The mistake most senior professionals make with AI is the same mistake they make with junior associates. They hand over the whole task and hope the result is right. The work feels delegated. It actually is not.
The right move is smaller. You give the model one job, the triage, and you keep the read.
The job is triage, not reading
Before you read a contract, a memo, a term sheet, or a draft, you want three things on a page:
- Risks — what in this document, if true, would cost the client money or expose the firm
- Missing — what you would expect to see in a document of this kind that is not here
- Open questions — what the document refers to that has not been resolved
That is the entire output. Three columns. Bullet points. No prose.
The prompt, in plain English
You are reviewing a [TYPE OF DOCUMENT] for a senior [LAWYER / ADVISOR / DEAL PROFESSIONAL]. Read it carefully and produce three short lists, in this order, with no other commentary:
1. Risks. What in this document, if true, would cost the client money or expose the firm. Be specific to the page.
2. Missing. What would you expect to see in a document of this kind, that is not present.
3. Open questions. What does this document refer to that has not been resolved.
Each item, one sentence. No more than ten items per list. Cite the page number where relevant.
Why four minutes
You paste the document. The model produces the three lists. You scan them. The whole loop is about four minutes for a typical twenty-page document.
You have not read the document yet. You have only seen the triage. Now you go read the document, with three lists open beside you, knowing where to slow down.
This is the part most people skip. They take the triage as the work. It is not. The triage is the map. The reading is the work.
What the triage catches
Three categories of mistake, all of which cost time later if caught late:
- The clause buried on page seventeen that contradicts page three
- The reference to an exhibit that is not attached
- The defined term that is used but never defined
- The number that does not match the schedule
- The signature block missing one party
A junior would find some of these. A senior would find more of them. The triage is faster than either, and you do the read anyway.
The printable triage prompt.
Members get the triage prompt in three professional variants — for legal review, financial review, and consulting deliverable review — plus the placeholder pattern for sanitising client material before pasting.
What it does not do
It does not produce a final opinion. It does not draft your memo. It does not negotiate. The triage is a piece of scaffolding. You take it down before you sign.
And it is sanitised. Names are placeholders. Numbers are bands. The model is reading the shape of the document, not the parties.
Filed under Workflow · The Leverage Years · Vol. I, Issue 07.