Directing AI Conversations: Tailored for Legal Professionals
Prompting techniques are the backbone of AI interactions. While in the previous lesson, you learned the art of asking the right questions, this lesson will dive deeper into a specific technique known as instruction prompting. Unlike mere questions, these prompts guide AI into performing a specific task or follow a set direction.
For legal professionals, mastering instruction prompting can be the difference between getting a generalized statement and receiving a detailed legal analysis.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
- Comprehend the significance and applications of instruction prompting, particularly in a legal context.
- Craft intricate instruction prompts to guide AI outputs for common legal tasks.
- Identify the strengths and limitations of AI in handling complex instruction-based queries.
- Refine prompts based on observed AI outputs to attain the desired response.
Name Parsing in Legal Contexts
Parsing names in a legal scenario requires a mix of precision and understanding of the context. Names in legal contexts are not just identifiers; they can dictate the flow of proceedings, decisions, and references. Hence, presenting them in a consistent, organized format is essential.
Scenario
Situation: Within legal documentation, professionals often encounter names of cases, entities, or law firms that need to be organized for clarity, coherence, and ease of reference.
Need: To structure names consistently, especially when it comes to case titles.
Prompt Engineering
Objective: Transform case titles into a standardized format for better organization and clarity.
Prompt Template:
“A client has provided the name of a case they were involved in. Organize the case title in this format: ‘<Defendant>, v. <Plaintiff>’. Please convert the following case title into the expected format: [CASE NAME HERE].”
Prompt (GPT-4)
Prompt to the AI: "A client has provided the name of a case they were involved in. Organize the case title in this format: '<Defendant>, v. <Plaintiff>'. Please convert the following case title into the expected format: Anderson v. Blake Holdings."
Output
Given the case title "Anderson v. Blake Holdings," the format you're looking for is '<Defendant>, v. <Plaintiff>'.
So, converting it to the requested format:
"Blake Holdings, v. Anderson."
How It Works
Clarification: The prompt starts by clarifying the task objective, ensuring the AI understands the goal.
Consistent Format: By specifying a clear format (‘<Defendant>, v. <Plaintiff>’), we guide the AI to organize the names accordingly.
Conversion Request: The latter part of the prompt serves as a direct instruction, asking the AI to demonstrate its understanding.
Why to Use It
Efficiency: Automated name parsing reduces manual errors and saves time.
Consistency: Applying a standard format ensures uniformity in documentation, aiding in quick reference and understanding.
Versatility: With the right prompt, the AI can adapt to various naming conventions and scenarios.
When to Use It
While organizing case references in documentation.
When referencing past cases in legal briefs or reports.
When compiling a list of case precedents.
Practice Tip
Always verify AI outputs for accuracy. In legal contexts, the order and correctness of names can carry significant implications. For names that don’t fit traditional naming conventions or are ambiguous, consider refining the prompt or manually adjusting the output.
In essence, name parsing, especially in the nuanced field of law, is crucial for ensuring clarity and correctness. With the proper prompt structure, legal professionals can harness the power of AI to simplify and streamline this task.
Personal Identifiable Information (PII) Removal in Legal Documents
In today’s data-driven world, ensuring the privacy of individuals is paramount. In legal contexts, redacting personally identifiable information (PII) becomes a priority, especially before presenting documents publicly or sharing them with other entities.
Scenario
Situation: Legal professionals, before submitting documents to courts or disseminating them to other parties, are mandated to protect the privacy of individuals mentioned therein. This often means redacting sensitive or personally identifiable details.
Need: To redact or replace PII with generic placeholders, ensuring privacy while maintaining the document’s relevance and context.
Prompt Engineering
Objective: Instruct the AI to scan a document excerpt and replace any PII with general placeholders.
Prompt Template:
“Scan the below legal document excerpt. Identify and redact any Personally Identifiable Information (PII), replacing them with general placeholders. For instance, replace specific names with [NAME]. Document Excerpt: [DOCUMENT TEXT HERE].”
Prompt (GPT-4)
Scan the below legal document excerpt. Identify and redact any Personally Identifiable Information (PII), replacing them with general placeholders. For instance, replace specific names with [NAME]. Document Excerpt: 'Mr. John Dorian attended our firm's event on 23rd June. His contact is 123-456-7890.'
Output
Certainly. Here's the redacted document:
'Mr. [NAME] attended our firm's event on [DATE]. His contact is [PHONE NUMBER].'
So, the redacted version of your excerpt is:
'Mr. [NAME] attended our firm's event on [DATE]. His contact is [PHONE NUMBER].'
How It Works
- Clarification: The prompt initially establishes the task, ensuring the AI recognizes the need for privacy.
- Instructional Detail: The prompt gives the AI a clear example of the expected behavior, such as replacing names with “[NAME].”
- Document Excerpt: The AI is provided with a portion of text to operate on, offering real-time practice.
Why to Use It
- Confidentiality: It ensures the protection of individual privacy.
- Regulatory Compliance: Helps legal professionals meet privacy regulations and standards.
- Efficiency: Automates a tedious process, allowing professionals to focus on more substantive tasks.
When to Use It
- Before submitting legal documents for public access.
- When sharing case details with third parties.
- For compliance with privacy policies and laws.
Practice Tip
Always manually review AI outputs, especially when handling sensitive information. An oversight in redaction can lead to breaches of privacy, with potential legal implications. Ensure that the AI’s placeholder choices are consistent and don’t inadvertently convey specific details.
Essay Feedback for Legal Papers
Evaluating legal essays is a nuanced process, requiring insight not only into grammatical and structural adequacy but also the veracity and quality of legal arguments presented. With the assistance of AI, a preliminary evaluation can be conducted, facilitating better feedback and improvement.
Scenario
Situation: Law students or legal professionals often write essays or papers on diverse legal topics. Feedback on these documents is crucial for refining arguments, improving clarity, and ensuring adherence to legal writing standards.
Need: A tool that can efficiently evaluate legal essays based on specific criteria, providing both scores and actionable feedback.
Prompt Engineering
Objective: Guide the AI to review an essay excerpt and assess it on pre-defined criteria, offering scores and relevant feedback.
Prompt Template:
“Review the provided legal essay excerpt. Evaluate it based on the following criteria: grammar, clarity, coherence, argument quality, and use of evidence. Assign a score between 1-10 for each category, and provide constructive feedback.”
Prompt (GPT-4)
Review the provided legal essay excerpt. Evaluate it based on the following criteria: grammar, clarity, coherence, argument quality, and use of evidence. Assign a score between 1-10 for each category, and provide constructive feedback. Essay Excerpt: 'In legal parlance, the concept of 'res judicata' is paramount. It suggests that matters which have been adjudicated cannot be retried. However, understanding res judicata is vital in litigation.'
Output
Legal Essay Excerpt Review
Essay Excerpt:
'In legal parlance, the concept of 'res judicata' is paramount. It suggests that matters which have been adjudicated cannot be retried. However, understanding res judicata is vital in litigation.'
Evaluation:
Grammar
Score: 9/10
Feedback: The essay excerpt is grammatically sound with no glaring errors. However, there's a minor redundancy in using both "paramount" and "vital" to emphasize importance.
Clarity
Score: 8/10
Feedback: The excerpt provides a clear definition of 'res judicata' and its importance. However, the connection between the two sentences could be slightly smoother.
Coherence
Score: 8/10
Feedback: The thoughts follow each other logically, but the transition between the definition and its importance in litigation might benefit from a connecting or transitional phrase.
Argument Quality
Score: 7/10
Feedback: While the essay touches upon the importance of 'res judicata', it stops short of providing an in-depth argument or rationale for its significance. Delving into the implications of not understanding 'res judicata' or providing a case study could bolster the argument.
Use of Evidence
Score: 5/10
Feedback: The excerpt doesn’t cite any evidence or concrete examples to support the significance of 'res judicata' in litigation. Including case examples, statistics, or legal opinions would strengthen this section.
Overall Feedback:
The excerpt provides a concise introduction to the concept of 'res judicata'. However, for a richer analysis and to truly drive the point home, the essay would benefit from providing evidence, examples, or further elaboration on the implications of the concept in the legal world.
How It Works
- Criteria Specification: The AI is informed of the evaluation standards, setting the context for the review.
- Feedback Provision: The AI offers scores and feedback based on its understanding, facilitating a quick preliminary review.
- Essay Excerpt: A portion of the essay is given to the AI for real-time evaluation.
Why to Use It
- Efficiency: Provides quick feedback, accelerating the review process.
- Consistency: Maintains a consistent standard of evaluation.
- Constructive Feedback: Assists writers in understanding areas of improvement.
When to Use It
- When students seek feedback on legal essays or mock papers.
- For legal professionals wanting a preliminary review before formal submission.
- For law schools or institutions aiming to streamline essay evaluations.
Practice Tip
AI feedback should be a starting point. It’s vital to have legal essays also reviewed by professionals or educators who bring domain-specific insights. While AI can handle structure and grammar, nuanced legal arguments may need human expertise for thorough evaluation.
Troubleshooting and Refinement
Instruction prompting isn’t always perfect. AI might not always provide the desired output. The key lies in iterative refinement.
Specificity: Make sure the AI knows the context. Instead of “Define consideration,” try “Explain the concept of consideration in contract law.”
Break It Down: If a prompt is too complex, break it into simpler, more manageable tasks.
Feedback Loop: If an output isn’t as expected, adjust your prompt and try again. This iterative process hones your prompting skills.
Test and Iterate
Practice makes perfect. Constantly test your prompts in various scenarios and adjust based on results. Encourage colleagues to do the same, fostering a culture of continuous learning.
Conclusion
Prompt engineering, especially instruction prompting, is pivotal in harnessing AI for legal tasks. As legal professionals, refining this skill can save time, improve efficiency, and bring precision to your AI-assisted tasks. In the subsequent lessons, we’ll explore even more intricate AI techniques tailored for the legal realm.
Remember: Mastery in AI-assisted legal tasks is an iterative journey. Embrace the process and continually strive for perfection.
Stay tuned for the next lesson, “AI Role Play,” where we’ll delve into dynamic AI interactions within legal settings.