Guide · Agent skill
How to use the Client Letter Drafter agent skill
Updated · written with AI from the project's own documentation and checked against our catalogue data
The Client Letter Drafter is an agent skill for Claude that helps law clinic students write routine letters to clients, such as appointment confirmations, document requests and brief notes saying a filing was made. This guide explains what the skill does, how to install it from a ZIP file, how to trigger it with plain requests, and what it needs before you start. By the end you will know how to get a routine letter drafted from a template and how the supervision step works.
Client Letter Drafteranthropics/claude-for-legal · Apache-2.0 Download the skill Quick start
- 1Download the ZIP. Download the client-letter ZIP from this page.
- 2Unzip into a skills folder. Unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use, or into .claude/skills/ inside a project.
- 3Or upload in the Claude apps. In the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, and upload the skill under Skills.
- 4Create the CLAUDE.md config file. Create ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md with your supervision style and clinic contact info.
- 5Make a routine request. Ask for an appointment confirmation, document request or brief update, with the client details.
- 6Review and strip labels. Have your supervisor review the draft, remove internal tags and check the sign-off before sending.
What an agent skill is and what this one does
An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file that gives an AI agent specific instructions for one task. When the task matches the skill, the agent follows those instructions instead of improvising.
The client-letter skill fills in standard templates for three kinds of routine correspondence: appointment confirmations, document requests and brief status updates. It checks that the wording is plain and that required elements are present, and it adds a label marking the draft as AI-assisted for supervisor review.
- Appointment confirmation: date, time, location and what to bring
- Document request: a list of documents the client needs to send, with how and when to send them
- Brief status update: a one-line account of what happened and what comes next
Install the client-letter skill
Download the ZIP for this skill from this page. The skill is packaged as a single SKILL.md file inside the ZIP. Install it in one of two ways.
Option 1: unzip it into your personal skills folder, ~/.claude/skills/, or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want it available only in that project.
Option 2: in the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, and upload the skill under Skills.
- Personal install: ~/.claude/skills/
- Project install: .claude/skills/ inside your project folder
- Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills
Set up the configuration file the skill needs
The skill reads a configuration file before it drafts anything. It holds your plain-language standards, your supervision style and your clinic contact details. The skill expects this file at the path below.
If you have a supervisor guide for your practice area, place it at the second path. The guide can set a teaching posture for the skill. If no guide exists, or the guide does not set one, the skill uses guide mode.
- Required: ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md
- Optional: ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/guides/<practice-area>.md
~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.mdTrigger the skill with a natural request
You can ask for the skill in plain language. Name the kind of letter you need and give the details: the client, the date and the clinic's name. The skill also accepts a command-style argument with one of three types: appointment, doc-request or update.
The skill matches the letter type to a template. If your request is about substantive legal advice, case strategy or bad news, the skill does not draft a template letter. It routes you to /status client or to a conversation with your supervising professor instead.
- Example request: "Draft an appointment confirmation for my client Maria, Tuesday at 2pm, bring her lease."
- Example request: "Write a document request letter asking the client for the notice from her landlord by Friday."
- Example request: "Draft a brief update telling the client we filed her answer on Monday."
/legal-clinic:client-letter appointmentReview the draft before it goes anywhere
The output is a student draft for supervising-attorney review, not a final letter. Before sending any letter, remove the internal review label, confirm the draft has been reviewed under the supervision protocol in your CLAUDE.md file, and make sure the sign-off meets your jurisdiction's student practice rule.
The review label sits above the letter, not inside it. Delete it before the letter reaches the client. The skill says that a licensed supervising attorney must approve every letter before it leaves the clinic.
- Confirm the supervision protocol was followed (queue, flag or lighter-touch)
- Remove all internal tags such as [AI-ASSISTED DRAFT], [VERIFY] or [FACT NEEDED]
- Check the sign-off names you as a law student or certified legal intern and names your supervising attorney
Know what the skill will not do
The skill is built for routine correspondence only. It does not give substantive legal advice, deliver bad news or set case strategy. Those belong to a supervisor or a direct conversation.
The skill's own documentation does not describe scripts or network use. The source lists this skill as running no scripts and using no network access.
- Does not give substantive advice about a case
- Does not handle bad news or case strategy
- Does not replace review by a licensed supervising attorney
What people use it for
- A clinic student sends a weekly appointment confirmation to each client with the time, room and documents to bring.
- A student asks a client for a lease and a landlord notice using a consistent, plain-language document request.
- A student sends a short note telling a client that the clinic filed an answer, with one line on what happens next.
- A clinic administrator sets standard letter templates so every student's routine letters look the same.
Frequently asked questions
How do I install the client-letter agent skill?
Download the ZIP from this page and unzip it into ~/.claude/skills/ for personal use or into a project's .claude/skills/ folder. You can also upload it in the Claude apps under Settings, then Capabilities, then Skills.
What does the client-letter skill need to run?
It needs the Claude for Legal plugin setup and a CLAUDE.md config file at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/. That file should hold your supervision style and clinic contact info. An optional supervisor guide at guides/<practice-area>.md can set a teaching posture.
Is the client-letter skill free?
The source material for this page does not state pricing or licence cost terms beyond the licence name. The listed licence is Apache-2.0, so check the licence file in the repository for its terms.
Does the client-letter skill run scripts or use the network?
According to the listing, it runs no scripts and uses no network access. It works from a SKILL.md file and your local configuration file.
Can the skill send letters to clients for me?
No. The output is a draft for review. A licensed supervising attorney must review, edit and approve each letter before it leaves the clinic.
What should I use instead for case advice or bad news?
The skill routes substantive advice, bad news and case strategy to /status client or to a conversation with your supervising professor. Use those rather than a template letter for those topics.
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Our verdict
This skill suits law clinic students who send repetitive routine letters under a supervising attorney, and clinic administrators who want consistent plain-language templates. It is a poor fit for substantive advice, bad news, case strategy, or anyone sending letters without supervisor review.
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