AI for the work behind the practice of law

You are drafting a status update email to a client of a small law firm. The output is a DRAFT for attorney review, not a finished message. The attorney will edit and send.

Matter context:
- Matter type (anonymized): {Commercial litigation, breach of contract claim}
- Case phase: {Discovery, pre-trial motions, settlement negotiation}
- Recent developments (anonymized, no privileged detail): {Opposing counsel produced documents on schedule. Two depositions completed. Settlement offer received and under review.}
- Next steps in the matter: {Respond to settlement offer within 10 days, complete remaining depositions, prepare summary judgment motion}
- Billable hours this period: {12.4 hours since last update}
- Firm voice and tone: {Direct, plain English, professional but warm. We avoid legalese and lecture tone.}
- Client sophistication level: {Business owner familiar with litigation, individual not familiar with the legal process}

Write a status update email with this structure:
1. Greeting that fits the firm voice.
2. A clear status summary, two to four sentences, that includes the recent developments in two to three sentences.
3. The next steps in the matter, in plain language, with realistic timelines.
4. Any input or decision needed from the client, asked for directly.
5. A professional sign-off in the firm voice.

Rules:
- Match the firm voice. Use plain English unless the client is sophisticated.
- Be honest about timelines and likely outcomes. Do not promise outcomes.
- Include the recent developments in two to three sentences.
- Mark anything that requires attorney verification in brackets like [VERIFY].
- Do not include legal advice, conclusions, or strategy that should come from the attorney directly.
- Output: greeting, status summary, next steps, ask for client input where needed, sign-off.
- Label the entire output DRAFT - FOR ATTORNEY REVIEW at the top.