Training an AI to draft legal documents in your firm’s distinctive voice requires tailoring the model to your writing style and standards. This is easier said than done, but there are many tools in the market and best practices that you can follow to be able to get AI-generated documents that actually sound like you.
Creating Templates and “Blueprints” with Sample Documents
One effective strategy is to create reusable templates - at Eve we call them Blueprints - that capture the structure and tone of your firm’s documents, and use these to guide the AI’s drafting. This is akin to giving the AI a map to follow:
- Develop Internal Templates: Identify common document types your firm produces (e.g., demands, pleadings, opinion letters) and craft master templates for each. These templates should include the typical headings, section order, and even boilerplate language your attorneys use. By formalizing these, you provide the AI a starting point for each document type. The AI can fill in the details while adhering to the template’s structure.
- Provide Completed Examples: When prompting the AI, include (or reference) an example of a completed document of that type. For instance, if drafting a motion, you might feed the introduction or a well-written argument section from a past motion as an example. The AI uses the patterns in that example to shape its output. This approach was highlighted in practice guides where including similar clauses or document sections before asking the AI to draft new content leads to outputs that better match the desired format. Essentially, the AI learns “write it like this” from your example.
- Iterate and Refine Templates: Treat these templates as living documents. As your firm’s style evolves or you notice the AI struggling with certain sections, update the blueprint. You might discover, for instance, that the AI isn’t getting the conclusion of a letter quite right. You can then modify the template conclusion (or add a stronger example in the prompt) to reinforce how it should be done. Over time, this yields a library of AI-ready blueprints that reliably produce drafts close to your house style.
Refining AI-Generated Drafts Through Inline Editing
Even with good training and templates, AI drafts will rarely be perfect on the first pass. Lawyers should plan to refine and polish AI-generated text via inline editing – an interactive process where you adjust the draft in real-time, potentially with AI assistance on micro-tasks. This human-in-the-loop editing is crucial to ensure the document truly sounds like your firm and meets legal accuracy standards.
- Leverage Inline Editing Tools: Modern AI writing interfaces (including some word processors and AI plugins) allow you to edit within the document and get instant AI suggestions. For example, you can highlight a paragraph and ask the AI to rephrase it more formally or simplify a sentence. This inline editing capability lets you iterate and refine right in your document, adjusting tone or structure sentence-by-sentence. Instead of the AI just dumping a full draft, you engage in a back-and-forth: “Rewrite this clause in plainer English,” “Insert a transition here,” etc., with the AI providing quick options.
- Maintain Tone and Voice: As you review the draft, check each section for consistency with your firm’s voice. If the AI uses phrasing that feels off-brand, edit it or prompt the AI to try again in a different tone. Inline editing enables targeted tweaks – you might fix one awkward word or ask the AI to “make this sound more authoritative” for a specific sentence. By doing this in line, you ensure the overall voice doesn’t waver. It’s often helpful to keep a brief style checklist at hand (e.g., active voice, no colloquialisms, preferred honorifics like “Counsel” instead of “Attorney”), and systematically apply it to the draft.
- Structural Consistency: Inline editing isn’t just for tone – use it to enforce structure. For instance, if a section is out of order or a heading is missing, you can insert it manually or instruct the AI to reorganize that portion. You remain in control of the outline. Make sure headings follow your template (renaming any that don’t match your standard phrasing), and verify that each part of the document serves its intended purpose (facts section contains only facts, analysis contains analysis, etc.). If the AI’s draft introduced extraneous info or skipped a step in the argument, address that during editing.
- Legal Accuracy Checks: While editing inline, verify all legal content. Check that citations the AI provided actually exist and support the statements – never assume the AI’s cited cases or statutes are real or accurate without confirmation. If an AI suggests a case, use your legal research tools to find it, or replace it with a known good citation. One workflow tip is to have the AI draft the narrative portions while you manually insert the precise legal citations and quotations, since identifying controlling law is a lawyer’s responsibility. If the AI did include quotations or references, double-check each one for accuracy against source material. Inline editing allows you to fix any misquotes or misstatements immediately. Remember, the AI can assist by summarizing or rephrasing, but it’s on you to ensure the legal substance is correct.
Tips for Ensuring Consistency in Tone, Structure, and Accuracy
Achieving consistency across AI-generated documents is a top priority. Your goal is that a reader cannot tell which portions were drafted by AI versus a seasoned attorney – everything should read as a cohesive, polished whole. Here are techniques to ensure consistent tone, structure, and accuracy:
- Use a Style Guide (and Enforce It): If your firm has a style guide (formal or informal), incorporate those rules into every AI drafting session. This might mean always instructing the AI with the same preamble (e.g., “Our firm writes in a neutral, third-person tone and uses Oxford commas; follow these conventions.”). Consistency in tone comes from repeatedly applying the same rules. During review, compare the AI draft against your style guide checklist: Are defined terms used uniformly? Is the level of formality consistent throughout? Any deviations should be edited out for uniformity. Some AI tools even allow uploading a style guide or have settings to enforce certain style choices.
- Work Section by Section: To keep structure consistent, consider drafting and reviewing section by section rather than generating a whole long document in one go. For example, prompt the AI separately for the introduction, for each argument point, and for the conclusion, using your template headings. This ensures each part stays focused and follows the expected content for that section. It also makes it easier to enforce structural consistency, as you can check off each required section against your outline. If the AI goes off-track in one section, you can correct course without it derailing the entire document.
- Quality Control and Proofreading: Treat the AI draft like you would a junior associate’s first draft. Proofread meticulously. Look for inconsistencies (does the terminology in section A match section B? Are acronyms defined once then used consistently?). Ensure the tone doesn’t shift – e.g., sometimes AI might be very formal in one paragraph and too casual in another, especially if the prompt or context changed. Standardize the voice during editing so the final document reads smoothly. For factual and legal accuracy, verify everything. As one set of guidelines puts it, lawyers must essentially “verify everything and edit AI-generated material” for accuracy and fitness to the client’s needs. This includes double-checking figures, dates, and legal citations. Consistency in accuracy means there are no stray errors that stand out.
- Inline Feedback Loops: If you notice the AI consistently making a particular style mistake (say, writing in passive voice or misplacing a certain clause), incorporate that feedback into future prompts. For instance: “Draft the section, and remember to use active voice (our style) and place the indemnity clause at the end as per our standard template.” Over time, these feedback loops help the AI produce more consistent drafts on the first try.
In Summary:
To summarize, here are key actionable takeaways for training and using AI in drafting legal documents, synthesized from expert guidance:
- Feed the AI Your Best Examples: Gather exemplary documents that reflect your firm’s style and use them to train or prompt the AI. Show, don’t just tell the AI what good looks like by providing sample text or templates. This helps the AI mirror your tone and structure.
- Start with a Template or Outline: Don’t generate from a blank page. Begin with a firm-approved template, a prior document that you’ve found to be effective, or even a bullet-point outline of sections. If you’re using a template or an outline, have the AI fill in each part. This keeps the draft organized and aligned with your standard format from the get-go.
- Craft Clear Prompts with Instructions: When asking the AI to draft, be specific about the desired output. Include details about tone (“formal legal language”), perspective (“third-person, no contractions”), and any must-have elements (“include a facts section and a conclusion summarizing recommendations”). Clear prompts yield more on-target drafts, reducing editing time.
- Use Iterative Editing – Don’t Settle for the First Draft: Treat the AI’s output as malleable. Use inline editing or follow-up prompts to refine the draft. For example, if part of the draft is too verbose, instruct: “condense the above paragraph to one sentence.” If the tone is too dry, ask: “add a more persuasive tone to the argument in the above section.” Iteratively tightening the draft will enforce consistency and quality.
- Always Verify Legal Content: Trust, but verify every legal assertion the AI makes. Double-check citations, quotations, and statements of law against primary sources. If something cannot be verified, remove or correct it. Never cite a case or law from an AI draft that you haven’t confirmed yourself – your professional reputation and compliance with ethical duties depend on it.
- Maintain a Human Touch: Ensure a human lawyer reviews the final document in full. Read it aloud or thoroughly to catch odd phrasings an AI might miss. Make sure the draft actually answers the client’s question or serves its legal purpose – sometimes AI can go on tangents. The attorney’s insight and intuition are irreplaceable for that final polish and legal judgment.
- Stay Informed and Train Your Team: AI technology and legal ethics are both evolving. Keep up with the latest bar association guidance on AI. Provide training for your lawyers on how to use AI tools effectively and ethically. By fostering a culture of “AI-awareness”, your firm can innovate with these tools while minimizing risks. Encourage open discussion of AI results – if the AI suggests a novel clause, for instance, have the team evaluate its merit. This turns AI into a learning tool as well.
By following these best practices, your law firm can harness AI to draft documents more efficiently without sacrificing the quality or consistency that clients expect. Remember that AI is a force-multiplier – when properly trained and guided, it can produce solid first drafts in your firm’s unique style, leaving you more time to focus on higher-level legal work. However, it works best as a partner to the skilled lawyer, not a replacement. With careful setup, diligent oversight, and a commitment to ethics, AI-driven legal drafting can become an invaluable asset in your firm’s toolkit, accelerating the drafting process while upholding the standards of tone, structure, and accuracy that define your practice.
