Why prompting matters
The LexHub Assistant is only as effective as the instructions you give it. A well-structured prompt gets you a targeted, source-backed answer in one go. A vague prompt gets you a vague answer — and more follow-up work.
This guide walks you through the principles and techniques that will help you get the most out of the Assistant, whether you're asking a quick legal question or running a complex document analysis.
Phase 1: Set the right foundation
1. Think before you type
Before opening the Assistant, take a moment to clarify what you actually need. Ask yourself:
What is the legal question I need answered?
Which documents or sources are relevant?
What format do I need the output in — a summary, a list, a clause, a comparison?
Who will use this output, and what decisions does it need to support?
You don't need to write a full brief. But clear thinking leads to clear prompts — and clear prompts lead to useful answers.
Instead of: "Tell me about this contract" Try: "Summarise the key obligations of the supplier under this contract, focusing on delivery timelines and liability caps."
2. Always provide context
The Assistant does not know anything about your matter beyond what you tell it or upload. The more relevant context you provide, the more accurate and useful the response will be.
Useful context includes:
The jurisdiction — e.g. "under Dutch law" or "in the context of EU regulation"
The document type — e.g. "this is a services agreement governed by English law"
Your role — e.g. "I am reviewing this on behalf of the buyer"
The specific clause or section — e.g. "focus on Article 12, the limitation of liability clause"
Instead of: "Is this indemnity clause acceptable?" Try: "I am reviewing this contract on behalf of the buyer. Under Dutch law, is the indemnity clause in Article 8 balanced, and are there any terms I should push back on?"
3. Ground your question in the right sources
LexHub lets you control what the Assistant draws from. Before you ask your question, decide:
Should the answer be based on an uploaded document? If so, attach the file or select the relevant Dossier.
Should it draw from legal sources? Select EUR-Lex, Rechtspraak, or other available sources as appropriate.
Does it need both? You can combine uploaded documents with legal sources in the same query.
Grounding your question in the right sources keeps the answer relevant and makes it easier to verify through citations.
Phase 2: Write sharper prompts
4. Be specific about what you want
Vague questions produce vague answers. The more precise your prompt, the more targeted the response.
Specify:
What you want (a summary, a comparison, a risk assessment, a list of obligations)
Which part of a document you're asking about
What criteria the AI should use to evaluate
Instead of: "What are the risks in this NDA?" Try: "Identify the top three risks in this NDA from the perspective of the disclosing party, focusing on the definition of confidential information, permitted disclosures, and the term of the agreement."
5. Ask one question at a time
It's tempting to ask the Assistant to do everything at once. Resist this. Multiple questions in a single prompt often lead to incomplete answers, with some questions addressed more thoroughly than others.
Break complex tasks into steps:
First, ask for a summary of the document
Then, ask a specific question about a clause
Then, ask for a risk assessment
This approach gives you more control, makes it easier to verify each answer, and keeps citations clear and traceable.
6. Specify the format of the output
If you need the answer in a particular format, say so. The Assistant can adapt its output to suit your needs.
Useful format instructions include:
"Present the answer as a numbered list"
"Use a table with two columns: clause and risk level"
"Give me a short executive summary, no more than five sentences"
"Structure the answer by: issue, analysis, recommendation"
Example: "Review the termination clause and present your findings as a table with three columns: issue, legal risk, and suggested amendment."
7. Use the Prompt library for consistency
If you find yourself writing similar prompts regularly — for contract reviews, due diligence, or regulatory checks — save them to the Prompt library. This ensures you apply the same standard approach every time, and makes it easy to share prompts with colleagues.
You can also use the AI-improved prompt feature to let the Assistant refine and restructure your prompt before it generates a response. This is particularly useful when you know what you want but are unsure how to phrase it.
Phase 3: Work with documents effectively
8. Upload before you ask
Always upload your document before asking a question about it. The Assistant can only analyse content that has been provided — it will not guess or fill in gaps from general knowledge when a document is attached.
If you're working on the same matter repeatedly, set up a Dossier so your documents are always available without needing to re-upload each time.
9. Point to specific clauses
Rather than asking about a document in general, refer to specific sections, clauses, or articles. This produces more precise answers and makes citations easier to verify.
Instead of: "What does this contract say about liability?" Try: "What does Article 14 say about the limitation of liability, and how does it interact with the indemnification clause in Article 15?"
10. Use Workflows for structured tasks
For common, high-frequency tasks, use a Workflow instead of writing a prompt from scratch. Workflows are pre-built for legal tasks and are optimised to produce structured, reliable output.
Available workflows include:
Summarise document — for structured overviews of contracts or briefs
Summarise redlines — for understanding changes between document versions
Extract timeline — for pulling out dates, deadlines, and obligations
Compare document versions — for side-by-side comparison with explanations
Workflows save time and produce consistent results across similar documents.
Phase 4: Verify and refine
11. Always check the citations
Every answer from the Assistant includes inline citations. Before relying on any output professionally, open the source drawer and verify that the cited passages actually support the answer given.
Citations are not just a trust feature — they are your quality check. If a citation does not match the answer, refine your prompt and ask again.
12. Iterate, don't start over
If the first answer isn't quite right, refine your prompt rather than rewriting it from scratch. Small adjustments often produce significantly better results.
Useful refinement techniques:
Add a constraint: "Focus only on obligations that apply to the buyer"
Change the format: "Reformat this as a risk matrix"
Narrow the scope: "Only look at Section 3, not the entire agreement"
Request a different perspective: "Now analyse this from the seller's point of view"
The Assistant retains the context of your conversation, so follow-up questions build naturally on what came before.
13. Save what works
When you find a prompt that produces exactly the kind of output you need, save it to the Prompt library. Good prompts are an asset — they encode your standards and can be reused, shared, and refined over time.
Quick reference: prompt checklist
Before you submit a prompt, run through this checklist:
Have I uploaded the relevant document or selected the right Dossier?
Have I selected the appropriate legal sources?
Have I specified the jurisdiction?
Have I identified which clause or section I'm asking about?
Have I specified the output format I need?
Am I asking one focused question, not several at once?