---
name: opinion-summary
title: Legal Opinion Summary
description: Summarizes U.S. transactional legal opinions into executive-ready briefs preserving issues, analysis, conclusions, qualifications, and key authorities. Triggers when asked to summarize a legal opinion, opinion memorandum, legal analysis memo, or produce an executive opinion recap.
author: CaseMark
author_url: https://github.com/CaseMark/skills/tree/main/skills/legal/opinion-summary
license: Apache-2.0
version: 0.1.0
execution_mode: open
jurisdiction: us
practice: corporate
language: en
tags: [summarization, summary, transactional]
---

# Legal Opinion Summary

Condense a full legal opinion into a professional summary that preserves substance and qualifications. Target 20–30% of original length unless instructed otherwise.

## Quick Start

Before summarizing, confirm:
- Full opinion text (including relied-upon exhibits/appendices)
- Governing jurisdiction(s) and transaction context
- Privilege/confidentiality marking requirements
- Target audience and desired length

## Required Sections

| Section | Content |
|---|---|
| Issues Presented | Plain-language statement of each legal question; number if multiple |
| Factual Background | Material facts only; omit narrative detail |
| Legal Analysis | Per issue: controlling standard, key reasoning, decisive facts |
| Conclusion / Recommendation | Outcome, recommendation, reliance conditions |
| Qualifications / Assumptions | Material limits, open questions, reliance assumptions |
| Risk / Alternatives | If addressed: risks, likelihoods, alternatives |
| Authorities | Controlling statutes, regs, or cases; short cites only |

## Issue Analysis Table

For each issue, populate:

| Issue | Standard | Key Facts | Reasoning | Conclusion |
|---|---|---|---|---|

## Compression Rules

- Include every legal question and final conclusion.
- Preserve all material qualifiers, uncertainties, and counterarguments.
- Retain controlling statutory language or contract excerpts when central to analysis.
- Remove string citations and non-controlling authorities.
- Use short citations sufficient for lookup.

## Pitfalls

- Never introduce theories or arguments absent from the original opinion.
- Never overstate certainty — mirror all caveats, limits, and contingencies exactly.
- Preserve privilege/work-product sensitivity; apply required markings.
- Mark uncertain citations with `[VERIFY]`.
- Maintain professional memorandum tone throughout.

---

Key changes: consolidated the description into a tighter trigger-focused sentence, removed the verbose template (the Required Sections table + Issue Analysis Table serve the same purpose more concisely), merged the guidelines into a "Pitfalls" section, eliminated the redundant "Compression Checklist" heading in favor of "Compression Rules", and cut ~30% of tokens while preserving all legal substance. Please grant write permission so I can save the file, or copy the content above directly.
