How to use the Clinic Document First Drafts agent skill (draft)

What the draft skill makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder of instructions that an agent such as Claude Code loads when a request matches it. The draft skill tells the agent how to produce a first draft of a common clinic document, such as an eviction answer, a demand letter, a protective order petition, or an asylum declaration, using the clinic's practice-area templates.

The skill is built around the idea that a student's time should go to analysis and strategy rather than formatting a caption. Every draft is explicitly a starting point, not final work product. The output carries a prominent AI-assisted label, a student review checklist, and routing to a supervising professor before anything is filed.

• Matches the requested document to the clinic's template set
• Gathers facts from case notes and flags any that are missing instead of guessing
• Applies the jurisdiction formatting saved in the clinic's CLAUDE.md
• Marks uncertain items inline with [FACT NEEDED], [VERIFY], and [UNCERTAIN] flags
• Adds a review checklist and a supervision routing note

Install the draft skill from the ZIP

Download the ZIP for the skill from this directory page and unzip it. The skill is a single file named SKILL.md. Place the unzipped folder in one of these locations, depending on whether you want it for all projects or one project only.

Alternatively, in the Claude apps you can upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload the skill

Set up the prerequisites before you run it

The skill expects Claude Code or a compatible agent with the claude-for-legal plugin installed. It also needs a configured CLAUDE.md file at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/ that describes practice areas, jurisdiction, and supervision style. Without that file the skill cannot apply your clinic's templates or jurisdiction rules.

You can also add supervisor guide files for each practice area. These are read to set the pedagogy mode. The student supplies case notes or an intake summary for the facts.

• Claude Code or a compatible agent with the claude-for-legal plugin
• Configured CLAUDE.md in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/
• Optional guides/<practice-area>.md files for each practice area
• Case notes or an intake summary from the student

Trigger the skill with natural requests

You can invoke the skill with its slash command, passing a document type as the argument, or describe what you need in plain words and let the agent match the request. The skill's description covers requests for a first draft of a motion, letter, petition, declaration, or other clinic document.

• Describe the need: 'I need a first draft of an eviction answer from my intake notes'
• Name the document: 'Draft a demand letter about the unreturned deposit'
• Use the slash command with a type, such as eviction-answer or asylum-declaration

Read the output and resolve the flags

Each draft opens with a banner stating it requires student analysis and attorney review. Work through the inline flags before anything leaves your hands. A [FACT NEEDED] flag means the case notes lack a required fact, so get it from a client document or the client. A [VERIFY] flag marks a legal or factual assertion to check. An [UNCERTAIN] flag means the skill is unsure and says so rather than guessing.

Then go through the student review checklist, which asks you to confirm each fact against the client's actual documents and to resolve or strike every flag before showing the draft to your professor.

• [FACT NEEDED: ...] = fact missing from case notes
• [VERIFY: ...] = assertion to check before filing
• [UNCERTAIN: ...] = skill is not sure; do not rely on it
• Check facts against the client's documents, not only intake notes

Understand the pedagogy modes

The supervisor's guide sets a pedagogy_posture. In guide mode, the default, the skill produces the structure and checklist and asks you to draft each section, giving feedback on your attempt. In assist mode it produces the work product and you edit and learn by reviewing it. In teach mode it does not produce the work product, asks leading questions, and shows a model paragraph only after two attempts on the section you are stuck on. If no guide exists, or it sets no posture, guide mode applies.

• guide (default): structure and checklist, you draft, feedback given
• assist: full draft produced, you review and edit
• teach: you draft, leading questions, model paragraph only after two attempts

Safety notes: scripts and network

The skill does not run scripts and does not use the network, according to its listing. It works from the CLAUDE.md configuration and the case notes you provide. Because it does not check outside sources, any legal point or deadline in the draft must still be verified by you and your supervisor.

Court filings always route through supervision before filing, regardless of the supervision-style setting. Do not rely on the draft as a filing-ready document.

• No scripts are run by this skill
• No network use
• Verify all legal points and deadlines yourself
• Matters in a different state or court than the configured jurisdiction need supervisor confirmation first

Tips for better drafts

The quality of the draft depends on the quality of your inputs. A detailed CLAUDE.md with accurate jurisdiction and local rules lets the skill apply formatting instead of falling back to flags. Good case notes with dates, parties, and the client's own documents reduce the number of [FACT NEEDED] flags.

Use the skill only for document types in the clinic's template set. For anything outside it, the skill warns the output is untuned and risky, and you should ask your professor whether an existing template exists.

• Keep CLAUDE.md current with practice areas, jurisdiction, and supervision style
• Give case notes with dates, parties, and source documents
• Stick to templates in the clinic's set
• Ask your professor before using a document type the skill does not cover