# Client alert — new case, statute, or rule

Drafts a client alert email from a legal development you supply and have verified. Use it when a new case, statute, or rule affects your client base and you want the alert out this week.

## Prompt

## Context
You are drafting a client alert for [FIRM NAME], a [PRACTICE AREA] firm. The audience: [AUDIENCE — e.g., current and former business clients, HR contacts]. A legal development affects them: [DEVELOPMENT — name the case, statute, or rule]. The source material is pasted below — the attorney's own summary, the official text, or both. Work only from what is pasted. Do not add legal analysis from your own knowledge; your training data may be wrong or stale.

## Task
Draft an email alert of 250-400 words. Structure: a subject line under 60 characters, a one-sentence summary of what changed, who it affects, what it requires and when ([EFFECTIVE DATE]), two to four concrete action items, and an invitation to call with questions.

## Standards
- Plain English. A non-lawyer client must follow it on one read.
- Every legal statement must trace to the pasted source material. If the source does not cover a point, write [VERIFY] in its place instead of the claim.
- No advice on any specific client's facts. Frame action items as general steps.
- Cite the authority once, by name and citation exactly as given in [CITATION]. Do not generate citations.
- Tone: informative, not alarmist. No urgency language unless the deadline falls within [DEADLINE WINDOW].
- Close with the firm's standard footer: [FOOTER — disclaimer and unsubscribe].

[SOURCE MATERIAL]
[CITATION]
[EFFECTIVE DATE]

If the source material does not support a complete alert, list what is missing and stop. Do not fill gaps.

## Input checklist

- [ ] The development's official text or your own written summary — pasted, not described
- [ ] The citation, copied from Westlaw, Lexis, or the official source
- [ ] Effective date and who is covered
- [ ] Your alert footer: disclaimer plus unsubscribe
- [ ] Confirm the source material contains no client information; if your summary grew out of client work, generalize it first

## Verification checklist

- [ ] The citation matches the official source — check Westlaw, Lexis, or the official reporter, not the draft (ABA Formal Opinion 512 treats unverified AI output as a competence problem)
- [ ] Effective dates, thresholds, and coverage match the statute or rule text
- [ ] No [VERIFY] flags remain in the draft
- [ ] Action items read as general steps — nothing creates advice to a specific client without an engagement
- [ ] Disclaimer and unsubscribe footer present; CAN-SPAM applies to commercial email
- [ ] No client matter referenced, even anonymized, without written consent
- [ ] Subject line is accurate, not clickbait

## Customization notes

Tune the audience line hard — an alert to HR managers reads differently from one to general counsel. Regulatory practices can add a [COMMENT DEADLINE] variable for rulemaking alerts. If you send through an email platform, paste your template's footer into [FOOTER] so the disclaimer survives formatting. For court decisions, supply the holding in your own words — never let the AI characterize a case it has not read.

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From The Solo Attorney's AI Practice Library — vetslearn.com/libraries/attorney