/matter-intake

name: matter-intake
description: Intake a new matter — uniform questions covering identification, conflicts, source, risk triage, materiality, outside counsel, owners, legal hold, and key dates; writes matter.md and history.md and appends a structured row to _log.yaml. Use when the user says "new matter", "intake this matter", or wants to bring a new matter into the portfolio.
argument-hint: "[optional matter name]"

/matter-intake

1. Load `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md` → risk calibration (for triage), landscape (for context, conflicts method), stakeholders (for who to loop in). 2. Follow the workflow and reference below. 3. Run the uniform intake: identification, conflicts check, source, risk triage, materiality, outside counsel, internal owners, legal hold, key dates, initial posture. 4. Generate slug from matter name (lowercase, hyphens, year). 5. Create `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/matter.md` — full narrative intake. 6. Create `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/history.md` — seeded with the intake as the first entry. 7. Append structured row to `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/_log.yaml`. 8. Confirm with the user: "Here's the row I'll write — any edits?"

---

Matter Intake

Purpose

Every new matter goes through the same intake so the portfolio stays comparable. Uniform rows in `_log.yaml` let the status skill roll up. Narrative in `matter.md` captures what the row can't. History file seeded here becomes the event record.

Load context

• `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md` — risk calibration (triage thresholds, materiality, settlement ladder), landscape (stakeholders, outside counsel bench).
• `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/_log.yaml` — to confirm slug uniqueness.

The intake

1. Identification

• Matter name (as commonly referenced, e.g., "Acme v. Us 2026")
• Counterparty
• Matter type: `contract | employment | ip | regulatory | investigation | product | other`
• Our role: `plaintiff | defendant | claimant | respondent | investigated`
• If the practice profile's `## Side` is `plaintiff`, `defense`, or a "both — default X" variant, pre-fill the role from that default and confirm. If `## Side` is `varies by matter`, ask cold. Never silently assume a posture the practice profile hasn't set.
• The role drives downstream skills: plaintiff-posture matters route risk triage to case value / contingency economics; defense-posture matters route to exposure / reserves / insurance tender.
• Jurisdiction (court, arbitration forum, or regulatory body)

2. Conflicts check

Before going further, run the conflicts step per `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md` → Conflicts clearance.

• **Status:** `cleared | pending | not-run | waived`
• **Method:** match what `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md` declares (`corporate-legal | outside-counsel | system-check | informal | other`). If the declared method is `informal`, say so — the record still captures that a counsel's-judgment check was the basis.
• **Cleared by:** name / team / firm
• **Cleared date:** YYYY-MM-DD
• **Checked against:** brief list of the specific names/entities run (counterparty, known affiliates, adverse counsel if known, key witnesses). Thin is fine; "no" is not.
• **Notes:** anything flagged but cleared (e.g., "Smith on our board sat on counterparty's board 2019–2021 — cleared as non-overlapping to this matter").

Behavior by status:

• `cleared` → proceed.
• `pending` → proceed with intake; flag prominently in `matter.md` and in the log row that conflicts are outstanding; surface again on every `/matter-update` and in `/portfolio-status` until resolved.
• `waived` → rare; requires a conflict-waiver rationale (writing the waiver is outside this skill — capture that one exists, who signed it, and where it lives).
• `not-run` → **STOP. This is a gate.** The skill will not create `matter.md`, `history.md`, or a `_log.yaml` entry until the conflicts posture is resolved. Three acceptable paths:

**Path 1 — Run conflicts now.** Pause this intake. Clear per `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md` Conflicts clearance. Return with `status: cleared` or `status: waived` with rationale.

**Path 2 — Mark pending with owner + due date.** Allowed only when `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md` Conflicts clearance declares parallel-intake acceptable. Capture: who is running conflicts, when they're expected to return, what entities they're checking. Intake proceeds; matter row carries `conflicts.status: pending`; `/portfolio-status` flags it every run; `/matter-update` re-prompts until resolved.

**Path 3 — Bypass with documented rationale.** Only if the user explicitly acknowledges the bypass. Record in `conflicts.override`:

  conflicts:
    status: not-run               # preserved as-is
    override:
      by: [user name]
      date: [YYYY-MM-DD]
      rationale: [why conflicts were bypassed — permanent record; does not auto-expire]

This field is visible in every `/portfolio-status`, every `/matter` briefing, and every `/matter-update` until removed. It is never removed by the skill — only by explicit user edit to `_log.yaml` after conflicts are actually cleared.

**Do not proceed silently.** "I'll do it later" is not an acceptable response. One of Path 1/2/3 must be chosen, and the choice is captured in the record.

This step is not about the skill deciding whether a conflict exists — that's the user's/firm's judgment. It's about making sure the check happened and the record reflects it.

3. Source

How did this arrive?

• `demand-letter | complaint-served | subpoena | regulator-inquiry | internal-report | pre-suit-threat`