# Legal Writing Quality > A Claude skill from ciaransaunders/Skills-Public. - **Type:** Skill - **Install:** `agentstack add skill-ciaransaunders-skills-public-legal-writing-quality` - **Verified:** Yes — security-reviewed for prompt injection and unsafe behavior - **Seller:** [ciaransaunders](https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/ciaransaunders) - **Installs:** 0 - **Category:** [AI & ML](https://agentstack.voostack.com/c/ai-and-ml) - **Latest version:** 0.1.0 - **License:** MIT - **Upstream author:** [ciaransaunders](https://github.com/ciaransaunders) - **Source:** https://github.com/ciaransaunders/Skills-Public/tree/main/legal-writing-quality ## Install ```sh agentstack add skill-ciaransaunders-skills-public-legal-writing-quality ``` Requires the [AgentStack CLI](https://agentstack.voostack.com/docs/cli). Works with Claude Code, Cursor, and any MCP-compatible agent. ## About # Legal Writing Quality Review, draft, improve, or critique legal writing — including correspondence, case analysis reports, legal memos, skeleton arguments, and other professional legal documents — applying the standards of qualified legal practice in England and Wales. Calibrated for SQE-level legal writing and appellate advocacy, drawing on the core competencies from *Written Skills for Lawyers* (5th ed.). --- ## Core Principles — Apply to Everything Before doing anything else, hold these five principles in mind. Every output you produce should be tested against them. **1. Legal precision over vague accuracy** The law must be applied correctly to the specific facts. General statements of principle are not enough — identify the rule, apply it to these facts, and reach a clear conclusion. Never leave the reader to do the application themselves. **2. Clarity and conciseness** Prefer plain English. Avoid archaic legalese ("hereinbefore", "witnesseth", "the same") unless quoting statute or precedent directly. If a sentence runs longer than three lines, consider whether tabulation would serve better. Eliminate tautology: "grave and fatal error" means "fatal error"; "careful and detailed consideration" means "consideration." **3. Logical structure** Use the IRAC model as your default analytical framework: - **Issue** — what legal question is being resolved? - **Rule** — what is the applicable legal principle or test? - **Application** — how does the rule apply to these specific facts? - **Conclusion** — what is the clear outcome or recommendation? For longer documents, ensure headings and sub-headings track this logic. The reader should never have to search for where the analysis is. **4. Client-focused perspective** Legal writing is not an academic exercise. Every analysis should address: what does this mean for the client? What are their options? What are the practical consequences of each? Provide a clear recommendation — avoid conclusions like "it depends" without explaining what it depends on and advising accordingly. **5. Ethical integrity** Flag anything that could mislead the reader, create a conflict of interest, or compromise the duty of independence. Good legal writing never overstates a client's position or suppresses an inconvenient authority. --- ## The Four Writing Tasks — When and How ### 1. Reviewing and Improving Existing Legal Writing When the user shares a piece of legal writing for review: 1. Read it against the five core principles above. 2. Identify which of the Common Pitfalls (see below) are present. 3. Produce a structured critique: what works, what fails, and why. 4. Offer a redraft of problematic sections, not just a list of complaints. 5. If the document is short enough, redraft the whole thing. Always explain your changes so the user understands the reasoning. ### 2. Drafting Legal Correspondence Follow the four-stage drafting process for any letter or email: **Stage 1 — Preparation**: What is the purpose? Who is the recipient? What legal principle governs? What result are you trying to achieve? **Stage 2 — Planning**: Identify the legal issues, the facts, the advice or action required. Sketch the structure before writing a word. **Stage 3 — Drafting**: Write in paragraphs, not bullets unless the content genuinely requires a list. Use active voice. Adapt tone and technicality to the audience. **Stage 4 — Checking**: Verify: party names spelled correctly; dates and figures accurate; no dangling pronouns; no ambiguous cross-references; no misleading statements; correct salutation and formalities. **Audience calibration:** - **Lay client**: No Latin, no unexplained terms, no assumed legal knowledge. Explain the consequence of every action before describing the action. - **Opposing counsel**: Precise, professional, no padding. Know the procedural rules (Part 36, pre-action protocols) and apply them correctly. - **Internal (partner/colleague)**: IRAC structure, concise, flag risks clearly. ### 3. Case and Matter Analysis (Legal Memos and Reports) Use IRAC throughout. For complex matters with multiple issues, use a separate IRAC for each issue and then synthesise in a conclusion. The conclusion must: - State a clear recommendation, not merely summarise the arguments - Address the client's commercial or personal objective, not just the legal question in the abstract - Flag risks and alternative outcomes with realistic probabilities where possible - Indicate next steps **Avoid the Academic Trap**: reciting law without applying it to facts, or applying it without a recommendation. A memo that ends "the law is unclear" is incomplete; add "but on balance, the stronger argument is X because…" and advise accordingly. ### 4. Drafting Legal Documents (Contracts, Pleadings, Skeleton Arguments) Apply the four-stage process above. Additionally: **Defined terms**: Use capitalised defined terms ("the Property", "the Claim", "the Respondent") to create a private dictionary. Once defined, use the defined term consistently — never slip back to a synonym or pronoun. **Avoiding the Undistributed Middle**: When drafting time-based or threshold-based provisions, always check: what happens exactly at the boundary? "Before the date" and "after the date" leave the date itself unaddressed. Draft: "on or before" / "after" or "before" / "on or after." **Ambiguous pronouns**: Where two parties of the same gender appear, never use "he", "she", or "they" without making the referent unmistakable. Repeat the party's name or defined term instead. **Tabulation rule**: Any qualifying phrase (exceptions, conditions, provisos) attached to a list of three or more items should be tabulated so it is unambiguous which items it modifies. **Active voice**: Default to active voice. "The Claimant served the notice" is clearer than "the notice was served." Reserve passive voice for where the actor is genuinely unknown or irrelevant. --- ## Common Pitfalls — Diagnosis and Fix When reviewing writing, check for each of these: | Pitfall | Diagnostic test | Fix | |---|---|---| | Academic Trap | Does the analysis end with a recommendation? | Add a clear conclusion paragraph applying the law to the facts | | Undistributed Middle | Are there boundary conditions not addressed? | Test the rule at the exact threshold value | | Ambiguous pronoun | Can you tell which party "he/she/they" refers to? | Repeat the defined term | | Tautology/padding | Can a word be removed without loss of meaning? | Remove it | | Uncritical precedent use | Has the template been checked against current law? | Verify every clause is still legally effective | | Misplaced punctuation | Does punctuation alter legal meaning? | Read aloud; check apostrophes and commas with care | | Passive obscuring the actor | Does the reader know who must do what? | Rewrite in active voice naming the obligor | | No client focus | Does the advice address the client's objective? | Add a "what this means for you" section | --- ## Output Format Adapt format to task: **Review request**: (1) Overall assessment → (2) Issue-by-issue critique against core principles → (3) Redrafted version or targeted redrafts **Drafting request**: Produce the document, then add a brief note on any drafting choices the user should be aware of (e.g., risk of ambiguity in a particular clause, reliance on precedent that should be verified) **Analysis/memo request**: Use clear headings: Issue / Law / Application / Conclusion. End with a numbered list of recommended next steps. **Correspondence**: Draft the letter/email in full. Flag any missing information needed before it can be sent (e.g., dates, references). --- ## Quick Reference — Formatting Rules - Active voice as default - Short sentences preferred (max ~25 words) for key points - Use defined capitalised terms after first full definition - Tabulate any list of three or more items that carries a qualifying clause - Use gender-neutral language: repeat the noun, or use "they/them" for a singular individual where the gender is unknown - No archaic terms unless in a direct statutory quotation - No padding: every word must earn its place ## Source & license This open-source skill is cataloged on AgentStack and links to its original source — we do not rehost the code. - **Author:** [ciaransaunders](https://github.com/ciaransaunders) - **Source:** [ciaransaunders/Skills-Public](https://github.com/ciaransaunders/Skills-Public) - **License:** MIT Install and usage instructions live in the source repository linked above. ## Pricing - **Free** — Free ## Security capabilities Automated source analysis of v0.1.0 — what this tool can access: - **Network access:** no - **Filesystem access:** no - **Shell / process execution:** no - **Environment & secrets:** no - **Dynamic code execution:** no *"Yes" means the capability is present in the source — more access means more to trust, not that it is unsafe.* ## Versions - **0.1.0** — security scan: passed — Imported from the upstream source. ## Links - Listing page: https://agentstack.voostack.com/l/skill-ciaransaunders-skills-public-legal-writing-quality - Seller: https://agentstack.voostack.com/s/ciaransaunders - Browse the marketplace: https://agentstack.voostack.com/browse --- Listed on AgentStack — the marketplace for AI agent skills and MCP servers. Every listing is security-reviewed. Creators keep 70%.