter Files.
Name the document you mean. With several files in a matter, pointing to one directly — "in the March 12 termination letter" — gets you a more precise answer than "in the letter."
Refine your prompt. If results are incomplete or off-target, add specifics about document type, date range, or desired output format.
Ask for suggestions. "Given the files in this matter, what should I draft next?"
Iterate. Paxton holds context across the thread — follow up rather than starting over.
Start a new chat for a new question. One conversation per task keeps your Chat History readable and your drafts easy to find.
Best Practices
Critically review Paxton's output. Paxton delivers structured, well-cited responses — but human review remains essential before anything is filed or sent.
Check citations. Use the AI Citator to verify authority before you rely on it.
Keep each case in its own matter. Matter scoping is what keeps client materials separate and prevents cross-client references.
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