Lawyers
Legal Motion Draft Assistant
Generate a structured first draft of any legal motion — from a motion to dismiss to a motion for summary judgment. This prompt produces a complete motion framework with proper caption, statement of facts, legal standard, argument sections, and conclusion, ready for attorney review and citation population.
Generates a complete structural first draft of any legal motion — from motion to dismiss through motion for preliminary injunction — with a properly formatted caption, introduction, statement of facts favorable to the moving party, legal standard section, argument sections organized under the attorney's specified arguments, conclusion stating the relief requested, and certificate of service placeholder, with all citation locations marked [CITATION NEEDED]. The output is a ready-to-populate motion framework that lets the attorney focus research time on finding authorities and tailoring arguments rather than building document structure from scratch. Designed for litigators in federal and state courts who need to produce quality motion drafts quickly — especially valuable under deadline pressure where the structure is needed immediately and citation population follows.
Testedclaude-sonnet-4-6ValidatedMar 2026ScopeThis is informational only, not legal advice. Recommend cons…TierProfessional
Constraints
This is informational only, not legal advice. Recommend consulting a licensed attorney for specific matters.
Do not fabricate case citations, rule numbers, or statute references — mark all citation locations with [CITATION NEEDED].
Court-specific filing requirements (page limits, formatting rules, local rules) must be verified before filing.
This draft must be reviewed and edited by a licensed attorney admitted in the relevant jurisdiction before filing.
Tested Models
claude-sonnet-4-6
Uncertainty
If information is ambiguous, incomplete, or the legal question falls outside the specified scope, clearly state your assumptions and recommend professional legal review.
Jurisdiction
US-general
Last updated
2026-05-28 — Published
The prompt
You are a senior litigation attorney with 15+ years of experience drafting dispositive motions across federal and state courts.
Draft a legal motion for the following:
Motion Type: [MOTION TYPE — e.g., 'Motion to Dismiss for Failure to State a Claim', 'Motion for Summary Judgment', 'Motion for Preliminary Injunction', 'Motion to Compel Discovery']
Court: [COURT — e.g., 'U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California', 'Superior Court of New York County']
Case Name: [CASE NAME — e.g., 'Smith v. Jones Corp.']
Filing Party: [PLAINTIFF / DEFENDANT]
Matter Description: [DESCRIBE THE CASE IN 2-3 SENTENCES]
Key Facts Supporting This Motion: [LIST THE MOST IMPORTANT SUPPORTING FACTS]
Legal Standard: [THE APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARD — e.g., 'Rule 12(b)(6) — Iqbal/Twombly plausibility', 'Rule 56 — no genuine dispute of material fact', or 'Leave blank and AI will identify the standard']
Our Core Arguments: [LIST YOUR 2-4 MAIN LEGAL ARGUMENTS]
Opposing Arguments to Address: [ANTICIPATED OPPOSITIONS — or 'Unknown']
Relief Requested: [EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE ASKING THE COURT TO DO]
Draft the motion with this structure:
## Caption Block
[Properly formatted caption with parties, court, case number placeholder, and motion title]
## Introduction / Preliminary Statement (1-2 paragraphs)
Summarize the grounds for the motion and the relief requested.
## Statement of Facts
Organized narrative of relevant facts, written in a light favorable to the moving party without misrepresentation.
## Legal Standard
State the controlling legal standard for this motion type.
## Argument
[Each argument as a separate numbered section with subheadings]
## Conclusion
Precisely state the relief requested.
## Certificate of Service
[Standard certificate placeholder]
Note: Use [CITATION NEEDED] wherever a case citation, rule citation, or statute citation would normally appear. Do not fabricate citations.WAITLIST
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How to use this prompt
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1. List your core arguments specifically — each argument should be a complete legal proposition, not just a topic.
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2. Provide specific facts that support your motion — the AI needs concrete facts to write a useful statement of facts.
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3. After generating the draft, populate all [CITATION NEEDED] markers through Westlaw or Lexis research before filing.
Customization tips
Add 'Include a table of contents and table of authorities placeholders' for longer motions requiring these elements.
Specify 'Write the argument in the most persuasive voice possible — advocate, not analyst' to get a more assertive brief tone.
For motions in limine, add 'Focus on evidentiary standard under FRE [Rule Number] and why the evidence must be excluded.'
Add 'Include an affidavit template for a supporting declaration' if your motion requires factual support through a sworn statement.
Sample output
MOTION DRAFT — Motion to Compel Production of Joint Venture Communications
IN THE MATTER OF: [Plaintiff] v. [Defendant]
MOTION TO COMPEL PRODUCTION OF DOCUMENTS
INTRODUCTION:
Plaintiff respectfully moves this Court for an order compelling Defendant to produce documents withheld from the joint venture communications category of Plaintiff's First Request for Production of Documents. Defendant has asserted a blanket trade secret and confidentiality objection to producing communications between the parties related to the failed AI data analytics joint venture that underlies this dispute. That objection is improper for the reasons set forth below.
BACKGROUND:
The parties entered into a joint venture agreement to develop an AI-powered data analytics platform. The joint venture was formalized by a written agreement executed in 2024. The relationship deteriorated and was terminated in early 2026, at which point Defendant alleged that Plaintiff had misappropriated proprietary training data developed in connection with the joint venture.
ARGUMENT:
I. Defendant's Trade Secret Objection Does Not Excuse Production.
A trade secret designation protects confidential information from public disclosure but does not shield it from production in litigation where its contents are directly relevant to the claims at issue. The communications sought are not being requested for public disclosure — they will be produced subject to the existing protective order in this matter, which provides adequate protection for genuinely confidential information.
II. The Requested Documents Are Directly Relevant to Central Issues.
The joint venture communications are essential to establishing: (a) what data each party contributed to the joint venture; (b) the scope of the license each party granted the other during the collaboration; and (c) whether Defendant had notice of and consented to Plaintiff's use of the data at issue. These are not peripheral issues — they go to the heart of the misappropriation claim.
III. Defendant's Objection is Overbroad.
Defendant has withheld the entire communications category without logging any specific document on a privilege or trade secret log. This blanket approach is inconsistent with applicable discovery rules, which require particularized objections and a log for each withheld document.
CONCLUSION:
For these reasons, Plaintiff respectfully requests an order compelling production of all communications in the joint venture communications category within 14 days, subject to the existing protective order. Plaintiff also requests an award of reasonable attorneys' fees associated with this motion.
Respectfully submitted,
[Counsel for Plaintiff]
Note: This is a draft framework for attorney review. Actual motion language should be tailored to the specific court's local rules and the full factual record. This does not constitute legal advice.
Related prompts
Frequently asked questions
Each [CITATION NEEDED] marks a location where a case citation, rule citation, or statutory reference is needed. Use Westlaw or Lexis to find the specific authority for each point, then replace the placeholder with the verified citation in proper Bluebook or local citation format. This approach is intentionally safer than AI-generated citations, which have a high hallucination rate for specific case names and reporter citations.
Yes — this prompt is particularly valuable under deadline pressure because it produces a complete structure immediately, leaving you to focus on finding citations and tailoring the argument rather than organizing the document from scratch. For emergency motions, specify the time constraints and nature of the emergency in the Motion Type and Core Arguments fields so the AI frames the urgency appropriately.
The most impactful input is the Core Arguments field — the clearer and more specific your argument list, the better the argument sections will be. Generic arguments produce generic drafts. Also, providing specific key facts (not just 'defendant breached the contract' but 'defendant failed to deliver by the March 15 deadline despite written notice on March 10') produces a statement of facts that is much more useful as a starting point.
Professional Disclaimer
This AI-generated content is for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice and should not be relied upon as such. Always consult a licensed attorney for specific legal matters.