What you'll accomplish
By the end of this guide, you'll be able to paste or upload any legal document into Claude and get a plain-English summary in under 2 minutes — useful for quickly understanding what a lengthy motion or filing is requesting before processing it, preparing materials for judges, or drafting responses to complex correspondence.
What you'll need
- A free Claude account at {{tool:Claude.url}} — Claude.ai
- Access on a personal device (note: check your court's IT policy before using personal AI tools on government devices; a personal phone or laptop during a break is a safe starting point)
- The document to summarize (PDF or text)
- Time needed: 30 minutes setup; 2 minutes per document after that
- Cost: Free (Claude free tier is sufficient for most documents)
Important: Do not input case-specific personally identifiable information or confidential case data into commercial AI services. Use this tool for documents where you control the content, or redact identifying information before uploading.
How-To Guide: Summarize Legal Documents with Claude
Step 1: Create your Claude account
- Go to {{tool:Claude.url}} and click Sign Up
- Sign up with your personal email
- Start with the free tier — it handles most document summaries
What you should see: The Claude chat interface with a text input bar and a paperclip icon for file uploads.