---
name: client-letter
title: $legal-clinic:client-letter
description: Routine client correspondence from templates — appointment confirmations, document requests, brief "we filed it" updates. Plain language, required elements, supervision routing. NOT substantive advice. Use when a student needs to send routine correspondence, an appointment confirmation, a document request letter, or a brief status note to a client.
author: alexchlou
author_url: https://github.com/alexchlou/codex-for-legal/tree/main/plugins/legal-clinic/skills/client-letter
license: Apache-2.0
version: 0.1.0
execution_mode: open
jurisdiction: general
practice: general
language: en
---

> Codex v1 local-input note: This migrated skill supports local files and pasted text by default. References to Drive, CLM IDs, Slack, Westlaw, iManage, Ironclad, eDiscovery, dockets, or other remote systems require a separately configured Codex connector/MCP server. When a connector is unavailable, ask for a local export, local file path, or pasted excerpts. If `config/local/codex-for-legal/<practice>/CLAUDE.md` is missing, ask the user to run the relevant `cold-start-interview` or `customize` skill and copy from `config/templates/codex-for-legal/<practice>/CLAUDE.md`.


# $legal-clinic:client-letter

1. Load `config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` → plain-language standards, supervision style, clinic contact info.
2. Use the templates and workflow below.
3. Match type to template. Plain-language check.
4. Output with AI-assisted label, supervision routing.

Scope: routine only. Substantive advice → `$legal-clinic:status client` or a conversation with the professor.

```
$legal-clinic:client-letter appointment
```

```
$legal-clinic:client-letter doc-request
```

---

# Client Letter: Routine Correspondence

## Purpose

Clinics send a lot of routine correspondence: "your appointment is Tuesday at 2pm," "please bring your lease," "we filed your answer." This skill handles those from templates so students aren't typing the same letter every week.

**Scope: routine only.** Substantive advice, bad news, case strategy — those are `$legal-clinic:status client` or a conversation, not a template letter.

## Load context

`config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` → plain-language standards, supervision style, clinic contact info.

## Pedagogy check

Read the supervisor guide for this practice area at `config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/guides/<practice-area>.md`. Check the `pedagogy_posture` setting:

- **`guide` (default):** Produce the structure and the checklist (required elements, plain-language targets, sign-off per student practice rule). Ask the student to draft each section. Give feedback on their draft (register, reading level, required elements, what they missed). Offer to fill a section only when the student has tried once.
- **`assist`:** Produce the letter. Flag items for student review. The student edits and learns by reviewing.
- **`teach`:** Don't produce the letter. Ask the student to draft it. Give feedback. Ask leading questions when they're stuck. Only show a model paragraph after two attempts, and only the section they're stuck on. Track what they got right and wrong so the supervisor can see progress.

If no guide exists, use `guide`. If the guide exists but doesn't set a posture, use `guide`.

Whatever the posture, the output always includes: "**Pedagogy mode: [assist/guide/teach]** — set by your supervisor's guide. This means I [description of what the student did vs what the skill did]."

## Sign-off and student-attorney disclosure

Check your jurisdiction's student practice rule for required disclosure language in letters signed by a law student. Some jurisdictions require specific forms; most require that the student identify themselves as a law student / certified legal intern and identify the supervising attorney. The templates below use a generic form — conform the sign-off to your rule before sending.

## Letter types

> **Review label goes OUTSIDE the letter.** The `[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]` tag is a note to the student, not part of the letter body. Place it above the rendered template (or in a header the student deletes before sending), never inside the fenced letter content. If it ends up in the client-facing copy, the skill has failed.

### Appointment confirmation

*Review label for the student (not for the client — strip before sending):*
`[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]`

```markdown
Dear [Client],

This confirms your appointment with [Clinic name]:

**Date:** [date]
**Time:** [time]
**Where:** [address / room / or "by phone at [number]"]
**With:** [student name]

**Please bring:** [documents needed — from case notes or leave as prompt
for student to fill]

If you need to reschedule, call us at [clinic phone] at least 24 hours before.

[Student name]
Law Student, Certified Legal Intern
Under the supervision of [Supervising Attorney]
[Clinic name] | [phone] | [hours]
```

### Document request

*Review label for the student (not for the client — strip before sending):*
`[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]`

```markdown
Dear [Client],

To move your case forward, we need the following documents from you:

- [Document 1 — e.g., "Your lease agreement"]
- [Document 2 — e.g., "The notice you received from your landlord"]
- [Document 3]

**How to get them to us:** [drop off at clinic / email to [address] / bring
to next appointment]

**Please send by:** [date — if there's a deadline, say why: "We need these
by [date] so we can file your answer before the court deadline."]

If you don't have some of these or aren't sure what we mean, call us at
[clinic phone] and we can help.

[Student name]
Law Student, Certified Legal Intern
Under the supervision of [Supervising Attorney]
[Clinic name] | [phone] | [hours]
```

### Brief status update

For routine "we filed it" / "we're waiting" updates. (Fuller status updates → `$legal-clinic:status client`.)

*Review label for the student (not for the client — strip before sending):*
`[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires review per plugin config supervision step]`

```markdown
Dear [Client],

Quick update: [one-line what happened — "We filed your answer with the court
on [date]" / "We sent the demand letter to your landlord on [date]"].

**What's next:** [one line — "We're waiting for their response" / "The court
will schedule a hearing and let us know the date"].

You don't need to do anything right now. We'll let you know when we do.

[Student name]
Law Student, Certified Legal Intern
Under the supervision of [Supervising Attorney]
[Clinic name] | [phone] | [hours]
```

## Before sending

Sending a letter to a client is a consequential action. This plugin's gate is the supervision workflow described in `## Supervision style` in `config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md`, reinforced by the Part 0 role check that confirms a licensed supervising attorney owns the clinic setup. That gate still holds: every letter clears review before it leaves the clinic.

Before sending any of the letters above, confirm:

1. The draft has been reviewed per the supervision protocol in `config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` (queue / flag / lighter-touch).
2. All internal review labels (`[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT]`, any `[VERIFY]` or `[FACT NEEDED]` tags) have been removed from the client-facing copy.
3. The sign-off conforms to your jurisdiction's student practice rule for law-student-signed correspondence.

**This is a student draft for supervising-attorney review, not a final letter.** Sending it has legal consequences for the client and may constitute legal advice or communication on the client's behalf. A licensed supervising attorney reviews, edits, and signs off before the letter leaves the clinic. Do not send without supervisor approval.

## Plain-language check

Per `config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md` standards. Short sentences. No jargon. Reading level target enforced. If a template above includes a legal term the client might not know, explain it the first time: "We filed your 'answer' — that's the document that tells the court your side of the story."

## Supervision routing

Per `config/local/codex-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md`. Routine correspondence may or may not be a flag trigger depending on the supervision style the professor chose. If lighter-touch: these go out after student review without a queue step. If formal queue: even routine letters queue.

## What this skill does NOT do

- **Substantive advice.** If the letter would say "here's what I think about your case" or "here's what you should do," that's not routine — that's `$legal-clinic:status client` or a conversation with the professor first.
- **Bad news.** Case closing, adverse ruling, can't-help — those need thought, not a template. Flag for professor.
- **Anything to opposing counsel or a court.** Different audience, different skill (`$legal-clinic:draft` or `$legal-clinic:status court`).
