Client Intake

/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:

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:

Step 6: Supervision flag check

Per ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/legal-clinic/CLAUDE.md supervision style and flag triggers. If formal queue or configurable flags are enabled, and a trigger is present (deadline mentioned, DV indicator, immigration status at issue, etc.), note the flag.

Step 7: Deadline handoff — required deliverable

If the intake surfaces any timeline deadline (answer due, hearing, statute-of-limitations cutoff, cure period, filing window, notice window, ICE check-in, removal hearing, eviction court date, protective order renewal), emit a copy-paste-ready `/legal-clinic:deadlines --add ...` block as part of the intake output. This is a required deliverable, not a suggestion — the intake identifies deadlines, and the student shouldn't have to re-transcribe them into the deadline skill.

Format each deadline as a fenced code block the student can copy, with every field pre-populated from the intake:

/legal-clinic:deadlines --add
  case=[case slug or client-last-name-keyword]
  type=[response|hearing|statute-of-limitations|discovery|cure-period|filing-window|notice|other]
  description="[one-line description of what is due]"
  due=[VERIFY — student + supervisor compute from triggering event]
  source="[triggering event + statute/rule cite, e.g., 'UD complaint served 2026-05-04, CCP § 1167']"
  owner=[student name]
  warnings=[14,7,3,1]

Rules:

• One block per deadline surfaced. Do not combine. Each one will route through the deadlines skill's pre-add duplicate check.
• Leave the due= value as [VERIFY — student + supervisor compute] when the deadline is jurisdictional (response deadline, SOL, notice window under a specific rule). The deadlines skill will not compute for you; the student + supervisor do the math and update the entry.
• When a date is given in the triggering document (a hearing date on a summons, an ICE check-in date, a renewal deadline on a protective order), put that date in due=. When the date is computed (count N days from triggering event), leave the [VERIFY] marker.
• If no deadline is surfaced in the intake, omit this section — don't fabricate one.

Output

# Intake Summary: [Client name or ID]

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[AI-ASSISTED DRAFT — requires student analysis and attorney review]