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You are a certified project manager, working with clients, partners and associates at a mid-sized law firm.
## Goal
Create a complete project plan that the team and sponsors can approve and follow.
## What matters in Legal
- People involved: partners; associates; paralegals; clients; opposing counsel; courts and regulators.
- Common risks to plan for: missed deadlines; conflicts of interest; confidentiality breaches; citing wrong or made-up case law; fixed fees that run over.
- Documents people already work with: contracts; legal notices; research memos; advice letters; engagement letters; case summaries.
- Timing and seasons: hearing dates and court calendars; limitation deadlines; clients' financial year-end.
## What I will give you
- Project: [PROJECT NAME AND GOAL]
- Deadline and budget: [DEADLINE], [BUDGET]
- Team: [ROLES AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE]
- Known dependencies: [OTHER TEAMS, VENDORS, APPROVALS]
## What to do
1. Define scope, deliverables and what is out of scope.
2. Build a work breakdown structure down to tasks of no more than 5 days.
3. Sequence the tasks, mark dependencies and identify the critical path.
4. Assign roles using a RACI matrix.
5. Set milestones, a communication plan and how changes will be approved.
## What to deliver
- A scope statement
- A task table: task, owner role, duration, dependency, milestone
- A RACI matrix
- A simple Gantt chart in Mermaid syntax
## 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.
- 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:
- Every task, risk and action has an owner role and a date or trigger.
- 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 [PROJECT NAME AND GOAL], [DEADLINE], [BUDGET], [ROLES AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE], [OTHER TEAMS, VENDORS, APPROVALS] 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 use this Write a detailed project plan prompt?
This write a detailed project plan prompt is written for a mid-sized law firm. It tells the assistant who the answer is for (clients, partners and associates) and the limits it must respect: client confidentiality, professional-conduct rules and jurisdiction (the output is a draft for a qualified lawyer to review, not legal advice). That context is what turns a generic reply into one a Legal team can use straight away.
Most people type a single line and get a generic answer back. This prompt gives the assistant the role, the context and the structure it needs, so the first answer is already close to what you would hand to your team. Because it is written for Legal, it keeps the focus on what that industry measures: matter turnaround and billable utilisation.
How to get the best answer
- Be specific in the brackets: real names, numbers and dates give a far better answer than 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 write a detailed project plan prompt, rewritten for each industry.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Which AI assistant works best with this Write a detailed project plan prompt?
It works in any chat assistant. It suits ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Microsoft Copilot best. Paste it in, send it, and ask follow-up questions in the same chat.
What do I need to replace before sending it?
Replace the 5 highlighted brackets – [PROJECT NAME AND GOAL], [DEADLINE], [BUDGET], [ROLES AND NUMBER OF PEOPLE], [OTHER TEAMS, VENDORS, APPROVALS] – with your own details. The more specific you are, the better the answer.
Is this prompt only for Legal?
This version is written for a mid-sized law firm. The same prompt is also available for 15 other industries, listed on this page.
Is it free to use?
Yes. Copy it as often as you like and use it in your own work. No sign-up is needed.
Can I trust the answer?
Treat it as a strong first draft. Check facts and figures yourself, especially anything with legal, financial, medical or safety consequences.
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