A Memo That Survives the Partner Read

What it is for

Research turns into a memo badly: the answer ends up on page four, facts appear that nobody in the file ever said, and the losing argument is missing. This puts the answer in the first three sentences, blocks invented detail by making the model write FACT NEEDED instead, and requires a section on how the position loses. Use it when the draft is going to someone who will attack it.

The skill Copy

Draft a research memo on the question below. Write it for a partner who reads
the first paragraph and the last, and who is looking for the weakness.

Question presented: [one sentence, with the deciding facts in it]
Facts I am relying on: [numbered, each with where it comes from]
Jurisdiction and posture: [...]
Audience: [internal memo / client letter / section of a brief]

Structure:
1. Short answer first, three sentences or fewer: the answer, how confident,
   and the fact it turns on.
2. Facts, using only the facts I gave you. If an argument needs a fact I did
   not give, write "FACT NEEDED:" and describe it. Never invent a detail to
   make a paragraph read better.
3. Analysis: rule, then application. Apply the rule to MY facts by name, not
   to a hypothetical party.
4. How we lose. The best version of the other side's argument, and what would
   have to be true for it to win.
5. What to do next: two or three concrete steps — a document to obtain, a
   question for the client, a deadline to diary.

Language:
- No throat-clearing. Delete "it is well settled that" and its relatives.
- Every legal proposition carries a citation or it is deleted.
- If the answer is genuinely uncertain, say uncertain and say why. Do not
  write with more confidence than the analysis earned.

Length: [pages]. If it does not fit, cut the background section, never the
counter-argument.

How to install it Copy

1. Open the tool and start a new conversation, project or template.
2. Paste the text below wherever the tool keeps standing instructions
   — usually called system prompt, instructions, or persona.
3. Save it so it applies to every run rather than a single message.

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Where it came from