Turn a Dense Legal Document Into a Plain-English Client Explainer
Paste a dense legal document into Claude and get a topic-organized, plain-English explainer—decision points and questions for the client included—that you review before sending.
When to use this
Your client signed a trust, lease, settlement agreement, or court order, but the language leaves them confused and they keep calling with questions. This workflow turns the binding document into a clear explainer organized by topic, flagging the choices they must make and the questions they should raise. You review every line for accuracy before it goes out, because the explainer supplements—never replaces—the controlling document.
Most clients do not struggle with the substance of their legal documents—they struggle with the language. A revocable trust, a commercial lease, a marital settlement agreement, or a custody order is written to be enforceable, not readable, and the gap between "legally precise" and "client can follow it" is where confused calls and second-guessing live.
Claude is well suited to closing that gap. Paste in the document, tell it who the client is, and it can produce a plain-English walkthrough organized the way a client actually thinks about their situation—what they own, what they owe, what they have to decide, and what they should ask you. A good explainer improves comprehension and informed consent and cuts down on follow-up calls.
The catch is accuracy: simplifying can quietly shade meaning, and a client who relies on a loose paraphrase instead of the binding text can make a costly mistake. So treat Claude's draft as a first pass. You read it against the source, fix anything that drifts, and make clear to the client that the explainer is a companion to—not a substitute for—the document they signed.
The Workflow
Paste the document and identify the client
Start a single conversation. Paste the full text of the document and tell Claude what kind of document it is, who your client is, and that the goal is a plain-English explainer for that specific reader. Giving Claude the client's role (settlor, tenant, the parent receiving primary custody) keeps the summary anchored to that person's perspective.
PromptI am a lawyer preparing a plain-English explainer for my client. Below is a [TYPE OF DOCUMENT, e.g., revocable living trust / commercial lease / marital settlement agreement / custody order]. My client is [CLIENT NAME OR ROLE, e.g., the settlor / the tenant / the parent with primary physical custody]. Read it carefully and tell me, in one or two sentences, what this document does for my client and the single most important thing it changes for them. Do not summarize the whole thing yet—just confirm you understand the document and the client before we continue. DOCUMENT: [PASTE FULL DOCUMENT TEXT HERE]
What you get: A short, accurate confirmation of what the document is and what it does for your client, written from that client's perspective. This is your first accuracy checkpoint: if the framing is off, correct it before going further.
Generate a topic-organized plain-English summary
Ask Claude to walk through the document by topic—grouping related provisions the way the client experiences them rather than clause by clause. Tell it to write at a plain reading level and to define any legal term it genuinely cannot avoid, in a few words, the first time it appears.
PromptNow write a plain-English summary of this document for [CLIENT NAME OR ROLE]. Requirements: - Organize it by topic (for example: what my client gets or keeps, what my client must do, money/payments, timing and deadlines, what happens if something goes wrong, how this can be changed or ended)—not clause by clause. - Write so a non-lawyer can follow it. Short sentences. No legalese. - If a legal term is genuinely unavoidable, keep it but add a plain-English definition in parentheses the first time it appears. - Be faithful to the document. Do not add, soften, or guess at anything that is not in the text. If something is unclear or missing from the document, say so rather than filling it in. - Use clear headings for each topic.
What you get: A readable, topic-organized summary under clear headings, with any unavoidable terms defined inline. Tone should be neutral and faithful to the document—flag anywhere it reads as advice or adds facts the document does not contain.
Flag the decisions the client has to make
A document often leaves choices to the client—whether to fund the trust now, whether to exercise a renewal option, whether to accept a payment schedule. Have Claude pull those out into a short, explicit list so nothing time-sensitive gets buried in the prose.
PromptFrom this same document, list the points that actually require a decision or action from [CLIENT NAME OR ROLE]—things they must choose, do, sign, fund, elect, or respond to. For each one: (1) name the decision or action in plain English, (2) note any deadline or trigger stated in the document, and (3) note the consequence the document attaches to it. Only include items that are actually in the document; if a deadline or consequence is not stated, say 'not specified in the document.' Keep it to a clean bulleted list.
What you get: A focused list of genuine decision and action items with any stated deadlines and consequences. Items without a stated deadline should be marked "not specified," not invented.
Add a short "questions to ask your attorney" list
Close the client-facing portion with a handful of smart questions the client should bring to you. This frames the explainer as a starting point for a conversation—reinforcing that you, not the document summary, are the source of advice—and surfaces the issues most worth a phone call.
PromptFinally, draft a short list (5 or fewer) of 'Questions to ask your attorney' that [CLIENT NAME OR ROLE] should consider after reading this. Focus on genuine judgment calls, options, or risks raised by this specific document—not generic questions. Phrase them in the client's own voice. Then add one closing sentence reminding the client that this explainer is a plain-language summary to help them understand the document, that the signed document itself controls, and that they should talk to me before acting on anything.
What you get: Up to five specific, document-grounded questions in the client's voice, plus a closing line that positions the explainer as a companion to the binding document and directs the client back to you.
Review against the source, then send
Before anything goes to the client, read the full draft against the original document. Confirm every statement faithfully tracks the source, that no simplification has shaded meaning, that defined terms are accurate, and that the decision points and deadlines match the text. Fix anything that drifted, adjust tone to your voice, and only then send. Keep the controlling document attached so the client always has the binding version alongside the explainer.
What you get: A client-ready explainer you have personally verified against the source document. The original controlling document goes out with it, and the client understands the explainer is a plain-language aid, not a replacement for the document or for your advice.
Example Output
Illustrative example — names, facts, and figures are fictional.
Understanding Your Revocable Living Trust — A Plain-English Summary (This summary is a plain-language aid. Your signed Trust is the document that legally controls. Talk to me before acting on anything below.) WHAT THIS TRUST DOES FOR YOU - You created a revocable living trust (a container you set up to hold your property; "revocable" means you can change or cancel it while you are alive and competent). - You are the trustee (the person who manages the trust) while you are able, so day to day, nothing about how you use your property changes. WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR PROPERTY - Property you transfer into the trust passes to your beneficiaries at your death without going through probate (the court process for distributing assets). - Property you never transfer in is NOT covered by the trust and may still go through probate. WHO STEPS IN, AND WHEN - If you become incapacitated or pass away, your named successor trustee (your daughter, Maria) takes over management. - Maria must follow the distribution instructions in Article 5. DECISIONS / ACTIONS FOR YOU - Fund the trust: re-title your home and accounts into the trust's name. Deadline: not specified in the document, but the trust only controls assets actually transferred in. - Confirm your successor trustee choice (currently Maria, then your brother as backup). QUESTIONS TO ASK YOUR ATTORNEY - Which of my specific accounts should I move into the trust, and which should stay out? - Does my home mortgage or insurance need anything before I re-title the house? - Should I update my beneficiary designations to match this plan?
Tips
- •Always attach the original document when you send the explainer, and label the explainer as a summary. The client should never be left relying on the paraphrase alone.
- •If the document is long or has unusual provisions, ask Claude to quote the exact language next to its plain-English version for the sections you most want to verify—it makes your review faster.
- •Keep the reading level concrete. If a passage still feels dense, tell Claude the client's situation (for example, "first-time homebuyer" or "recently widowed") and ask it to simplify further without losing accuracy.
- •Reuse the flow as a template across practice areas—the same four prompts work for a trust, a lease, a settlement, or an order—but re-verify every time, since simplification risk is document-specific.
A note on confidentiality
Client documents are confidential, so use a business-tier account (Claude Team or Enterprise), where your inputs are not used to train models, and keep client materials out of consumer tiers. Plain-language explainers also support your duty to communicate so a client can make informed decisions (ABA Formal Op. 512; Model Rules 1.6 and 1.4).
Prompts used in this workflow
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