/client-letter
- Load
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
- Use the templates and workflow below.
- Match type to template. Plain-language check.
- Output with AI-assisted label, supervision routing.
Scope: routine only. Substantive advice →
or a conversation with the professor.
/legal-clinic:client-letter appointment
/legal-clinic:client-letter doc-request
Client Letter: Routine Correspondence
Purpose
Clinics send a lot of routine correspondence: "your appointment is Tuesday at 2pm," "please bring your lease," "we filed your answer." This skill handles those from templates so students aren't typing the same letter every week.
Scope: routine only. Substantive advice, bad news, case strategy — those are
or a conversation, not a template letter.
Load context
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
→ plain-language standards, supervision style, clinic contact info.
Pedagogy check
Read the supervisor guide for this practice area at
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/guides/<practice-area>.md
. Check the
setting:
- (default): Produce the structure and the checklist (required elements, plain-language targets, sign-off per student practice rule). 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.
- : Produce the letter. Flag items for student review. The student edits and learns by reviewing.
- : Don't produce the letter. 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
. If the guide exists but doesn't set a posture, use
.
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]."
Sign-off and student-attorney disclosure
Check your jurisdiction's student practice rule for required disclosure language in letters signed by a law student. Some jurisdictions require specific forms; most require that the student identify themselves as a law student / certified legal intern and identify the supervising attorney. The templates below use a generic form — conform the sign-off to your rule before sending.
Letter types
Review label goes OUTSIDE the letter. The
[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]
tag is a note to the student, not part of the letter body. Place it above the rendered template (or in a header the student deletes before sending), never inside the fenced letter content. If it ends up in the client-facing copy, the skill has failed.
Appointment confirmation
Review label for the student (not for the client — strip before sending):
[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]
markdown
Dear [Client],
This confirms your appointment with [Clinic name]:
**Date:** [date]
**Time:** [time]
**Where:** [address / room / or "by phone at [number]"]
**With:** [student name]
**Please bring:** [documents needed — from case notes or leave as prompt
for student to fill]
If you need to reschedule, call us at [clinic phone] at least 24 hours before.
[Student name]
Law Student, Certified Legal Intern
Under the supervision of [Supervising Attorney]
[Clinic name] | [phone] | [hours]
Document request
Review label for the student (not for the client — strip before sending):
[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]
markdown
Dear [Client],
To move your case forward, we need the following documents from you:
- [Document 1 — e.g., "Your lease agreement"]
- [Document 2 — e.g., "The notice you received from your landlord"]
- [Document 3]
**How to get them to us:** [drop off at clinic / email to [address] / bring
to next appointment]
**Please send by:** [date — if there's a deadline, say why: "We need these
by [date] so we can file your answer before the court deadline."]
If you don't have some of these or aren't sure what we mean, call us at
[clinic phone] and we can help.
[Student name]
Law Student, Certified Legal Intern
Under the supervision of [Supervising Attorney]
[Clinic name] | [phone] | [hours]
Brief status update
For routine "we filed it" / "we're waiting" updates. (Fuller status updates →
.)
Review label for the student (not for the client — strip before sending):
[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]
markdown
Dear [Client],
Quick update: [one-line what happened — "We filed your answer with the court
on [date]" / "We sent the demand letter to your landlord on [date]"].
**What's next:** [one line — "We're waiting for their response" / "The court
will schedule a hearing and let us know the date"].
You don't need to do anything right now. We'll let you know when we do.
[Student name]
Law Student, Certified Legal Intern
Under the supervision of [Supervising Attorney]
[Clinic name] | [phone] | [hours]
Before sending
Sending a letter to a client is a consequential action. This plugin's gate is the supervision workflow described in
in
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
, reinforced by the Part 0 role check that confirms a licensed supervising attorney owns the clinic setup. That gate still holds: every letter clears review before it leaves the clinic.
Before sending any of the letters above, confirm:
- The draft has been reviewed per the supervision protocol in
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
- All internal review labels (, any or tags) have been removed from the client-facing copy.
- The sign-off conforms to your jurisdiction's student practice rule for law-student-signed correspondence.
This is a student draft for supervising-attorney review, not a final letter. Sending it has legal consequences for the client and may constitute legal advice or communication on the client's behalf. A licensed supervising attorney reviews, edits, and signs off before the letter leaves the clinic. Do not send without supervisor approval.
Plain-language check
Per
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
standards. Short sentences. No jargon. Reading level target enforced. If a template above includes a legal term the client might not know, explain it the first time: "We filed your 'answer' — that's the document that tells the court your side of the story."
Supervision routing
Per
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
. Routine correspondence may or may not be a flag trigger depending on the supervision style the professor chose. If lighter-touch: these go out after student review without a queue step. If formal queue: even routine letters queue.
What this skill does NOT do
- Substantive advice. If the letter would say "here's what I think about your case" or "here's what you should do," that's not routine — that's or a conversation with the professor first.
- Bad news. Case closing, adverse ruling, can't-help — those need thought, not a template. Flag for professor.
- Anything to opposing counsel or a court. Different audience, different skill ( or ).