How to Use Claude for Legal Writing: Memos, Letters, Briefs

Claude is a strong legal drafting assistant because legal writing is mostly structure: a memo has fixed parts, a demand letter has a fixed sequence, a brief argument follows a fixed pattern. Give Claude the structure, the facts and the authorities you have verified, and it produces a clean first draft quickly. Ask it to supply the law itself and it will invent some.

What should you give Claude before it drafts?

  • The document type and reader. A memo for a partner, a letter to an opposing party and a brief for a judge need different tones.
  • The facts, anonymised. Remove client names and identifying details unless your rules and plan allow them.
  • The authorities you verified. Pasted text, not citations from memory. If you have not done the research yet, our legal assistant guide covers that stage.
  • Your firm's format. A template or two anonymised examples beat any description of style.

How do you draft an office memo?

Draft an internal legal memo. Use ONLY the authorities pasted below. If a point needs authority I have not given you, write [AUTHORITY NEEDED]. To: [PARTNER] From: [ME] Re: [MATTER, anonymised] Jurisdiction: [ ] Facts: [FACTS] Authorities (verified): [A: statute text] [B: case excerpt] [C: case excerpt] Format: 1. Question Presented - one sentence, framed with the key facts. 2. Brief Answer - yes / no / probably, plus two sentences of why. 3. Facts - neutral, only what matters. 4. Discussion - one section per issue, CREAC structure: Conclusion, Rule, Explanation (with the labelled authority and a short quote), Application to our facts, Conclusion. 5. Counter-arguments and how strong they are. 6. Recommendation and next steps. Style: short paragraphs, defined terms in quotes on first use, no adjectives like "clearly" or "obviously".

The ban on "clearly" is not cosmetic. Models lean on certainty words, and a partner will read every one of them as an overstatement.

0:15 · loop 同樣的 AI，同樣的問題。一個檔案讓它成為專家。
The skill this guide is built on
AI Paralegal Copilot for Claude and ChatGPT
AI Paralegal Copilot
$19this skill, one file or $9/moevery skill, Library

Drafts from your firm templates: engagement letters, demand letters, discovery drafts, case chronologies, exhibit and privilege logs, Bluebook citations and filing checklists, all ready for attorney review. Works inside Claude or ChatGPT as a skill file.

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How do you draft a demand letter?

A demand letter has one job: make it easier for the other side to pay or act than to ignore you. Structure beats rhetoric.

Draft a demand letter. From: [FIRM / CLIENT] To: [RECIPIENT] What happened (facts only): [ ] Legal basis (verified, in one or two sentences): [ ] What we demand: [AMOUNT / ACTION] Deadline: [DATE] What happens if they do not respond: [ACTION WE CAN AND WILL TAKE] Structure: purpose in the first paragraph, facts in order, the basis, the demand with the exact amount and how to pay, the deadline, the consequence, a closing line. Tone: firm, factual, no threats we cannot carry out, no insults, no legal Latin. Length: under one page. Then list any statement in the letter that could be read as a misrepresentation or an overstatement.

How do you draft a brief section?

Use Claude section by section, never for a whole brief at once. Give it one argument heading, the record citations and the authorities, and ask for the argument in CREAC form with the strongest point first. Then ask a second, separate question: "Write the opposing side's best response to this section." Drafting both sides in different conversations exposes weak points faster than any self-review.

What is the review pass before anything leaves the office?

Review this draft as a careful senior associate. Do not rewrite it. [PASTE DRAFT] 1. List every citation and quote. For each, mark whether it appears in the authorities I gave you: [A], [B], [C] or NOT PROVIDED. 2. List every factual statement that is not in the facts I gave you. 3. Flag sentences that overstate certainty. 4. Flag defined terms used inconsistently. 5. Point out the weakest paragraph and say why.

Anything marked NOT PROVIDED is either removed or verified by a person. This step replaces nothing in your normal checks; it just makes the dangerous lines easy to find.

Where does Claude fall short in legal writing?

  • It invents authorities if you let it, and it can misstate a real case's holding.
  • It does not know your court's local rules, page limits or formatting orders unless you paste them.
  • It writes with even confidence, so weak and strong arguments sound the same.
  • It cannot judge strategy: what to concede, what to leave out, what the judge cares about.

Need more than one specialist?

A matter moves through research, drafting, contract review and client communication. Library puts every skill, prompt pack and agent in the catalog (2,500+) inside Claude, ChatGPT, Claude Code, Codex or Cursor through one connector: you ask for a specialist by name and it loads. It is $9 a month or $59 a year, with a free trial, no card needed. Why a subscription beats buying files · See plans

How do you install a legal writing skill in Claude?

A KissMySkills skill is a ZIP file with a SKILL.md at its root. In the Claude desktop app, open Customize → Skills, add a skill, upload the ZIP and toggle it on. Skills need code execution enabled, under Settings → Capabilities. If the Skills menu is not available on your plan, or you work in ChatGPT or Gemini, open the SKILL.md in a text editor and paste it into a Claude Project, a custom GPT or a Gemini Gem instead.

The other route skips files altogether: connect KissMySkills once and ask for the specialist by name in the chat you already use. That is how Library works, and it is covered in the box above.

In summary:

Give Claude the structure, the facts and verified authorities, draft section by section, and run a separate review pass that lists every citation it cannot trace. For first drafts from your templates, the AI Paralegal Copilot ($19). More legal specialists are in the legal counsel skills collection. The signature stays with the lawyer.

Skill · .md · Works with Claude & ChatGPTAI Paralegal Copilot for Claude and ChatGPT

AI Paralegal Copilot

Engagement letters, demand letters, chronologies, logs and filing checklists drafted from your templates, ready for attorney review.

$19
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KissMySkills is a marketplace of 2,000+ AI skills, 100+ agents, 300+ prompt packs & free tools for Claude, ChatGPT & any AI chat. 30-day money-back guarantee.

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常見問題

Can Claude write a legal memo?+

Claude can draft a well-structured memo from facts and authorities you provide, using a format such as Question Presented, Brief Answer, Facts, Discussion and Conclusion. It should not supply the authorities itself. A lawyer must review the analysis, check every citation and take responsibility for the final document.

What is IRAC or CREAC?+

They are structures for legal analysis. IRAC is Issue, Rule, Application, Conclusion. CREAC is Conclusion, Rule, Explanation of the rule with authorities, Application to the facts, and Conclusion again. Asking Claude to follow one of them by name, section by section, gives much tighter discussion sections than asking for a memo in general.

Can I use Claude to write a demand letter?+

Yes, for the first draft. Give it the facts, the amount or action you are demanding, the deadline and the consequence, and your firm's template if you have one. Review the tone carefully: a demand letter that overstates the law or threatens something you cannot do creates its own problems.

How do I make Claude write in my firm's style?+

Paste two or three anonymised examples of documents your firm considers good, and ask Claude to list the style rules it sees before drafting: sentence length, how authorities are introduced, defined terms, headings. Then tell it to follow that list. Re-paste the list in each new conversation or keep it in a Claude Project.

Is AI-drafted legal writing allowed in court?+

Rules vary by court and jurisdiction, and some courts now require disclosure of AI use or certification that citations were checked. Check the local rules and standing orders of the court you are filing in. In every case, the lawyer who signs is responsible for the content.

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