Artificial intelligence is quickly finding its way into law firm workflows—drafting emails, summarizing documents, creating checklists, and supporting IT and administrative tasks. Used correctly, AI can save time and reduce friction. Used carelessly, it can introduce risk.

That tension is exactly why how you prompt AI matters just as much as whether you use it.

To help firms navigate this responsibly, Innovative Computing Systems created a short, practical AI Prompt Guide for Legal and IT Professionals, designed specifically for attorneys, firm leadership, and IT teams.

Why Prompting Matters in Legal Environments

AI tools are designed to sound confident. Unfortunately, confidence does not guarantee accuracy.

In legal environments, AI output may touch:

  • Client communications

  • Security or infrastructure decisions

  • Internal policies and procedures

  • Vendor risk and compliance documentation

Without guardrails, even small errors can lead to larger downstream issues. The goal of this guide is not to discourage AI use—but to help firms use it more safely and more effectively.

What the Prompt Guide Covers

The guide introduces a simple, repeatable framework for creating stronger AI prompts, built around four core elements:

  1. Role – Who the AI should act as (for example, an IT security advisor or systems engineer)

  2. Instructions – What you want it to do

  3. Constraints – Audience, tone, format, length, and data limitations

  4. Resources – What information it is allowed to use

This structure helps reduce vague responses, prevents unnecessary assumptions, and produces output that is easier to review and validate.

Built for Real-World Law Firm Use

The guide also includes:

  • Practical prompt examples for common legal IT scenarios

  • Clear reminders to avoid client or matter data

  • Guidance on flagging unknowns instead of guessing

  • A straightforward 5-step hallucination check to review AI output before it’s shared

One of the most important takeaways: AI output should always be treated like a first draft—not final authority.

Who Should Download This Guide?

This resource is especially useful for:

  • Attorneys experimenting with AI for internal communications

  • IT teams supporting AI tools across the firm

  • Firm leadership establishing internal AI guidelines

  • Anyone responsible for risk, security, or compliance

Whether your firm is actively using AI today or just beginning to explore it, having a shared framework helps create consistency and reduce uncertainty.

Download the Guide

AI is not going away—but unmanaged AI creates unnecessary risk. This guide provides a practical foundation for firms that want to move forward thoughtfully.

Download the AI Prompt Guide and start using AI with clearer structure, better results, and stronger safeguards in place.