Understand a Document

Use these prompts to get a fast, reliable read on any document: what it is, what it requires, and what deserves your attention.

Analyze This Document

A quick read of what the document means and where the issues are.

Analyze this document. Tell me what it is, what it argues or decides, and any issues, gaps, or risks worth my attention.

For a more detailed result, see Analyze a Document.

Identify Causes of Action and Theories of Liability

Pull every legal theory advanced in a document and the elements each one requires to prevail.

Identify every cause of action or legal theory advanced in the attached document, the party asserting each and against whom, the elements required to prove it, and a short read on how the document alleges or argues each element is met. For each, note any obvious weaknesses, missing elements, or affirmative defenses that jump off the page. Flag overlapping or alternative theories and how they relate.

Works on complaints, motions, demand letters, and any filing that asserts or attacks a legal claim.

Break Down a Court Order

Get a clean, actionable read on what a court order says, what it requires, when, and from whom.

Analyze the attached court order and identify the holding in plain English, the reasoning, every directive (who must do what, by when), any conditions or contingencies, and the practical impact on the matter. Extract dates into a clean list and identify open issues the order leaves unresolved. Flag anything in the order that is ambiguous or could be read more than one way.

Works on standing orders, scheduling orders, discovery orders, and rulings on motions.

Analyze a Deposition

Pull the substance out of a deposition transcript — admissions, inconsistencies, follow-up areas — without reading every page.

Analyze the attached deposition transcript and identify the most important admissions and testimony, any inconsistencies with prior testimony or documents, areas where the witness was evasive or hedged, and topics warranting follow-up. Organize by topic rather than chronologically and quote with page and line cites. End with the three or four pieces of testimony most likely to matter at trial or in dispositive motions.

Best on full transcripts; for excerpts or one-topic reads, use a topical summary instead.

Analyze Discovery Responses

Distill written discovery responses into what was admitted, denied, objected to, and produced — with a punch list of follow-up issues.

Analyze the attached discovery responses. For each request, identify what was admitted, denied, objected to, or evaded, and whether any objection is substantive or boilerplate. Flag responses that are non-responsive, incomplete, or worth challenging in a meet-and-confer or motion to compel. Identify the responses containing the most useful admissions. If anything is ambiguous in effect, flag it rather than assuming.

Works on interrogatory responses, requests for admission, or responses to requests for production — the structure carries across.

Analyze Arguments and Reasoning

Stress-test the logic, authority, and unstated assumptions behind any brief, memo, or position paper.

Analyze the arguments made in the attached document. For each, identify the position, the supporting reasoning and authority cited, and the strongest counterarguments — including any limiting, distinguishing, or contrary authority the author did not address. Assess which arguments are strongest and which are most vulnerable. If any reasoning relies on unstated assumptions, name them.

Excellent for prepping a response to a motion or pressure-testing your own draft before sending.

Analyze a Document

Get a tight, two-minute overview of any document so you know what's in it before diving deeper.

Analyze the attached document and identify its purpose, the parties involved, the most material provisions or findings, and anything unusual or noteworthy in light of standard practice for documents of this type. If any provisions are ambiguous or open questions remain after your review, identify them rather than working around them.

Works on contracts, court orders, statutes, memos, depositions — anything you'd want to triage quickly.

Identify Risks and Red Flags

Surface the provisions that create exposure or shift risk, prioritized by severity.

Analyze the attached document for provisions that create meaningful risk, exposure, or unfavorable terms, including any limits, carveouts, or counterbalancing language that may mitigate them. Rate severity for each and explain why. Flag any risk you cannot fully assess from the document alone rather than overstating or understating it.

The severity ratings make this easy to triage — read the highs, skim the rest.