Everyone has the same AI. The firms getting real output gave theirs context — five documents the AI reads before every task. Last year's model with good context beats this year's model without it. This kit is those five documents, with the exact questions to answer.
How to use this — 4 steps
Create one folder on your computer: firm-brain
For each template below: open your AI assistant, paste the template, answer the questions OUT LOUD with voice dictation. Brain-dump, don't write. Then say: "Structure my answers into this template and save it."
Tell your AI assistant to read that folder at the start of every task. Every draft, letter, and analysis is now about YOUR firm, not a generic one.
Update a file when something changes. Stale context = confident wrong answers.
1 — firm.md: Who We Are
Stops the AI giving you generic big-firm advice.
Answer out loud (10 minutes)
Firm name, locations, years in practice?
How many attorneys? How many staff, and who does what — intake, paralegal, billing, reception?
What practice areas, and roughly what % of revenue is each?
What systems run the firm — case management, billing, phones, calendar, documents?
How many new matters a month? How many active right now?
How do clients pay — flat fee, hourly, contingency, payment plans? Typical ranges?
The firm's biggest operational headache today?
Who makes decisions, and who must be consulted before anything changes?
Right documents, right timelines. One section per practice area — biggest one first.
Answer out loud (per practice area)
What matter types do you take — and which do you decline?
Walk through intake: first contact to signed. Who touches it at each step?
Typical matter timeline, start to close? Where do matters stall?
The standard document set — what gets drafted on every matter?
Court and jurisdiction rules the AI must NEVER get wrong — deadlines, local rules, judge preferences?
Could you take 20% more of these matters tomorrow? What breaks first?
Template
# Practice Area: ___
- Matter types taken / declined:
- Intake flow (step → owner):
- Typical timeline & stall points:
- Standard document set:
- Jurisdiction rules that are NON-NEGOTIABLE:
- Capacity & first bottleneck:
3 — client-profile.md: Who We Serve (and Who We Don't)
The highest-leverage file. Intake scoring and marketing that converts both come from this one.
Answer out loud
Describe your last five GREAT clients. What did they have in common — situation, urgency, ability to pay?
What do they all say in the first call? What words do THEY use for their problem?
The real reason they pick you over the firm down the street?
What objections come up before signing, and what actually overcomes each one?
Where do your best clients come from — referral, search, past client? Be honest about the numbers.
Describe the clients you should have declined. The earliest signal you can spot them by?
What is a client worth over the whole relationship — referrals and repeat matters included?
Template
# Ideal Client
- Who they are (situation, urgency, finances):
- Their words for the problem:
- Why they choose us:
- Common objections → what works:
- Where they come from (ranked, rough %):
- Lifetime value:
# Wrong-Fit Client
- Earliest warning signs:
- Polite decline script:
4 — strategy.md: Where We're Going
Without this file, the AI gives you advice for a firm you're not trying to be.
Answer out loud
What does the firm look like in 12 months if this year goes right — revenue, headcount, practice mix?
The ONE number that matters most this quarter?
What are you deliberately NOT doing — practice areas, client types, channels you've ruled out?
The growth constraint right now — leads, conversion, capacity, collections, or cash?
What marketing runs today, and what does each channel actually cost and produce?
What would you stop doing tomorrow if you could?
Template
# Strategy
- 12-month picture:
- This quarter's #1 number:
- NOT doing (on purpose):
- Current constraint:
- Marketing channels (cost → result):
- Kill list:
5 — voice.md: How We Sound
The difference between AI drafts you send and AI drafts you rewrite.
Answer out loud
Find the three best emails you ever sent a client — the ones that landed. Paste them. What do they share?
How formal is the firm — "Dear Mr. Smith" or "John,"?
Words your firm uses on purpose. Words you'd never use?
How do you talk about fees — direct, gentle, apologetic? What SHOULD it be?
How do you deliver bad news? Paste a real example you were proud of.
Sign-off style?
Template
# Voice
- Formality level:
- Greeting / sign-off pattern:
- Use these words:
- Never these words:
- Fees, how we say it:
- Bad news, how we deliver it:
- 3 gold-standard emails (paste in full):