📁 Legal
Legal Research Prompt: Research Plan and Search Terms
Turn an anonymized fact pattern into a legal research plan: issues, sources in order, search terms and Boolean strings, a research log, and a citation check.
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Prompt
Act as a law librarian who helps attorneys and paralegals plan research before they open Westlaw or Lexis: you frame the issues, list where to look and in what order, and write the search terms, but you never state the law or cite an authority the researcher has not already found and read. Inputs: - Jurisdiction and court, or the agency involved: [Jurisdiction] - Anonymized facts, with dates and amounts: [FactSummary] - The question the supervising attorney asked, in their words: [LegalQuestion] - Authorities already found and read, with what each says in the researcher's own notes: [KnownAuthorities] - Research tools available (Westlaw, Lexis, Fastcase, the court or legislature website): [ResearchTools] - Deadline and the deliverable (email answer, memo, brief section): [DeadlineAndDeliverable] Generate: 1. Issue statement: the main question and two to four sub-issues, each tied to specific facts in FactSummary. 2. Research plan in order: secondary sources to start with, then statutes and rules, then cases, then local rules or forms, naming which ResearchTools to use for each step. 3. Search terms per sub-issue: key terms, synonyms, and one Boolean or terms-and-connectors string each, with a note on what the string might miss. 4. For each item in KnownAuthorities: what it is noted to cover, and what the researcher still needs to confirm (current version, effective date, how courts have applied it). 5. Gaps: what must be found that is not in KnownAuthorities, written as "to find", never as a named case. 6. Research log template with columns: date, source, search run, results reviewed, useful authority, citator check done. 7. Verification checklist before anything goes to the attorney. 8. Questions back to the supervising attorney. Rules: - Never invent a case name, citation, quote, holding, or statute section. Only KnownAuthorities may be named. - Mark anything about the law that is not in KnownAuthorities as "to confirm". - End with: "Not legal advice. Research plan only; a licensed attorney must review."
Instructions
Run this in ChatGPT, Claude, or Gemini with an anonymized fact summary: no client names or confidential details in a public tool. Replace every [bracket]. The output is a research plan, not authority. Pull and read every statute, rule, and case yourself in Westlaw, Lexis, or the official source, and check it is still good law; courts have sanctioned lawyers for filing AI-invented citations. Not legal advice; a licensed attorney must review the work.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
Jurisdiction: California, small claims court (Los Angeles County). FactSummary: Residential tenant moved out on June 30, 2026 and returned the keys that day. Security deposit was 2,400. As of August 15, 2026 the landlord had sent no itemized statement and returned nothing. Tenant has move-out photos and a text from the landlord saying "the place looks fine". LegalQuestion: "Can our client get the full deposit back, and is there anything beyond the deposit?" KnownAuthorities: Cal. Civ. Code 1950.5, read in full on the legislature website on October 9, 2026. My notes: (h)(1) requires an itemized statement and return of the rest of the deposit no later than 21 calendar days after the tenant vacates; (m) allows statutory damages of up to twice the amount of the security for bad faith retention, in addition to actual damages; (o) allows the action in small claims court within the amount set by Code Civ. Proc. 116.220 or 116.221 (not read yet). ResearchTools: Westlaw, the California Courts self-help site. DeadlineAndDeliverable: Friday, a one-page email answer to the supervising attorney.
Example Output
1. ISSUE STATEMENT Main question: Can the tenant recover the 2,400 deposit, and statutory damages, when the landlord sent no itemized statement within the time allowed after the June 30, 2026 move-out? Sub-issues: a. When did the 21 calendar day period in Civ. Code 1950.5(h)(1) start and end on these facts (move-out and key return on June 30)? b. What is the effect of sending no itemized statement at all by August 15? c. What counts as "bad faith" retention under 1950.5(m), and do the move-out photos and the "looks fine" text help show it? d. Whether the deposit plus any statutory damages fits the small claims amount under 1950.5(o) and Code Civ. Proc. 116.220 or 116.221. 2. RESEARCH PLAN 1. Secondary sources on Westlaw: a California landlord-tenant practice guide chapter on security deposits, to learn the terms courts use. 2. Statute: re-read Civ. Code 1950.5 in full on Westlaw, check the current version and any amendments since your read. 3. Statute: pull and read Code Civ. Proc. 116.220 and 116.221 for the small claims amount. 4. Cases: Westlaw search of California cases applying 1950.5(h)(1) and (m). Run the citator on 1950.5 and on every case you keep. 5. Procedure: the California Courts self-help pages on small claims, for filing steps in Los Angeles County (to confirm). 3. SEARCH TERMS a. Timing: "security deposit" /s "itemized statement" /p (21 OR twenty-one) /s day! Misses: cases that say "three weeks" or quote the statute differently. b. No statement: "security deposit" /p (fail! OR "did not") /s "itemized statement" c. Bad faith: "bad faith" /s retain! /p "security deposit" /p 1950.5 Misses: cases that discuss bad faith without citing the section. d. Small claims: search the self-help site for "small claims" and "security deposit". 4. KNOWN AUTHORITY Cal. Civ. Code 1950.5. Noted to cover: (h)(1) itemized statement within 21 calendar days, (m) statutory damages up to twice the security for bad faith, plus actual damages, (o) small claims. Still to confirm: that your notes match the version in effect on June 30, 2026 (subdivision letters can shift when a section is amended), and how courts decide bad faith. Code Civ. Proc. 116.220 and 116.221: named in (o), not read yet. 5. GAPS (to find) - A California case applying 1950.5(h)(1) where no statement was sent at all. - What the court considers when deciding bad faith. - The small claims amount in Code Civ. Proc. 116.220 or 116.221 that applies to this tenant. 6. RESEARCH LOG | Date | Source | Search run | Results reviewed | Useful authority | Citator done | 7. VERIFICATION CHECKLIST - Every citation pulled and read in full on Westlaw. - Citator run on every case and the statute. - Quotes checked word for word against the source. - Nothing in the email that is not in the log. 8. QUESTIONS FOR THE ATTORNEY - Did the tenant give a forwarding address, and when? - Is the August 15 date the latest we know of, or has anything arrived since? - Do you want the answer to cover demand letter wording too? Not legal advice. Research plan only; a licensed attorney must review.