First draft of a common clinic document — practice-area templates (asylum applications, eviction answers, protective order petitions, demand letters), jurisdiction-aware formatting, explicitly a starting point requiring student analysis and attorney review. Use when a student needs a first draft of a motion, letter, petition, declaration, or other clinic document.
Copy the install command and let the AI configure it · recommended for beginners
Please install the "draft" skill from askskill: 1. Download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal/main/legal-clinic/skills/draft/SKILL.md 2. Save it as ~/.claude/skills/draft/SKILL.md 3. Reload skills and tell me it's ready
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md → practice-area templates, jurisdiction, local rules, supervision style.[FACT NEEDED], [VERIFY], [UNCERTAIN] flags inline./legal-clinic:draft eviction-answer
/legal-clinic:draft asylum-declaration
Students spend enormous time on first drafts of documents where the educational value is in the analysis and strategy, not in formatting a caption or writing "Dear Judge." This skill produces the first draft from case notes and practice-area templates so the student's time goes to the thinking.
Every draft is explicitly a starting point. Not final work product. The student analyzes, revises, and the professor reviews before anything goes anywhere.
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md → practice areas, practice-area templates, jurisdiction (state + local court + any local rules ingested), supervision style.
Case notes or intake summary for the facts.
Read the supervisor guide for this practice area at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/guides/<practice-area>.md. Check the pedagogy_posture setting:
guide (default): Produce the structure and the checklist. Ask the student to draft each section. Give feedback on their draft (register, reading level, required elements, what they missed). Offer to fill a section only when the student has tried once.assist: Produce the work product. Flag items for student review. The student edits and learns by reviewing.teach: Don't produce the work product. Ask the student to draft it. Give feedback. Ask leading questions when they're stuck. Only show a model paragraph after two attempts, and only the section they're stuck on. Track what they got right and wrong so the supervisor can see progress.If no guide exists, use guide. If the guide exists but doesn't set a posture, use guide.
Whatever the posture, the output always includes: "Pedagogy mode: [assist/guide/teach] — set by your supervisor's guide. This means I [description of what the student did vs what the skill did]."
Jurisdiction assumption. The draft assumes the state, court, and local rules set in CLAUDE.md. Caption format, service requirements, page limits, filing windows, and substantive rules vary materially across jurisdictions and even between courts in the same state. If the matter is in a different court or a different state, confirm with your supervisor before relying on any format, deadline, or argument in the draft.
Match the request to the clinic's template set (from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md). Common set by practice area:
| Practice area | Documents |
|---|---|
| Immigration | I-589 asylum application narrative, client declaration, motion to change venue, motion to continue, FOIA request, country conditions summary |
| Housing | Eviction answer, demand letter (repairs/deposit), motion to stay execution, discovery requests |
| Family | Protective order petition, custody declaration, motion to modify, financial affidavit |
| Consumer | Debt validation letter, FDCPA demand letter, answer to collection complaint, motion to vacate default |
| General litigation | Motion template, notice of appearance, certificate of service |
…
Draft DMCA notices, triage incoming claims, and prepare counter-notice drafts.
Standardize new matter intake and generate matter files plus a structured log.
Compare proposed handbook edits and identify cross-reference and state supplement impacts.
Review offer letters and restrictive covenants with jurisdiction-specific hiring checks.
Create audience-specific summaries from privileged investigation memos safely.
Search watched skill registries, preview matches, and inspect SKILL.md before installing.