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A free guide by Mariah Brunner ↗ INSTAGRAM ↗ TIKTOK

Turn Claude Into
Your Legal Team

Teach Claude your contract rules once, then have every agreement checked against them, with the changes to ask for. For yourself or your business.

Clio’s 2025 Legal Trends Report found 79% of legal professionals use AI in their firms. So before you pay someone hundreds of dollars to read a contract, see how much of that first pass you can do yourself.

In May, Anthropic launched Claude for Legal, a set of plugins for legal work. The one you want is Commercial Legal. It reviews NDAs, vendor agreements and software contracts against your own rules, and drafts the changes to ask for.

Before You Start
  1. You need a paid plan. Plugins work on Pro, Max, Team and Enterprise. On the free plan, skip to the no-plugin prompt below.
  2. It works in Claude chat, Cowork and Claude Code. Claude Code is the best fit: it saves your rules to a file every review reads.
  3. It’s a first pass, not a lawyer. Anthropic says every output is a draft for attorney review, not legal advice.
Set It Up In 3 Steps

Step 1

Add the Commercial Legal plugin

In the Claude app, go to Customize, then Plugins. Search "commercial," click Add, then Continue. Plugins you add also show up in Claude Code when you sign in with the same account. (How plugins work)

In Claude Code, you can install it straight from Anthropic’s GitHub instead, then restart Claude Code:

Install In Claude Code
/plugin marketplace add anthropics/claude-for-legal /plugin install commercial-legal@claude-for-legal

Step 2

Teach it your rules

Run: /commercial-legal:cold-start-interview

This is the setup. Its own docs say skipping it is the number one reason you get generic results. It asks:

  1. Who you are. Lawyer, non-lawyer with a lawyer you can ask, or non-lawyer without one. If you’re not a lawyer, every review is labeled research notes, not legal advice.
  2. Where you are. Your state or country, since contract law changes by location.
  3. Which side you’re on. Selling your work (freelancers, creators, agencies) or buying from a vendor. This flips almost every rule.

Quick setup takes about 2 minutes. Full setup takes 10 to 20 and learns from 5 to 10 contracts you’ve already signed. Fill in the template below first so you know your rules going in.

Fill In Your Rules
MY CONTRACT RULES About me - I am a: [freelancer / creator / small business owner] - What I do: [e.g. brand videos, web design, bookkeeping] - I am based in: [state or country] - Most of my contracts are: [me selling my work to a client / me buying a tool or service / both] 1. Auto-renewal. No contract renews on its own unless I get an email reminder at least [30] days before. I must be able to cancel any time before the renewal date with no fee. 2. Cancelling. I can cancel with [30] days written notice. No cancellation fee higher than [one month / $___]. If they cancel, they pay for all work done up to that day. 3. Getting paid. Payment is due within [15 / 30] days of my invoice. I take [50]% up front on any project over $[___]. Flag anything over 30 days (like "Net 60" or "Net 90"). 4. Late fees. Unpaid invoices get a late fee of [1.5]% per month (or the legal max where I live, if lower). Flag any contract that lets them hold payment for any reason. 5. Who owns the work. I own my work until I am paid in full. After full payment, the client gets [full ownership / a license to use it]. I keep the right to show the work in my portfolio. I keep my tools, templates, and methods. 6. Usage rights (creators). A brand can use my content for [30 / 60 / 90] days, only on [organic social / the channels we list]. Paid ads, whitelisting, or use after that window cost extra: [$___ or ___% of my fee]. Flag "perpetual," "in all media," "worldwide," or "royalty-free forever." 7. Exclusivity. No exclusivity over [30] days after the last post. It must name the exact competitors, not a whole industry. Longer exclusivity costs extra. 8. Non-compete. I do not sign non-competes that stop me from working in my field. A non-solicit (I won't steal their staff or clients) is fine for [12] months max. 9. Scope. The contract must list exactly what I deliver and how many rounds of edits ([2]). Extra work needs a written change order and extra pay. Flag vague words like "and other tasks as needed." 10. Liability cap. The most I can owe them for anything is [the fees paid under this contract / $___]. Flag any contract with no cap. 11. Indemnity. I only cover them for problems I cause on purpose or through my own carelessness. Flag any "indemnify for any and all claims" language, or any clause where only I take on this risk. 12. Ending the contract. Either side can end it with [14 / 30] days notice. Flag any contract that lets only them end it, or lets them end it "for any reason" with no pay for work done. 13. Governing law. Disputes use the laws of [my state] and happen in [my county / online]. Flag forced arbitration far from me or clauses where I give up a jury trial. 14. Confidentiality. Fine if it goes both ways and lasts [2 / 3] years. Flag anything that says forever, or stops me from saying I worked with them. 15. My deal-breaker. Never sign if: [e.g. they can change the price or terms without my OK]. How to rate things - RED: breaks one of my rules or my deal-breaker. - YELLOW: not a rule break, but one-sided or unclear. Missing terms count as YELLOW too. - GREEN: fair and matches my rules.

Add a rule any time: /commercial-legal:customize then type "Add to my playbook: flag automatic renewals or fees for cancelling."

Step 3

Review a contract

Run: /commercial-legal:review

Attach the contract and say which side you’re on, like "I’m the supplier" or "I’m the customer." It confirms the contract type, then gives you a memo of every term that breaks your rules, with the exact wording to ask for instead.

After that it offers a short sign-or-don’t summary, a tracked-changes Word file, and adding any auto-renewal date to your renewal list.

Two More Commands Worth Knowing
  1. /commercial-legal:renewal-tracker shows what renews in the next 90 days and your cancel-by dates.
  2. /commercial-legal:stakeholder-summary gives you the two-minute version: can I sign this, and what do I need to know.
No Plugin? Use This Prompt

Works in any Claude chat, including the free plan. Attach the contract as a PDF or Word file, paste your filled-in rules where it says, and send. You get a rules table with exact quotes, suggested wording, your top 3 asks and a friendly email to send.

Contract Review Prompt
You are helping me review a contract before I sign it. I am not a lawyer. Use plain words and short sentences. This is not legal advice, and I know that. MY SIDE: I am the [client paying for something / person or business getting paid / creator working with a brand]. The other side is [company name]. WHAT THIS CONTRACT IS: [e.g. a brand deal, a freelance project, a software subscription, an NDA]. The total money involved is about $[___]. MY RULES: [paste your My Contract Rules here] Please do this, in order: 1. Summary. In 3 sentences, tell me what this contract makes me do, what it makes them do, and how long it lasts. 2. Check against my rules. Make a table with these columns: My rule | What the contract says (exact quote with section number) | Rating (RED, YELLOW, or GREEN) | Why, in one plain sentence. - If the contract says nothing about one of my rules, list it as YELLOW and say "Missing." - Only quote words that are really in the contract. If you cannot find it, say so. Do not guess. 3. Other things to watch. List any clause my rules do not cover that could hurt me, with an exact quote and a rating. Look hard at: automatic renewal, cancel fees, payment timing, who owns the work, how long they can use my content, non-competes, indemnity, liability limits, and anything they can change without asking me. 4. Suggested changes. For every RED and YELLOW item, write the new wording I should ask for. Show it like this: - Section: [number] - Now says: "[exact quote]" - Ask for: "[your new wording]" - Fallback if they say no: "[a middle-ground version]" Keep the new wording fair to both sides, so they are more likely to say yes. 5. Top 3. Rank the 3 changes that matter most to me, and say why in one line each. 6. Email to send. Write a short, friendly email to [their name] asking for the top changes. Thank them, say I am excited to work together, list the changes in a simple numbered list, and invite a quick call. Skip legal jargon and threats. Keep it under 200 words. 7. Questions for a lawyer. List any items you are unsure about, anything that depends on the law where I live, and 3 questions I should ask a lawyer. Rules for you: - Never make up quotes or laws. If you are not sure, say "I am not sure" and add it to step 7. - If the contract is unclear or a page looks missing, tell me. - End with this line: "This is a first-pass review, not legal advice. For big deals, anything you can't afford to lose, or anything that worries you, have a licensed lawyer look before you sign."
  1. Use it once. Paste the Contract Review Prompt into a new chat in Claude or ChatGPT, fill in the [brackets], and send. Paste your rules in the MY RULES spot.
  2. Keep it. In Claude, make a Project, click Set project instructions, paste it in and save. Every chat in that Project starts with it. In ChatGPT, do the same with a Project’s instructions.
When To Call A Real Lawyer

Use Claude for the first pass and to know what to ask. Get a licensed lawyer for lawsuits or letters from a regulator, equity or loans, hiring and firing, any deal big enough to sink you, and anything touching health data or children’s data.

Need a cease and desist or a demand letter for an unpaid invoice? My Claude for Legal guide has prompts for both.