Drafting a contract from scratch takes hours. Claude can produce a structured first draft from your requirements.
Contract drafting is one of the most time-consuming tasks in any legal team. Starting from a blank page — structuring the right clauses, getting the language consistent, covering all the key commercial points — takes hours even for experienced practitioners. And every hour spent on a first draft is an hour not spent on review, negotiation or higher-value work.
Claude can produce a structured first draft from your requirements. Give it the commercial terms, the parties involved, the key obligations and any specific clauses you need, and it will generate a working draft you can edit, refine and send to legal counsel for review — rather than starting from nothing.
Key insight: Claude drafts from the requirements you provide — it does not know your jurisdiction's current laws, and every draft must be reviewed and approved by a qualified attorney before it is signed or sent to a counterparty.
First draft generation
Turn commercial requirements and key terms into a structured contract draft.
Clause drafting
Draft specific clauses — limitation of liability, payment terms, IP ownership — from plain-language instructions.
Plain English rewriting
Rewrite dense legal language into clearer prose while preserving the commercial intent.
Without Claude
Spend hours on a first draft — or pay external counsel to produce one — before the real negotiation work can even begin.
With Claude
Get a structured working draft from your requirements quickly, so legal review and negotiation can start sooner.
A clear workflow keeps the contract draft grounded in your actual requirements and ready for efficient legal review.
1
Define the commercial terms
List the key deal points — parties, scope of work, payment terms, duration, termination rights and any specific obligations on each side.
2
Identify the contract type and jurisdiction
Specify what type of agreement you need (services agreement, NDA, supply contract) and which jurisdiction's law will govern it.
3
Ask Claude to produce the first draft
Paste your requirements and ask Claude to generate a structured draft with all the standard sections for that contract type.
4
Review and mark up the draft
Read the draft against your requirements — check that every commercial point is covered and that the language is clear and unambiguous.
5
Send to legal counsel for review
Have a qualified attorney review the draft before it is shared with the counterparty or executed.
Note: Claude may not include jurisdiction-specific clauses that are legally required in your state or country — always tell it the governing law and ask your attorney to verify that all mandatory provisions are present.
These prompts help generate a full contract draft or a specific clause, with clear limits on what Claude should add.
Prompt 1 — Draft a contract from requirements
Draft a [Contract Type, e.g. services agreement / supply contract / NDA] governed by the laws of [Jurisdiction].
Parties: [Party A name and role] and [Party B name and role].
Key commercial terms:
- Scope: [Insert Scope]
- Payment: [Insert Payment Terms]
- Duration: [Insert Duration]
- Termination: [Insert Termination Rights]
- Any other key obligations: [Insert]
Crucial instruction: Base the draft strictly on the requirements provided. Do not invent commercial terms, add warranties or include indemnities not specified in this prompt.
Prompt 2 — Draft a specific clause
Draft a [Clause Type, e.g. limitation of liability / intellectual property ownership / confidentiality] clause for inclusion in a [Contract Type] governed by the laws of [Jurisdiction].
The clause should reflect the following commercial position: [Insert Requirements].
Crucial instruction: Draft only what is specified. Do not add carve-outs, exceptions or cross-references to other clauses not mentioned in this prompt.
Before sending a Claude-drafted contract to the counterparty
Commercial accuracy: does the draft correctly reflect every commercial term you specified?
No invented terms: has Claude not added warranties, indemnities or obligations not in your requirements?
Jurisdiction check: has your attorney confirmed all mandatory provisions for the governing law are present?
Party details: are the legal names, addresses and roles of both parties correct throughout?
Attorney review: has a qualified lawyer reviewed and approved the draft before it is shared or signed?
Important: Claude is not a lawyer and its contract drafts do not constitute legal advice. Never send a Claude-drafted contract to a counterparty or execute it without review by a qualified attorney — an unreviewed contract can create unintended legal obligations and expose your organisation to significant risk.