Write One Role Card Before AI Touches a Law Practice

Moses Dor, Adv. · November 8, 2026 · 7 min read

Write One Role Card Before AI Touches a Law Practice

By Moses Dor, Adv., an Israeli practising attorney and founder of BizLegal AI. Last updated: 2026-11-08.

A useful law-practice AI workflow starts with a small written boundary. Before choosing a vendor or writing a long prompt, define one task on one page. I call that page a role card.

The card does not give the system authority. It tells the lawyer reviewing its work what the system may read, what it may produce, and where the task must stop.

Start with one task

"Help with my practice" is too broad to test. "Prepare a table of unread intake messages with the sender, requested service, stated date, and a link back to the message" is narrow enough to inspect.

The difference is observable output. A reviewer can compare every cell in the table with the source message. The task does not ask the system to decide whether the firm should accept the matter, whether a conflict exists, or what the sender should do.

Write the task in one sentence:

Prepare [one output] from [named source] for [named reviewer]. Do not send, file, delete, calendar, or decide anything.

If the sentence needs several "and" clauses, split it into separate tasks.

Keep standing context small

The role card should not contain client names, matter numbers, deal terms, medical facts, passwords, or document text. Standing context is material the system carries between runs. A fact placed there can appear in an unrelated output later.

For an intake-table task, the system may need to know the firm's practice areas, preferred table columns, and the lawyer responsible for review. It does not need a client list or a history of past matters.

Use categories where a name would otherwise appear. "Commercial litigation intake" gives the system enough context to format an output. A real party's name does not.

Name the source and the output

The role card should identify the source precisely. "Email" is not precise if the mailbox contains client correspondence, invoices, court notices, and marketing messages. A safer first test uses a dedicated intake label or a set of messages chosen by the lawyer.

The output should also have a fixed form. A table is easier to check than a narrative summary because each field can point back to the source.

For each output field, ask:

1. Does the source contain this answer?
2. Can the output link or quote the source?
3. What happens when the answer is missing?

The third answer should usually be "mark it unknown." A system should not complete a missing deadline, identity, or amount from context.

Write the stop line

Every role card needs an explicit stop. For a draft-only task, use:

Before delivering, check every name, date, and number against the source. List anything you could not verify. Leave the result as a draft for human review.

The stop line keeps a useful extraction task from turning into an action. It also gives the reviewer a consistent place to look for uncertainty.

A blank role card

Copy this into a document:

| Field | Your answer | |---|---| | Task | One sentence describing one job | | Source | The exact folder, label, or files selected for this run | | Standing context | Categories and formatting preferences only | | Prohibited context | Client names, matter facts, credentials, document text | | Output | A fixed table, checklist, or draft | | Reviewer | The named person who checks it | | Verification | Names, dates, and numbers checked against the source | | Stop | Nothing sent, filed, deleted, calendared, or decided | | Log | Timestamp, source, output location, reviewer, and result |

Run the task on synthetic or non-client material first. Record every field the system invents, omits, or cannot trace. Rewrite the role card before adding a connection to live professional data.

The professional-rule boundary

ABA Formal Opinion 512 is nonbinding ABA ethics guidance explaining how existing Model Rules may apply to lawyers' use of generative AI. It discusses duties including competence, confidentiality, communication, supervision, candor, and fees. Applicable duties depend on the rules and opinions adopted in each lawyer's jurisdiction.

For Israeli lawyers, ABA guidance is comparative material, not Israeli professional guidance. Israeli confidentiality, privacy, privilege, professional-conduct, and advertising requirements need separate review from official Israeli sources.

The role card is an operating control. It does not determine whether a proposed use is permitted in a particular jurisdiction or matter.

Next step

The proposed BizLegal asynchronous workshop uses this role card as its first exercise. The workshop is not on sale. Its waitlist and price question help decide whether it should be built and what it should cost.

This article is general educational information and software guidance. It is not legal advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, does not recommend a vendor, and carries no CLE, CPE, or other professional credit. Do not submit client names, matter facts, documents, or credentials to a workshop or AI tool without completing the required professional and data review.