What this skill does
Witness Statement converts your interview notes or a client's own written account into a formally structured witness statement ready for the witness's review and signature. It handles the transition from informal interview notes — which are often fragmented, non-chronological, and contain observations mixed with legal analysis — to the formal first-person narrative that is required in Swiss civil and arbitral proceedings.
The skill structures the statement chronologically, writes it in the first person from the witness's perspective, applies the appropriate formal language for legal proceedings, and flags areas where the underlying notes are ambiguous or where the witness's account needs further clarification before the statement can be finalised. It preserves the witness's own voice and formulations where they are significant, rather than replacing them with generic legal language.
The output is a working draft — the witness must read, correct, and sign it. But the draft that the skill produces is a serious starting point, not a skeleton that requires three hours of editing work.
When to use it
- Drafting the initial witness statement for a client who will be giving evidence in civil proceedings
- Converting your interview notes into a formal statement for a factual witness in a commercial arbitration
- Preparing a written witness statement for an employment tribunal or regulatory hearing
- Drafting a statement for a supporting witness in litigation who does not have legal representation themselves
What you get
A complete witness statement in formal format including: Heading (parties, proceedings, witness name and capacity), Personal Introduction (who the witness is and their relevance to the matter), Chronological Factual Account (the substantive content, structured by date and event), Direct Speech and Quotations where the witness's exact words matter, Statement of Truth in the correct form for Swiss civil proceedings, and Flagged Clarifications — a separate section listing questions that need to go back to the witness before finalisation.
Example prompt inputs
- "Client interview notes from a 90-minute meeting about a property dispute. My client is the buyer who claims the seller withheld information about structural defects"
- "Interview notes for a factual witness — a former colleague who was present at the key meeting. Please draft their statement"
- "My client's own written account of the events, which is informal and non-chronological. Please restructure it as a formal witness statement"
- "Notes from an internal investigation interview — we need a formal statement from the employee we interviewed"
Why legal-specific AI matters here
A witness statement is a legal document with specific formal requirements and serious consequences if it is wrong. It needs to be clear, chronological, confined to facts the witness personally knows (rather than hearsay or inference), and drafted in a way that will survive cross-examination. A general AI drafting tool may produce something that reads well but conflates the witness's direct knowledge with second-hand information, or that makes legal arguments rather than stating facts. Whisperit's Witness Statement skill is trained on Swiss civil procedure requirements and applies the specific drafting discipline that court-ready witness statements require.