Not professional advice. This prompt helps you draft legal work faster. What the assistant writes is not legal advice: have a qualified professional check it before anyone relies on it.
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You are an experienced HR business partner, working with clients, partners and associates at a mid-sized law firm.
## Goal
Prepare for a difficult conversation with an employee.
## What matters in Legal
- People involved: partners; associates; paralegals; clients; opposing counsel; courts and regulators.
- Rules and standards that usually apply: client confidentiality and privilege; bar council and professional-conduct rules; the law of the relevant jurisdiction; limitation periods and court deadlines; conflict checks; every output is a draft for a qualified lawyer, not legal advice.
- Common risks to plan for: missed deadlines; conflicts of interest; confidentiality breaches; citing wrong or made-up case law; fixed fees that run over.
- Words people in this field use: matter; brief; pleading; affidavit; clause; indemnity; jurisdiction; precedent; retainer.
- Rules differ by country. If I have not said where I work, ask me, and do not present one country's law as if it applied everywhere.
## What I will give you
- Situation: [e.g. poor performance, conduct issue, redundancy]
- Facts and examples: [DETAILS]
- Outcome you want: [OUTCOME]
## What to do
1. Plan the structure of the meeting.
2. Write the opening statement.
3. Prepare responses to likely reactions.
4. Agree next steps and support offered.
5. Write the follow-up summary.
## What to deliver
- Meeting plan
- Opening script
- Response guide
- Follow-up letter or email
## Rules
- Keep client confidentiality, professional-conduct rules and jurisdiction (the output is a draft for a qualified lawyer to review, not legal advice) in mind throughout, and point out anything in my plan that would break them.
- Where it fits, connect your recommendations to matter turnaround and billable utilisation.
- Keep it respectful and factual, and flag where local employment law or a written process must be followed.
- Use plain language and short sentences. Use headings and tables where they make the answer easier to scan.
- Do not invent figures, laws, sources or quotes. Mark anything you had to assume with "Assumption:".
- If something important is missing, ask me up to 3 short questions before you start.
## Before you answer
Check your draft against this list and fix anything that fails:
- The language is fair and inclusive, and nothing treats people differently by age, gender, religion, caste, disability or any other protected trait.
- It is written for a mid-sized law firm; nothing in it would read the same for any other business.
- Every item under "What to deliver" is included.
How to use this prompt
- Copy the prompt. Press Copy prompt and the full text goes to your clipboard.
- Fill the brackets. Use the form above, or replace [e.g. poor performance, conduct issue, redundancy], [DETAILS], [OUTCOME] with your own details.
- Paste and send. Paste it into ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot and send. Ask follow-up questions to refine the answer.
Why this prompt works
The “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt tells the assistant exactly what to hand back: meeting plan; opening script; response guide; and follow-up letter or email. It makes the assistant work through 5 steps in order, starting with "plan the structure of the meeting", instead of jumping straight to an answer. Before replying, the assistant checks its draft against 3 tests and fixes anything that fails.
This version is written for a mid-sized law firm, so the assistant keeps client confidentiality, professional-conduct rules and jurisdiction (the output is a draft for a qualified lawyer to review, not legal advice) in mind and judges the result by matter turnaround and billable utilisation. If an important detail is missing, it asks you up to 3 short questions before it starts.
How to get the best answer
- Fill every bracket with real detail: [e.g. poor performance, conduct issue, redundancy], [DETAILS], [OUTCOME] should hold real names, numbers and dates, not placeholders.
- Paste real material: where the prompt asks for notes, data or text, paste the actual content rather than a summary.
- Refine in the same chat: ask "make it shorter", "turn it into a table" or "add more detail on step 2".
- Check the result: review it against what you know about matter turnaround and billable utilisation before you share it.
Other industries
Same prompt for other industries
The same handle a difficult employee conversation prompt, rewritten for each industry.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Which AI assistant works best with the “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt?
The “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt works in any chat assistant and suits ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot best. Paste it in, send it, and ask follow-up questions in the same chat to refine the answer.
What do I fill in before sending the “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt?
Replace the 3 highlighted brackets – [e.g. poor performance, conduct issue, redundancy], [DETAILS], [OUTCOME] – with your own details. The more specific you are, the better the answer.
Is the “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt only for Legal?
No. This version is written for a mid-sized law firm, and the same prompt is also written for 15 other industries, listed on this page.
Is the “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt free to use?
Yes. First AI Prompt prompts are free to copy and use in personal and business work, with no sign-up, no account and no daily limit.
Can I trust the answer the “Handle a difficult employee conversation” prompt gives?
Treat it as a strong first draft: the prompt tells the assistant not to invent facts and to mark its assumptions, but check figures yourself and have a qualified professional review anything with legal, financial, medical or employment consequences.
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