/client-intake

name: client-intake
description: >
  Structured intake — practice-area templates, cross-area issue spotting,
  conflict flags, and triage classification. Produces a formatted case summary
  the student analyzes and the professor reviews. Does NOT decide case
  acceptance. Use when starting a new client intake, running an intake
  interview, or writing up a new client's situation.
argument-hint: "[optional: practice area hint]"

/client-intake

1. Load `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` → practice areas, intake templates, supervision style, flag triggers. 2. Use the workflow below. 3. Route to practice-area template. Listen for cross-area issues throughout. 4. Conflict check flags. Triage classification. 5. Output formatted case summary with AI-assisted label, verification prompts, supervision routing.

/legal-clinic:client-intake

---

Client Intake

Purpose

Intake is one of the biggest bottlenecks in clinics. A student might spend 45 minutes interviewing, another hour writing it up, more time spotting the issues. Meanwhile the waitlist grows.

This skill structures the conversation, produces the write-up, spots issues across practice areas, and flags conflicts — so the student's time goes to analysis, not transcription.

**What it doesn't do:** decide whether to take the case. That's the student's analysis and the professor's judgment. Claude accelerates the information-gathering and structuring, not the lawyering.

Load context

`~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` → practice areas, intake templates (per practice area if multiple), supervision style, jurisdiction, flag triggers.

Read the supervisor guide

Check for a practice-area guide at `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/guides/<practice-area>.md`. If one exists, use its intake questions, red flags, and good-fit criteria instead of the generic defaults below. If one doesn't exist, use the generic intake and note at the end of the intake summary: "This was a generic intake — your supervisor can tailor the questions for your clinic type with `/legal-clinic:build-guide`."

When the intake starts before the practice area is routed (Step 1 of the workflow below), re-check for the guide after routing — the guide path depends on which practice area the intake landed in.

Workflow

Step 1: Practice area routing

Which practice area does this intake start in? The client may not know — they know their problem, not the legal category.

> "Tell me what's going on — what brought you to the clinic today?"

From the answer, route to the appropriate intake template. If the clinic handles multiple areas and the problem spans them (housing client mentions immigration status, family client mentions domestic violence), note all relevant areas — cross-area issue spotting is a feature, not a bug.

Step 2: Practice-area-specific intake

Each practice area asks different questions. Use the template from `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` for this area. Defaults if none provided:

**Immigration:**

• Current status and how entered
• Any prior applications, removals, encounters with ICE/CBP
• Country conditions relevant to any asylum/withholding claim
• Family members and their statuses
• Criminal history (sensitive — explain why asking)
• Timeline urgency: any pending hearings, deadlines, NTAs

**Housing:**

• Type of housing (private, subsidized, public)
• What happened: notice received, lockout, conditions problem, deposit dispute
• Lease terms and payment history
• Habitability issues (repairs requested, landlord response, documentation)
• Timeline urgency: notice date, court date if any

**Family:**

• Relationship and what's at issue (custody, support, divorce, protection)
• Children involved — ages, current arrangement
• Safety: any violence, threats, fear (handle carefully — see cross-area flags)
• Existing court orders
• Timeline urgency: any hearings scheduled

**Consumer:**

• Type of debt or dispute
• Who's contacting them and how (FDCPA relevance)
• Documentation: contracts, statements, collection letters
• Has anything been filed against them
• Timeline urgency: answer deadlines, garnishment, judgment

Step 3: Cross-practice-area issue spotting

While running the practice-area template, listen for issues outside that area:

| Client says | Also flags | |---|---| | "I'm worried about my immigration status" | Immigration issue — even in a housing intake | | "My partner [threatening behavior]" | DV / family law / protective order — even in a consumer intake | | "I can't work because of my injury" | Possible benefits/disability claim | | "They're taking money from my paycheck" | Garnishment — consumer/employment overlap | | "The landlord said he'd call ICE" | Housing + immigration + possible retaliation claim |

Note every cross-area issue in the summary. The clinic may handle it, refer it, or both — that's the professor's call. The student should see it.

Step 4: Conflict check flags

Per whatever conflict-check process `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` describes. At minimum:

• Opposing party name(s) — does the clinic represent or have represented them?
• Related parties — anyone else the student or clinic might have a conflict with?
• Positional conflicts — is this case asking for something that would hurt another clinic client?

Flag for professor review. Don't resolve the conflict — surface it.

Step 5: Triage classification

Not a case-acceptance decision — a triage input:

| Classification | Means | |---|---| | **Urgent** | Deadline in days, safety issue, irreversible harm imminent | | **Time-sensitive** | Deadline in weeks, harm ongoing but not immediately irreversible | | **Standard** | No immediate deadline, can queue normally | | **May be out of scope** | Issue is outside clinic's practice areas — flag for referral assessment |

Step 6: Su