Matter Briefing

anthropics/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/skills/matter-briefing

by anthropics4a6c651889c97cc9140580363c73e0eb17379c2bNo license9.6K starsListed Oct 9, 2026Updated Oct 9, 2026Repository updated 9 days ago

Deep briefing on one matter — current posture, what's changed, next deadline, open questions, and a risk re-assessment check, ready before a GC update or outside counsel call. Use when the user says "brief me on [matter]", "where are we on [matter]", or needs a read on a specific matter.

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AI-generated overview

Produces a structured briefing on a single litigation matter from stored matter files, covering posture, changes, deadlines and risks.

What it does
Reads a matter's log row, intake narrative, history file and risk calibration config, then produces a formatted briefing document. The briefing covers current posture, recent changes, the next deadline, exposure, internal owners, a risk re-assessment prompt and open questions. It flags stale matters whose last update is over 30 days old and refuses to brief matters that are not in the matter log.
When to use it
Use when a lawyer needs a quick read on one specific matter, such as before a general counsel update or a call with outside counsel. It fits requests like "brief me on [matter]" or "where are we on [matter]". It is read-only and does not update or re-triage matters.
Requirements
Requires the litigation-legal plugin configuration files on the local filesystem: a matter log, per-matter matter.md and history.md files, and a CLAUDE.md risk calibration file. No scripts are shipped; it is instructions only.

/matter-briefing

  1. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md → risk calibration + relevant stakeholders.
  2. Follow the workflow and reference below.
  3. Read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/matter.md + ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/history.md + log row from _log.yaml.
  4. Produce briefing: current posture, what's changed since last update, next deadline, open questions, risk re-assessment check ("does the risk: field still reflect reality?").
  5. Flag staleness: if last_updated > 30 days, say so.

Matter Briefing

Purpose

Give the counsel a clean read on one matter in the time it takes to walk to a conference room. Current posture, what's changed, what's next, what's worth reconsidering.

Load context

  • ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/_log.yaml — structured row
  • ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/matter.md — narrative intake
  • ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/history.md — event log
  • ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md — risk calibration (so "risk: high" means something specific, not generic)

Conflicts gate — unbypassable. Before briefing, check _log.yaml for the matter slug. If the matter is not in _log.yaml, refuse and route:

"I don't see [matter slug] in the matter log. Run /litigation-legal:matter-intake first so the conflicts check runs and the matter workspace is set up. I won't build a briefing on a matter that hasn't been intaken — the conflicts check is the gate."

Input

Slug (required). If ambiguous or missing, ask the user to pick from a list of active matters.

The briefing

markdown
[WORK-PRODUCT HEADER — per plugin config ## Outputs — differs by role; see `## Who's using this`]
# [Matter Name] — Briefing as of [today]
**Status:** [status / stage]**Risk:** [rating] ([severity] × [likelihood])**Materiality:** [category]**Outside counsel:** [firm — lead]**Last updated:** [date] [flag ⚠️ STALE if >30d]**Conflicts:** [status — flag ⚠️ if `pending` or `not-run`]
---
## One-paragraph summary
[Current posture. What are we doing and why. Name the pivot fact if one is captured.]
## What's changed recently
[Last 3-5 entries from history.md, most recent first. If history is thin, say so.]
## What's next
- **Immediate deadline:** [next_deadline + what it is]- **Upcoming milestones:** [anything dated in matter.md or recent history]- **Decisions pending:** [open questions flagged in matter.md]
## Exposure
[Range + any change since intake. If reserved, current reserve + whether recalibration is overdue.]
## Internal owners
[Who's looped in; whether anyone should be looped in and isn't]
## Risk re-assessment check
*A prompt, not an answer.*
- Does `risk: [rating]` still feel right, or has the case moved?- Does `materiality: [category]` still match? (New facts might push toward reserve or disclosure.)- Any new stakeholder the matter needs (e.g., CISO becomes relevant after a discovery development)?
## Open questions
[From matter.md and anything unresolved in history]
## For the conversation
[If user specified a purpose — "brief me before the call with outside counsel" — tailor the final section: questions to ask, decisions to get, updates to extract. If no purpose given, omit this section.]

Staleness

If last_updated > 30 days ago: flag at the top AND suggest running /litigation-legal:matter-update [slug] after the meeting to capture whatever's discussed.

Tone

This is not marketing. Say what's known; flag what's not. If a matter has thin history and was just opened, the briefing is short — and that's correct. Don't pad.

Close with the next-steps decision tree

End with the next-steps decision tree per CLAUDE.md ## Outputs. Customize the options to what this skill just produced — the five default branches (draft the X, escalate, get more facts, watch and wait, something else) are a starting point, not a lock-in. The tree is the output; the lawyer picks.

What this skill does not do

  • Predict outcomes. Risk rating is a captured judgment, not a forecast.
  • Recommend strategy. Surfaces questions; the counsel answers them.
  • Re-triage. If the user wants to re-triage, that's an /matter-update with field changes — this skill reads, doesn't write.

Source and attribution

Source:anthropics/claude-for-legalinlitigation-legal/skills/matter-briefingat commit4a6c651

License: No license

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