ChatGPT Prompts for Legal Research: 12 Research Plan Prompts

ChatGPT prompts for legal research are best used to plan the research, not to do it: framing the issues, choosing which sources to check in what order, writing search terms and Boolean strings, and keeping a research log. The model can draft a plan from an anonymized fact pattern, but every statute, rule, and case must be found, read, and citator-checked by you in Westlaw, Lexis, or the official source. Here are 12 copy-paste prompts grouped by research step, plus a flagship prompt that builds a full research plan.

Not legal advice. A licensed attorney must review all research. Never ask a public AI tool to supply case names or citations: models can produce authorities that do not exist, and courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing AI-invented citations. Keep client names and confidential facts out of public tools, and check your firm's AI policy and your jurisdiction's ethics guidance.

Prompts for framing the question

1. Issue statement

Here is an anonymized fact pattern: [facts] in [jurisdiction]. Write the main legal question and two to four sub-issues, each tied to specific facts. Do not answer them.

2. Facts that matter

For this question: [question], list which facts in [facts] are likely to matter, which are missing, and what I should ask the supervising attorney or client.

3. Rewrite the assignment

My supervising attorney asked: "[assignment]". Restate it as a research question with the jurisdiction, the time period, and the deliverable: [deliverable].

Prompts for the research plan

4. Sources in order

Plan research on [issue] in [jurisdiction] using [Westlaw, Lexis, Fastcase, or official websites]. List the order: secondary sources, statutes and rules, cases, then local rules, and what to look for at each step. Do not name specific cases.

5. Secondary sources to start with

What types of secondary sources (practice guides, treatises, law review articles, bar publications) would give background on [topic] in [jurisdiction], and what search terms should I use to find them?

6. What I still need to confirm

Here are the authorities I have already read and my notes on each: [authorities and notes]. For each, list what I still need to confirm: current version, effective date, and how courts have applied it.

Prompts for search terms

7. Terms and synonyms

List key terms and synonyms for [issue], including older or formal terms courts use, such as [example term].

8. Boolean strings

Write three terms-and-connectors searches for [sub-issue] for [research tool], and explain what each one might miss.

9. Narrow a search that returns too much

This search: [search] returned [number] results. Suggest ways to narrow it by jurisdiction, date, or more specific terms, without dropping [key concept].

Prompts for logging and checking

10. Research log

Make a research log template for [matter type] with columns for date, source, search run, results reviewed, useful authority, and citator check done.

11. Verification checklist

Write a checklist to run before I send research to the attorney: every citation pulled and read in full, citator checked, quotes matched word for word, and nothing included that is not in my log.

12. Findings to email outline

Turn my research notes: [notes with citations I verified] into an outline for a short email answer to [attorney]. Use only the authorities in my notes and mark open questions.

Build a full research plan in one pass

The Legal Research Prompt: Research Plan and Search Terms combines prompts 1, 4, 6, 8, 10, and 11. Paste the jurisdiction, anonymized facts, the attorney's question, authorities you have already read, your research tools, and the deadline. It returns issues and sub-issues, a research plan in order, Boolean strings with what they miss, notes on what to confirm, gaps marked "to find", a log template, a checklist, and questions for the attorney. The example plans research on a California residential security deposit claim in small claims court.

Once the research is verified, draft the memo with the Legal Writing Prompt: Memo Draft From Your Research Notes and see the ChatGPT Prompts for Legal Writing guide.

Tips for legal research with ChatGPT

• Anonymize facts before you paste them: roles instead of names, no account or case numbers.
• Tell the model which authorities you have read, and that it may not name any others.
• Run every search yourself and log it, so the work can be checked.
• Re-read the current version of every statute; subdivision numbers can change when a law is amended.

Related prompts and guides

Lawyers can find more prompts in ChatGPT Prompts for Lawyers and ChatGPT Prompts for Document Review, or start a matter with the Lawyer Prompt: New Client Intake to Case Assessment Memo. Find more in the Legal prompts hub, browse all prompts, or share a prompt from your research workflow.