How to use the Legal Hold Manager agent skill (legal-hold)

What the legal-hold skill makes the agent do

An agent skill is a folder containing a SKILL.md file with instructions that Claude loads when a request matches the skill's description. This skill covers the four phases of a legal hold: issue, refresh, release and track.

When you issue a hold, the agent captures the scope, custodians, date range, systems and effective date, then drafts a notice named legal-hold-v1.docx and appends a history entry. When you refresh, it drafts the next version and flags departed custodians. When you release, it drafts a release notice and sets the released field. For tracking, it updates the legal_hold fields in _log.yaml and sets next_refresh, which defaults to six months after issue.

Install the legal-hold skill

Download the ZIP for the skill from this page. Then use one of these three options.

Option 1: unzip it into your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/ so it is available in every project.

Option 2: unzip it into a project's .claude/skills/ folder so it is available only in that project.

Option 3: in the Claude apps, open Settings, go to Capabilities, and upload the skill under Skills.

Check what you need before the first run

The skill reads and writes plugin configuration files. Before using it, you need the Claude for Legal litigation configuration folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/. The skill expects three things inside it: the matter log _log.yaml, a matter.md file for each matter inside a matters/[slug]/ folder, and a CLAUDE.md file with your house style, privilege marking, hold template pointer and escalation norms.

A matter must already exist in the log. The skill will not issue, refresh or release a hold for a matter that has not been through intake. Run /litigation-legal:matter-intake first, because intake runs the conflicts check and creates the log row the other flags depend on.

You also need the ability to produce .docx files, since the hold notice is delivered as a Word document.

• Config folder: ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/
• Log: _log.yaml
• Matter file: matters/[slug]/matter.md
• House style: CLAUDE.md
• Prior step: matter-intake must have created the log entry

Trigger the skill with natural requests or flags

You can ask in plain language. The skill responds to requests such as 'issue a hold', 'refresh hold', 'release hold', or a request for a portfolio-wide hold status report.

You can also use the command form. The argument hint is a matter slug followed by one flag. Use --status with no slug for the portfolio-wide report. If you give no flag, the skill prompts you to choose.

• Issue a first hold: ask to issue a hold for a matter, or use the issue flag with the matter slug
• Refresh an existing hold: ask to refresh the hold, or use the refresh flag
• Release a hold: ask to release the hold, or use the release flag
• Get the portfolio view: ask for a hold status report across all matters, or use --status with no slug

Walk through issuing, refreshing and releasing a hold

For a first issue, the agent asks for scope, custodians, date range, systems, urgency and the effective date. It uses the house template named in your CLAUDE.md if one is configured, or a default template otherwise. Scope and custodian lists are marked for attorney verification, since an overly broad scope creates operational burden and an overly narrow one creates spoliation risk.

Before anything is sent, the agent shows you the draft notice and the log diff. It asks for explicit confirmation before it writes or sends anything. Drafting and scoping do not require that confirmation step; issuing does.

Refresh and release follow the same confirm-before-write pattern. A refresh drafts the next version and updates last_refresh and next_refresh. A release sets the released field after you supply the release date and retention instruction.

Safety notes and practical tips

The skill's own guidance is that scope and timing carry legal consequences. If you are not a lawyer, the skill asks whether you have reviewed the hold with an attorney before it will send a notice. If you have not, it produces a one-page brief to take to counsel. Preservation rules differ by forum, so the draft is a starting point to confirm with counsel in the relevant jurisdiction.

The skill runs no scripts and uses no network access, according to its listing. Its work is done by reading and writing the configuration files and the Word document described above.

The default notice is marked attorney-client communication. The skill's instructions say not to use the attorney work product header on the outgoing notice to custodians, and to confirm the correct marking for your jurisdiction and matter.

• Start with a specific scope and widen it with counsel, rather than starting broad
• Keep matter.md internal_owners current, since the skill pulls custodian suggestions from it
• Run --status regularly to catch holds that are overdue for refresh