--- title: "Keep matter files so AI drafts from your case facts and court rules" description: "Record each matter's facts, posture, deadlines, court rules, and opposing counsel patterns so AI drafts start from your case file, with review built in." canonical: "https://scalewithsearch.com/articles/ai-for-lawyers" date: "2026-01-28" modified: "2026-09-25" --- ## Site navigation - [Scale With Search](https://scalewithsearch.com/) - Real estate - Real estate - [Real estate](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/real-estate) - Work - Start here - [Send your brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#send-your-brief) - [Prepare your six-question brief](https://scalewithsearch.com/work#prepare-your-six-question-brief) - Build - [Site build, content library with SEO, signal desk](https://scalewithsearch.com/work) - For your business - Trades and home services - [Auto body and collision shops](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/auto-body-and-collision-shops) - [Foundation and home repair contractors](https://scalewithsearch.com/for/foundation-and-home-repair) - 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You prepare a motion for summary judgment. Opposing counsel served late discovery requests last month. The client's deposition produced three useful admissions. The judge has granted summary judgment in cases with similar facts. You ask an AI assistant to help draft the argument section. It returns generic summary judgment language that fits any case in any court. So you paste the case background, the procedural history, the admissions, the judge's prior rulings, and the local rules for page limits and format. None of that is legal work. It is a briefing for the assistant. Next week, on a different matter, the assistant has forgotten all of it. A practice file and one file per matter end that loop. They do not remove your review, and the sections below keep that review in place. ## What the assistant is missing Legal research products know case law, but they do not know your matters. A general chat assistant knows neither, unless you explain each time. Each drafting task needs context. A demand letter needs the client's position. Deposition questions need the discovery responses and the testimony of other witnesses. A brief needs the standard of review, the statutes, and the cases you want to distinguish. The assistant can write. It cannot remember that one judge dislikes long briefs. It does not know that one opposing firm always asks for extensions, or that one client has a credibility problem you must work around. Without files, each session starts with a 500-word context dump that you hope is complete. ## What the files hold Keep one practice file and one file per matter. | File | Contents | |---|---| | Practice file | Practice areas; courts where you appear; local rules and standing orders; judge preferences; common opposing firms and their patterns; brief style, citation format, heading order, fact section layout; motion, discovery, and letter templates | | Matter file: case | Parties, claims, defenses, procedural posture; key, disputed, and undisputed facts; timeline; evidence; witnesses; expert reports | | Matter file: rules | Deadlines, page limits, format rules, the substantive law that matters in this court, recent controlling decisions | | Matter file: client | Prior matters, communication preferences, business context, risk tolerance, goals, settlement authority, contacts, decision makers, document custodians | | Matter file: opposing counsel | Usual strategy, strengths and weaknesses, motion practice, discovery conduct, settlement posture | | Matter file: strategy | Case theory, argument structures that worked, language to reuse, positions already taken | ## Inspect a matter file This is a synthetic matter. Names and numbers are placeholders. ```markdown # Matter M-0142: contract dispute (synthetic) court:: federal district court; Judge A posture:: discovery open; closes 2026-03-15; dispositive motions due 2026-04-30 updated:: 2026.09.25 ## Claim - Plaintiff alleges breach of a software license dated 2024-01. - Key issue: does the modification clause require written approval from the CEO, or from any officer? ## Our position - A VP's email was enough under the parties' course of dealing. ## Opposing counsel - Firm A. Serves broad discovery and objects to most requests. Front-load our strongest requests. ## Judge A preferences - Short briefs. Standing order: 25-page limit on opening briefs. ## Open items - Deposition of plaintiff's VP of Operations: not scheduled. - Our second set of requests: responses due 2026-02-20. ``` Ask the assistant to draft discovery requests for M-0142. It reads the file. It knows the case theory, the disputed clause, the court, the deadline, and the opposing firm's habits. The draft puts the strongest requests first. ## Load the files each session Claude Code reads a file named `CLAUDE.md` from the working folder when a session starts ([Claude Code memory documentation](https://code.claude.com/docs/en/memory), checked 2026.09.25). Put the practice rules there, and list where the matter files live. Name the matter at the start of each request, so the assistant reads that file and no other. Obsidian works as the editor because it stores each note as a plain Markdown file. Keep each matter in its own folder. Facts from one client must never appear in another client's draft. The guide to [keep businesses, clients, and roles separate for AI agents](/articles/separate-business-contexts-ai-agents) shows how to test that boundary. ## Five drafts before and after the files A response to a motion to dismiss is the first case. Without the files, the response takes about three hours: outline, fact section, citations, format, proofread. With the files, the request is short: "Draft the response to the motion to dismiss in M-0151. Focus on the plausibility standard and the specific allegations in our amended complaint." The assistant knows the facts, the claims, your earlier briefing, and the judge's preferences. You spend your time on the argument and on citation checks. A meet-and-confer reply is the second case. Opposing counsel sends a letter about discovery disputes. With the files, the assistant knows what you produced, what is outstanding, your objections, and the deadline. The draft reply is ready for your edit. A client status email across three matters is the third case. Without the files, you open each matter, check each docket, and write three summaries. With the files, the assistant drafts one email from the current posture, the upcoming deadlines, and the pending motions of each matter. You check each line against the docket and send it. A deposition outline is the fourth case. For the plaintiff's VP of Operations, the assistant reads the disputed facts, the witness's interrogatory answers, and the document production. It suggests topics that serve the case theory. You set the strategy and add the follow-up sequences. A filing in an unfamiliar court is the fifth case. The practice file holds the local rules, the judge's standing order, and the page limit for each court where you appeared. You draft without a research detour. For a new court, add its rules to the practice file the first time. ## Protect client confidences A local file is not a private session. The files stay on your computer, but the text Claude Code reads goes to Anthropic for processing. The confidentiality question is the same one you ask of any vendor that handles client information. ABA Formal Opinion 512, issued 2024-07-29, addresses generative AI use by lawyers ([ABA: first ethics guidance on AI tools](https://www.americanbar.org/news/abanews/aba-news-archives/2024/07/aba-issues-first-ethics-guidance-ai-tools/), checked 2026.09.25). It covers competence, confidentiality, client communication, and fees, among other duties. Read it and your state bar's guidance before client information enters a session. Some uses need informed client consent, and the opinion says boilerplate consent in an engagement letter is not adequate. Put only what the job needs into a matter file. The guide on [what client data belongs in AI agent memory](/articles/client-data-in-ai-agent-memory) gives a sorting test for each field. ## Verify every citation and every fact In Mata v. Avianca (S.D.N.Y., decided 2023-06-22), the court sanctioned two lawyers and their firm for a brief that cited six cases a chat assistant made up. The matter file lowers that risk, because the assistant drafts from your record. It does not remove the risk. Set these rules: 1. Check each cited case against the reporter or your research service before filing. 2. Check each fact statement against the record citation in the matter file. 3. Stop when a draft relies on a fact or rule that the files do not contain. 4. Do not let the assistant file, serve, or send anything. You or your staff do that after review. The send step follows [who approves what an AI agent sends](/articles/who-approves-what-an-ai-agent-sends). For a tested example of a legal preparation job with stops, see [AI agent for a personal injury law office](/articles/ai-agent-personal-injury-discovery-response-prep). ## Test a matter file before the first draft Run three checks in a fresh session. 1. Ask "What is the page limit for the opening brief in M-0142?" Pass: 25 pages, from the judge's standing order line. Fail: a general figure. 2. Ask "Draft discovery requests for M-0142" while another matter's folder is open. Pass: the draft uses only M-0142's facts. Fail: a fact from the other matter appears. Fix the folder rule before any further use. 3. Ask for a case citation that supports your position. Pass: the assistant marks each citation as unverified. Fail: it presents a citation as checked. ## Keep the files current Update a matter file when the posture changes: a new filing, a ruling, a deadline, a deposition. Record the date of each change. Mark superseded positions instead of deleting them, so the history stays readable. Paralegals who draft from the same files follow the same rules. The companion guide on [AI for paralegals](/articles/ai-for-paralegals) covers attorney preference profiles and deadline chains. ---- ```text .|########||. .|########||. .|########||. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |##||. .||##|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#|. .|#|. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. .#| .#. .#| .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .# ||#########| #| .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. .#. |######||######|. .#. #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# #. .##|###|##|#|######| .# || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || || |##|#||||||||||||#||#| || # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. # |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # # .#||||||||||||||||||||||||#| # || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || || ....|||#||||||##|#|||#|#||##||||....|. || #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# #. . ....|# ....#||| ||| .#||| ....#. .# # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. # . ||||#| .#####|| . .#| .#||| ||||# #. .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || .| ||||| #. |#|||||. || #. |#||. .||||| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || || |.... #. ....|#. |. ...|. ....|| || #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# #. .||||||##||||||##||####|||||||#||||||#| .# # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .||####|###########################|. # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#||||||.#.|| # |. ..# #| #|||||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||||| .. |# ## |#| ...#|#|||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#|||#|# .# .#| #| ##|.#..#|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # .#||||||############|######|||||#| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # # |...||#||||||#||||#|#||||||#|||||#||| |.| # #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# #. .. ||||# .|||##|. |#| .|| || .|||#. #| # .# || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || | ...|| ...##| | #| .|. |. ##### .. .| || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || || ||||| || ||||#| . |. |. |#. ||||| |#| || || .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. .# |.....#|....|#.||||.|||##.|#|....||.#||.#. #. #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# #.|||||||#############################| ||| .# || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || || ##||#||#||||||#||#||#||#||##. || # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # # .#|||||||||#||#|||||||||||#| # || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||||||#| || .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. .# |#||||||||||||||||||||#| #. || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || || |#||||||||||||||||||#| || #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# #. .######|#|#########| .# .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. .#. |#####||||#####| .#. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ||########|| #. |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |# ...... #| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#. |#. .#. |#. .#. .#| |#. .#| |#. .#| |#. |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| |#| .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. .|#|. |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| |##||. .||##| .||########||. .||########||. .||########||. 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