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Official agent skill

Case Brief

by anthropics in anthropics/claude-for-legal

Brief a case in your preferred format. An agent skill from anthropics/claude-for-legal.

OfficialApache-2.0Auto-check passed

Install Case Brief

skills CLI
$ npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill case-brief -a claude-code

Project install by default; add -g for ~/.claude/skills/.

GitHub CLI
$ gh skill install anthropics/claude-for-legal case-brief --agent claude-code

Project scope by default; add --scope user for a personal install. Needs GitHub CLI 2.90.0 or later (public preview).

Manual copy
$ git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal.git skills-src && mkdir -p .claude/skills && cp -r skills-src/law-student/skills/case-brief .claude/skills/case-brief && rm -rf skills-src

Use ~/.claude/skills/ instead of .claude/skills for a personal install. The folder must contain SKILL.md.

Claude Code skills documentation · loads skills from .claude/skills/

Facts

Skill name
case-brief
GitHub stars
9.6k
Used in
3 other repos
Token cost
~1.6k tokens
SKILL.md length
791 words
Files
1
Skills in repo
147
Repo updated
First seen
Licence
Apache-2.0

At a glance

Brief a case in your preferred format. An agent skill from anthropics/claude-for-legal.

  • Works in 3 steps: Load… → Apply the workflow below. → Brief in the student's format. If…
  • The user says brief [case]
  • SKILL.md covers Purpose, Confidence discipline, Load context and The "don't brief it for me"…, plus 4 more sections
  • Instructions only: no scripts, shell commands, URLs or credentials in SKILL.md

What it does

Case Brief is an agent skill from anthropics/claude-for-legal, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Brief a case in your preferred format. In drill-me mode, makes the student state the holding first. Use when the user says "brief [case]", "what's the holding in", "case brief", or pastes a case.

Its SKILL.md is about 1.6k tokens, which your agent loads only when the skill is triggered. It is a single SKILL.md file with no bundled scripts.

The repository describes itself as: A suite of plugins for legal workflows. The licence is Apache-2.0.

When your agent uses it

  • The user says brief [case]
  • Whats the holding in

Example prompts

  • “brief [case]”
  • “s the holding in”
  • “case brief”
  • “/case-brief”

Workflow steps

3 steps, taken from the first numbered list in SKILL.md.

  1. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/CLAUDE.md → outline/brief preferences.
  2. Apply the workflow below.
  3. Brief in the student's format. If drill-me mode: ask the student to state the holding first.

What it can do on your machine

Read from SKILL.md and the folder at commit 4a6c651. It shows what the files ask for, not the result of running them.

  • Tool permissions

    Pre-approves nothing: there is no allowed-tools line, so your agent's usual permission prompts apply.

    From allowed-tools in the SKILL.md frontmatter.

  • Runs code

    No scripts in the folder and no shell commands in SKILL.md (its code samples are markdown).

    From the folder's file list and the shell code blocks in SKILL.md.

  • Network

    No URLs in SKILL.md.

    From URLs in SKILL.md, links to its own repository left out.

  • Credentials

    Names no API keys, tokens, secrets or passwords.

    From names ending in _API_KEY, _TOKEN, _SECRET, _KEY or _PASSWORD in SKILL.md.

Context cost

Case Brief loads about 1.6k tokens when it runs. Until then it costs about 52 tokens; SKILL.md has 791 words of instructions outside code blocks.

Always · name and description, kept in context so the agent knows when to use it
~52
When it runs · the whole SKILL.md, loaded when a task matches
~1.6k

Estimates: characters ÷ 4, the usual rule of thumb; real counts depend on the model's tokenizer. Scripts and assets cost tokens only if the agent reads them.

Safety

Auto-check passed

The automated check found no risky patterns in SKILL.md.

Automated static check — not a guarantee. Review scripts before installing. It scans the text of SKILL.md for risky patterns (piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files, hidden Unicode, destructive commands); files beside SKILL.md are not scanned.

SKILL.md

The full file from anthropics/claude-for-legal at commit 4a6c651, republished under its Apache-2.0 licence (© anthropics). 791 words, ~1,614 tokens.

Download SKILL.mdSave it as .claude/skills/case-brief/SKILL.md (or your agent's skills folder).
name
case-brief
description
Brief a case in your preferred format. In drill-me mode, makes the student state the holding first. Use when the user says "brief [case]", "what's the holding in", "case brief", or pastes a case.
argument-hint
[case name or citation, or paste the case]

/case-brief

  1. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/CLAUDE.md → outline/brief preferences.
  2. Apply the workflow below.
  3. Brief in the student's format. If drill-me mode: ask the student to state the holding first.

Purpose

A case brief is a tool for remembering what a case does. This skill makes one in your format — the format you'll actually use in your outline.

Confidence discipline

Case briefs state holdings, rules, and reasoning. Getting them wrong turns your outline into a false map. The rule for this skill:

  • If you paste the case text: I extract holding/rule/reasoning from what's in front of me. Confident.
  • If you only give a case name: I brief from knowledge. Worth a lot less. I flag every line I'm not sure about with [UNCERTAIN: specific reason], and I strongly recommend you confirm against the actual case before putting the brief in your outline. If I don't know the case well enough, I say so.
  • If the case has famous-but-contested interpretations: I give the majority read and [VERIFY: check your casebook and professor's framing].

A brief built on my guess and your good faith is worse than no brief. Better to err toward "I'm not sure — read it yourself" than to invent.

Load context

~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/CLAUDE.md → outline/brief preferences (format, depth), learning style.

The "don't brief it for me" rule (hard rule)

A brief you didn't write is a brief you won't remember. Every mode of this skill defaults to scaffolding the student's brief-writing, not to writing the brief.

What this skill will do in every mode:

  • Ask the student what they already got from reading: the facts, the issue, the holding as they understand it.
  • Provide the blank template in their preferred format (headings for Facts, Issue, Holding, Reasoning, Rule, Notes).
  • Ask pointed follow-ups on whichever section is thin: "What were the key facts the court actually relied on?", "What's the narrow issue vs. the broader question?", "Why did the court reject the dissent's framing?"
  • If the student pastes the case text, extract verbatim the court's own language for holding and reasoning — that is not writing-for-them; that is pointing at what the case says.
  • Flag confused or wrong understandings: "You said the holding is X. The court's actual language is closer to Y. Which one is the rule you'll carry into your outline?"

What this skill will not do, even if asked:

  • Write a full case brief from a case name alone. That is the exact thing the student is learning not to need.
  • "Summarize this case for me" — refused. The brief is for remembering, which requires writing.

Exception (the only one): the student explicitly overrides — "I've read it three times, I'm stuck on phrasing the holding, just give me a starter sentence so I can rewrite it." Then write a minimal starter with [VERIFY] flags and prompt them to rewrite in their own words before it goes into an outline.

Show full SKILL.md (315 more words)Show less

Mode fork

Drill-me mode: Ask the student to state the holding before anything else:

"You've read this case. What's the holding? One sentence."

If they can't state it, make them read it again. The brief is a memory aid, not a substitute for reading. Then proceed to the scaffold — ask them to state facts, issue, reasoning, and rule in turn. Push back on thin or wrong statements.

Explain-to-me mode: Same scaffolded workflow, softer tone. The skill walks the student through each section, offers structural prompts ("a good holding is one sentence, yes/no + the rule"), but still waits for the student to write the content. Explain-to-me does not mean "write the brief for me." It means "explain what a good brief looks like, and guide me through writing mine."

If the student pastes the case text in either mode, the skill can extract the court's own language into the Facts/Holding/Reasoning slots — that's not writing-for-them, that's pointing at the source.

The brief — scaffold, then the student fills

The skill produces the template with questions, not the filled-in brief. Student fills each section; skill reviews, pushes back, suggests what's missing.

Per the student's format in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/CLAUDE.md. If none captured, default:

markdown
## [Case Name], [cite]

**Court:** [court, year]

**Facts:** [The facts that matter to the holding. Not every fact — the ones
the court relied on. Two to four sentences.]

**Procedural posture:** [How did this get here? Trial court ruled X, this
is an appeal from that. One sentence.]

**Issue:** [The question the court answered. Phrased as a yes/no question.]

**Holding:** [The answer. One sentence. Yes/no + the rule.]

**Reasoning:** [Why. The court's logic. This is where the law is. Three to
five sentences.]

**Rule:** [The rule you'd put in your outline. The portable takeaway.]

**Notes:** [Dissent worth knowing? Distinguishable on these facts? How
professor emphasized it?]

---

**Citation check.** The case cite, quoted language, and any supporting authority above were generated by an AI model and have not been verified. Before you rely on them — in a brief, memo, outline entry, or exam answer — look them up on Westlaw, CourtListener, or your school's research tool. AI-generated citations are sometimes fabricated or misquoted.

Depth calibration

Per ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/law-student/CLAUDE.md — some students want one-line briefs (rule + cite), some want full treatment. Match their format.

If they're a 1L still learning to read cases: fuller briefs. If they're a 3L doing bar prep: rules only.

What this skill does not do

  • Brief a case the student hasn't read. In drill-me mode, the holding check enforces this.
  • Tell you what's on the exam. Brief everything; the exam will surprise you.
  • Brief from memory without flagging. If you only give me a case name and I brief from what I think I know, every line I'm unsure about gets [UNCERTAIN] or [VERIFY]. Don't put a brief in your outline unless you've confirmed it against the actual case.

© anthropics, Apache-2.0. Rendered from Markdown: HTML in the file is shown as text, images as links, and headings moved down two levels. Raw file

Files

Just SKILL.md in law-student/skills/case-brief of anthropics/claude-for-legal.

Open the folder on GitHubat commit 4a6c651

Used in 3 other repositories

We found 3 copies of this SKILL.md (exact, near-identical or edited) in other folders, from 3 other GitHub owners. This page covers the copy in anthropics/claude-for-legal, which our catalogue first saw on October 7, 2026.

Compare with similar skills

Case Brief next to the 5 skills that share the most tags, products or categories with it. Stars are the repository's; “used in” counts other GitHub owners with a copy.

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Case Brief this skillanthropics/claude-for-legal9.6k3 repos~1.6kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
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Baoyu URL To Markdownsdyckjq-lab/llm-wiki-skill2.5k3 repos~3.2kAutomated safety check: PassNone
Logseq Review Workflow Evallogseq/logseq45k—~1kAutomated safety check: PassAGPL-3.0
DeepTutor CLIHKUDS/DeepTutor41k—~2.8kAutomated safety check: PassApache-2.0
Zhang Xuefeng Perspectivealchaincyf/zhangxuefeng-skill10k1 repos~2.6kAutomated safety check: PassMIT

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Questions about Case Brief

What does Case Brief do?

Brief a case in your preferred format. An agent skill from anthropics/claude-for-legal. Case Brief is an agent skill from anthropics/claude-for-legal, published by the product's own GitHub organization. Brief a case in your preferred format.

When should I use Case Brief?

Case Brief fits situations like: the user says brief [case]; whats the holding in.

How do I install Case Brief in Claude Code?

Run `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill case-brief -a claude-code`. Or copy the skill folder (law-student/skills/case-brief in anthropics/claude-for-legal) into .claude/skills/case-brief in your project. Claude Code loads it when a task matches its description.

How do I install Case Brief in Codex?

Run `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill case-brief -a codex`. Or copy the skill folder (law-student/skills/case-brief in anthropics/claude-for-legal) into .agents/skills/case-brief in your project. Codex loads it when a task matches its description.

Can I use Case Brief in Cursor, Gemini CLI or GitHub Copilot?

Cursor, Gemini CLI, GitHub Copilot and OpenCode also load SKILL.md folders. With the skills CLI, run `npx skills add anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill case-brief -a cursor` (or -a gemini-cli, github-copilot or opencode for the others). To copy it by hand, put the folder in .cursor/skills/case-brief, .gemini/skills/case-brief, .github/skills/case-brief and .opencode/skills/case-brief in your project.

What does Case Brief need to run?

SKILL.md names no scripts, command-line tools or credentials: Case Brief is instructions for the agent only.

Does Case Brief access the network?

SKILL.md contains no URLs. Any network use would come from the scripts or tools the agent runs. This is read from the text; nothing was executed.

Is Case Brief safe to install?

Our automated static check of SKILL.md found no risky patterns, such as piping downloads into a shell, reading credential files or hidden Unicode. It is not a guarantee. Review the folder before installing.

What licence does Case Brief use?

Case Brief is published under the Apache-2.0 licence (the repository's licence). It allows redistribution, so the full SKILL.md is shown on this page.

How many tokens does Case Brief use?

About 1.6k tokens (SKILL.md is roughly 6.5k characters). Agents keep only the skill's name and description in context until a task matches; then they load SKILL.md in full.

What are the alternatives to Case Brief?

Skills that share tags, products or a category with Case Brief: Manim Video Production (browser-use/video-use, 28k stars), Baoyu URL To Markdown (sdyckjq-lab/llm-wiki-skill, 2.5k stars), Logseq Review Workflow Eval (logseq/logseq, 45k stars) and DeepTutor CLI (HKUDS/DeepTutor, 41k stars). The comparison table on this page puts their stars, adoption, token cost, safety result and licence side by side.

Who maintains Case Brief?

anthropics (a GitHub organization, an official publisher) maintains it in anthropics/claude-for-legal, which has 9,617 GitHub stars. The repository holds 147 skills in this directory. The repository was last updated on September 29, 2026.

Source: anthropics/claude-for-legal on GitHub. Facts on this page come from the repository at the commit we read; the author's words are quoted as theirs.