Prompt engineering has become an essential skill for legal professionals using generative AI. The idea is to structure your requests so you get accurate, relevant and actionable answers. Several techniques exist: zero-shot (a direct instruction with no example), few-shot (with examples), and chain-of-thought (step-by-step reasoning), the latter being especially well suited to legal reasoning.
A good legal prompt combines four key elements: the role ("You are a lawyer specialising in employment law"), the context (jurisdiction, type of client, what is at stake), the task ("Draft a summary note on...") and the expected format (structure, length, level of detail). This methodology turns a generic tool into a high-performing legal assistant.
In 2025, the American Bar Association recognised that prompt engineering amounts to a natural extension of a lawyer's skills. Asking the right questions, structuring an argument and assessing whether an answer holds up are reflexes already deeply embedded in legal practice. Zevra's training programmes teach these techniques adapted to the French legal context.