Build a deposition outline for a witness — pull their documents from the eDiscovery platform, organize topics around the case theory, and surface impeachment material. Use when the user says "depo prep for [witness]", "build a depo outline", or "prepare for [name]'s deposition".
Copy the install command and let the AI configure it · recommended for beginners
Please install the "deposition-prep" skill from askskill: 1. Download https://raw.githubusercontent.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal/main/litigation-legal/skills/deposition-prep/SKILL.md 2. Save it as ~/.claude/skills/deposition-prep/SKILL.md 3. Reload skills and tell me it's ready
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md → case theory, key facts.If the user's jurisdiction includes England & Wales and they're asking for a trial witness statement for the Business & Property Courts (or any CPR-governed proceeding), PD 57AC applies. The statement must be in the witness's own words, must not contain argument, must identify the documents the witness used to refresh their memory, and must carry the required confirmation of compliance and the legal representative's certificate.
Drafting a narrative "as the witness" from a chronology, document set, or your account of the case is exactly what PD 57AC was designed to prevent. Courts are actively sanctioning AI-assisted witness statement drafting. If you ask me to do it, I won't.
What I WILL do: prepare question prompts to elicit the witness's actual recollection; capture and organize what the witness says (their words, not mine); generate the list of documents they were shown; run a PD 57AC compliance checklist against a statement they've drafted; draft the solicitor's certificate of compliance. I help you get the witness's evidence into the statement. I don't write the evidence.
For US depositions, declarations, and affidavits: different rules, but the same discipline applies. A declaration in the declarant's voice that the declarant didn't write is a credibility problem at best.
Before producing output, check where it's going. If the user has named a destination (a channel, a distribution list, a counterparty, "everyone"), ask whether it's inside the privilege circle. Public channels, company-wide lists, counterparty/opposing counsel, vendors, and clients (for work product) waive the protection. When the destination looks outside the circle, flag it and offer (a) the privileged version for legal only, (b) a sanitized version for the broader channel, or (c) both — don't silently apply a privileged header and then help paste it somewhere the header won't protect it. See the canonical ## Shared guardrails → Destination check in this plugin's CLAUDE.md.
A depo outline is a map: background → lock in the good facts → confront with the bad ones → box in on the theory. This skill builds the map from the documents and the case theory.
Two rules that govern every citation and every quotation pulled from the record into this outline. Canonical statement lives in the plugin's CLAUDE.md shared guardrails; repeated here because an impeachment confrontation built on a misquoted prior statement or a misgrounded transcript cite collapses the impeachment.
Verbatim quotes from the record must be verbatim. Never put quotation marks around words attributed to opposing counsel, the witness, another deponent, the court, or any record document unless you have the exact passage in front of you and can cite to it. When you want to characterize what someone said but can't find the exact words:
[verify against record — Tr. p. __]."[verify exact quote — record cite pending][verify exact quote] must be flagged in the reviewer note.…
Diff a proposed handbook change against the current version, flag ripple effects and state supplement impacts. Use when user says "update the handbook", "add this to the handbook", "handbook change", or has a policy ready for insertion.
Review an offer letter and any restrictive covenants — jurisdiction check included. Substantive rules (covenant enforceability, pay-transparency, salary-history limits, exemption criteria) are researched per hire, not stored. Use when the user says "review this offer", "can we use a non-compete here", "check this offer letter", "hiring in [state]", or attaches an offer.
Draft an audience-specific summary from the privileged investigation memo — HR, leadership, or outside counsel versions. Use when an investigation memo needs to be communicated to an audience that should not see the full privileged work product.
Track the IP portfolio — registrations, renewals, maintenance fees, and use declarations. Use when checking what's renewing, adding or updating an asset, recording a maintenance filing, or auditing the register for gaps, lapses, and use-in-commerce questions. Receives handoffs from prosecution and clearance work.
IRAC-scaffolded case analysis memo with research gaps flagged — the scaffold, not the analysis. Rule blocks are RESEARCH NEEDED, Application is STUDENT ANALYSIS prompts, Conclusion is blank. Use when a student needs to scaffold a case analysis memo, write up their analysis, or build an IRAC memo for a case.
Read VDR documents and extract issues per house categories and materiality thresholds, producing findings in house memo format. Use when user says "review the data room", "extract issues from [folder]", "diligence review", "what's in the VDR", or points at VDR documents.