Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-17-2026

Keywords

artificial intelligence, AI, prompt engineering, chunking, few-shot prompting, iterative prompt refinement, prompt chaining, flipped interaction prompting, perspective switching

Abstract

There are many different strategies and techniques that can be applied to prompt engineering. However, there are six methods that are particularly useful for lawyers: Chunking, which involves dividing a large task into smaller, more manageable requests; Few-shot prompting, which involves giving artificial intelligence examples to guide a response; Iterative prompt refinement, which involves repeatedly rephrasing or refining questions to lead to a better response; Prompt chaining, which involves guiding the artificial intelligence through related multi-step reasoning; Flipped interaction prompting, which involves asking the artificial intelligence to ask the user questions to prompt new thoughts, like the Socratic method; and Perspective switching, which involves asking the artificial intelligence to view its output from various perspectives to identify and eliminate weaknesses.

Each of these six techniques will be considered in detail in the subsequent entries in this series, culminating in a final example that combines all the techniques to perform a legal task. In this part, we are going to explore chunking and few-shot prompting.

It is notable that there are fine distinctions between some of these techniques. Three are especially similar: chunking, prompt chaining, and iterative prompt refinement. Chunking involves dividing a large, complex task into separate, independent components that can each be individually analyzed, then combined later, such as reviewing each lease clause separately before synthesizing results. By contrast, prompt chaining breaks a task into sequential, dependent steps, with each prompt explicitly building on the response from the previous step, much like following a step-by-step recipe. Finally, iterative prompt refinement entails repeatedly revising and improving the same task through incremental adjustments until the output is optimized, comparable to repeatedly editing and polishing a single document draft. Understanding these distinctions helps attorneys select the most effective prompting strategies for their specific needs.

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