The request
You type it the way you would say it
“Draft the temporary hearing affidavit.” “Summarize the bank statements.” “E-mail me the order.” No prompt writing and no pasting of files into a chat window.
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- Claude workflows
Frontier-model workflows
Claude, run through your firm’s own work.
Claude writes well. It does not know your forms, your best prior motions, or the correction you made last week. I build the setup that hands it those on every request and checks the result before you see it. It is built inside your practice, a month at a time.
One request, start to finish
The lawyer types one sentence. Nine things happen.
“Draft the motion to compel in Harper. Their responses to our second requests came in Friday.”
This is how my own practice runs today. The matter name is fictional. Each step names the piece I would build for your firm.
- 01
The request is routed
A router reads the sentence and picks the firm’s written procedure for a motion to compel. The lawyer does not choose a template or write a prompt.
I build: the router, and one written procedure per recurring document
- 02
The firm’s rules load
Claude begins every session by reading the firm’s standing instructions: the court’s citation format, how the firm names the parties, what never goes in a filing. One rule from my own file: an affidavit states facts, and legal conclusions go in the memorandum.
I build: the standing-instructions file, kept short and current
- 03
The client’s facts come first
Nothing is drafted until a facts file for the client exists. The caption and signature block are printed from it. When the file is new, work stops until a lawyer has read it.
I build: the case-facts file and the check that requires it
- 04
The firm’s best prior work is found
A search over the firm’s own finished documents returns its strongest prior motions of the same kind. The best-graded examples lead, not the most recent. In my practice a new document, or a revision that changes more than 20 percent of one, cannot be built until this search has run.
I build: the graded library of your own work, and the search over it
- 05
Claude drafts the body, and only the body
Claude writes the facts and the argument as plain text, with each fact tied to its exhibit or page. It does not type a caption, a signature block or a certificate of service. It sets no fonts and no margins.
I build: the drafting procedure and its style rules, taken from your documents
- 06
A forms program builds the document
A separate program lays the body into the firm’s Word template and prints the caption, signature block and certificate of service from the case facts. The model never touches layout, so the formatting does not drift from one document to the next.
I build: the forms program, from your own templates
- 07
Checks can refuse it
A draft that still carries a drafting marker is refused. A filing that needs a certificate of service and has no service details is refused. A refused document is not saved to the client’s folder and is not e-mailed. A record says why.
I build: the checks, and the rule that a failed check stops delivery
- 08
The lawyer gets the document and a review record
The Word file lands in the client’s folder. An e-mail to the lawyer attaches it and lists what was checked and what needs a second look. A finished build is not approval. The lawyer reads, edits, signs and serves.
I build: the delivery step and the review record
- 09
The correction sticks
When the lawyer corrects something, the correction is saved as a standing note with its reason. One from my file: a list the lawyer dictates carries his items only. The next session reads the note before it drafts.
I build: the memory of corrections
What changes for the lawyer
A document in your form, not a chat reply to paste.
The result
A Word file in the client’s folder
Caption, signature block, spacing and page numbers come from your template. The file is where your staff expects to find it.
When something is missing
It stops and says what
A missing fact is flagged to you as a gap. It is not filled with a guess and it is not written into the document as a note.
Authority
No citation from memory
The standing rule is that a case or statute is looked up and its text is read before it is cited. You still check every citation you sign.
Drafts for others, sends only to you
The setup can draft a letter or an e-mail to opposing counsel. It sends mail to the lawyer and to no one else. Sending and serving stay with you.
Judgment
Yours
Nothing here files, serves or approves anything. Every document ends on a lawyer’s desk for review.
What I set up at your firm
Eight pieces. All of them stay with you.
I build on Claude Code, Anthropic’s agent that works in your files and runs tools. It reads standing instructions at the start of a session, loads a written procedure when a task calls for one, and can be stopped by a check before it acts.
- Standing instructions. Your jurisdiction, courts, citation format, naming conventions and drafting rules, in one file Claude reads every session.
- Written procedures. One per recurring task. In my practice these include a discovery deficiency analysis that leads to a deficiency letter and a motion to compel, reading bank statements into a checked ledger, cleaning up a meeting transcript, and preparing a timesheet from the file.
- A library of your best work. Your finished documents, graded once, searchable by kind.
- A forms program. Your templates, turned into a program that owns captions, signature blocks, certificates and layout.
- Checks. Rules that refuse a defective document and record the reason.
- A review record. What was built, which checks ran, what needs a second look, delivered with the document.
- A memory of corrections. Your corrections, saved with their reasons and read before the next draft.
- Tests from your own history. Your past requests are replayed and the results are compared with the work you approved.
Plain answers
What firms ask about this.
We already pay for Claude. What is different?
You have the model. I build what it works through: your rules, your procedures, your prior work, your forms and your checks. Often the subscription you already have can run it.
Where do our files go?
Text that Claude reads goes to Anthropic under your firm’s own agreement with Anthropic. Which matters may go there is your decision. For work you decide should not, see local models.
Is a model trained on our documents?
No. Nothing in this setup trains a model. Your documents are searched and read at the time of a request.
How long does it take, and what do we gain?
The first drafts come in the first month. The larger gain comes from the record of your lawyers’ requests and corrections, and that takes time to build. My estimate is 30 to 40 percent more productive by month nine. See the first nine months.
Does this replace associates or staff?
No. It changes what they spend time on. Every procedure ends in a lawyer’s review, and I do not build one that skips it.
Can you promise the output is right?
No. The checks catch defined defects, such as a missing certificate of service or a leftover placeholder. They do not replace reading the document. Your professional duties stay with you.
Are you affiliated with Anthropic?
No. Claude and Claude Code are products of Anthropic. Proprietary Legal Intelligence is an independent consultancy.
Next step
Name the document you draft most often.
Tell me which document it is and how your firm produces it today. I will tell you what the setup above would look like for it. Fees and how it starts.
nick@proprietarylegal.com