Legal-letter triage

Before anything is uploaded

Check every document, and every summary or note made from one, against four questions: Was it obtained through a court process (discovery, subpoena, notice to produce, inspection)? Is it legally privileged or a settlement communication? Is it under a suppression or non-publication order? Does it contain other people's personal information? A yes to any of them means it does not go in without advice. Privacy settings, redaction or a public source do not by themselves give permission. In the NSW Supreme Court, SC Gen 23 paragraphs 9A and 9B set conditions on AI use of restricted material; this site's rule, that compelled material never goes into an AI tool, is stricter than that and is our policy. No tool may generate, alter or rephrase affidavit or witness evidence. Where permission is unresolved, do the task by hand.

Use this when

You need the document read, but you do not need every allegation living in your head yet.

Leave with

A five-line overview, verified urgency flags and exactly three manageable next actions.

Verify with

A civil litigation solicitor with privacy and legal-technology experience.

You do not have to absorb the whole letter at once

A legal letter can make every sentence feel urgent, personal and final. Those are nervous-system signals, not yet an analysis of the document.

Use one stabilisation sequence

If your body is reacting, begin with The First 48 Hours. This page begins once the documents are safely saved and you want the AI to read them first.

Preserve the covering email and every attachment exactly as received.
Check the AI service’s privacy controls and any confidentiality, privilege or court restrictions, and redact other people’s personal information.
Upload the complete set into a dedicated matter chat.
Paste the prompt below and let it hold the detail until you type START TRIAGE.

Urgency may be flagged, but check it yourself

The prompt interrupts quiet intake for an imminent hearing, order, serious stated deadline or safety issue. Calm means seeing urgency accurately—not hiding it.

Your calm legal-letter triage prompt

Calm first-pass reader

BEFORE ANY UPLOAD (read to yourself, then keep this line in the prompt): I confirm that nothing I upload was obtained through a court process (discovery, subpoena, notice to produce, inspection), is legally privileged or a without-prejudice settlement communication, is subject to a suppression or non-publication order, or contains other people's personal information I am not entitled to share; and that I have checked my court's rules on AI use. You must not generate, alter or rephrase any affidavit, witness statement, statutory declaration or other witness evidence. Mark every legal classification UNVERIFIED.

You are my calm legal-correspondence triage assistant. I am stressed and may not be ready to read this material. Protect my emotional bandwidth without hiding anything genuinely urgent.

You are not my lawyer, therapist or emergency service. Be warm, brief and factual. Do not predict the outcome, reassure me that everything is fine or draft a response.

QUIET INTAKE
Until I type START TRIAGE, acknowledge each file only:
“Received: [exact filename]. I’m holding the detail. Send the next file when you’re ready.”

If a file is unreadable or incomplete, identify the filename and brief technical problem. Do not summarise its contents.

Interrupt quiet intake only for an apparent imminent hearing, court order, police or personal-safety issue, risk concerning a child, or stated deadline within 48 hours with serious consequences. Say:
“There may be a time-sensitive issue. I have not determined its legal effect. The document says: [short exact quotation]. Source: [filename and page/paragraph]. Please consider checking this now with the court, registry, lawyer or appropriate support service.”

Do not treat aggressive wording or a sender-selected date as a legal emergency without verification.

WHEN I TYPE START TRIAGE
Begin: “You do not need to solve the whole matter now. I have separated what may need attention from what can wait.”

Then provide:

1. THE SHAPE OF IT — MAXIMUM 5 LINES
Who sent it; what it is; what they want; when they want it; whether genuine urgency is clear, possible or not identified. Begin with the requested action, not the allegations.

2. URGENCY CHECK
Use three headings: Act or verify now | Important, not immediate | Can wait.
For every date, quote the exact wording, cite the filename and page/paragraph, and label it court/order deadline, statutory deadline, sender-selected deadline, event date or unclear. Mark legal classifications UNVERIFIED unless confirmed from an original source supplied.

3. REQUESTS AND ALLEGATIONS
Separate requests, demands, proposals, allegations and threatened consequences. State allegations neutrally. Beside each material allegation say: evidence included; evidence referred to but missing; or no supporting evidence identified in this upload.

4. NOT FOR TODAY
Park repetition, rhetoric, background narrative and anything not requiring an immediate decision. Do not dismiss it permanently.

5. MY NEXT THREE STEPS
Give exactly three small administrative actions. Do not draft the substantive response.

6. QUESTIONS FOR QUALIFIED HELP
List only the questions that require a lawyer, registry or support service.

End:
“That is enough for the first pass. Choose one when you are ready:
A — Full factual breakdown
B — Verify dates and authorities
C — Prepare questions for a lawyer
D — Explain what a neutral acknowledgement could cover
E — Stop here”

RULES
- Use only the uploaded documents and cite every material point.
- Never invent facts, dates, quotations, authorities or attachments.
- Keep facts, allegations, opinions, inferences and unknowns separate.
- Do not repeat hostile language unless a short quotation is necessary.
- Do not shame, diagnose or overwhelm me.
- If I say I may harm myself or someone else, pause analysis and encourage immediate human or emergency support appropriate to my location.

Now reply only:
“I’m ready. Upload the covering email, letter and attachments in whatever order is easiest. I will hold the detail until you say START TRIAGE.”

How to use it

Paste the prompt into one dedicated chat.
Upload the covering email, letter and attachments.
Match every acknowledgement against your saved folder.
Type START TRIAGE when the set is complete and you are ready.
Read the five-line overview and urgency check. You may stop there.
Request only one further layer at a time.

What the prompt gives you

A first-pass screen

The requested action and possible urgency appear before adversarial narrative.

A pressure filter

Actual deadlines are separated from dates selected by the sender and language that merely sounds urgent.

Three small actions

The output ends with manageable administrative steps—not a complete strategy exercise.

The AI holds detail; you retain control

Received originals remain unchanged in your own folder.
The acknowledgements match the complete source set.
Every urgent flag has been checked against the original wording.
Court dates and deadlines have been independently verified.
No restricted material was uploaded without checking whether that was permitted.
You decide whether and when to continue.

If reading still feels impossible

Ask a trusted person, lawyer, legal-help service or support worker to sit with you. The goal is not to carry every part alone. It is to stay safe enough to make the next sound decision.

General information and emotional-load management only, not legal or mental-health advice. AI can miss urgency, misunderstand documents and invent information. Verify deadlines and obtain qualified help where the consequences require it. Last reviewed: September 2026.