Nda Review

NDA Review

Matter context

Matter context. Check ## Matter workspaces in the practice-level CLAUDE.md. If Enabled is ✗ (the default for in-house users), skip the rest of this paragraph — skills use practice-level context and the matter machinery is invisible. If enabled and there is no active matter, ask: "Which matter is this for? Run /commercial-legal:matter-workspace switch <slug> or say practice-level." Load the active matter's matter.md for matter-specific context and overrides. Write outputs to the matter folder at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/matters/<matter-slug>/. Never read another matter's files unless Cross-matter context is on.

Destination check

Before producing output, check where it's going. If the user has named a destination (a channel, a distribution list, a counterparty, "everyone"), ask whether it's inside the privilege circle. Public channels, company-wide lists, counterparty/opposing counsel, vendors, and clients (for work product) waive the protection. When the destination looks outside the circle, flag it and offer (a) the privileged version for legal only, (b) a sanitized version for the broader channel, or (c) both — don't silently apply a privileged header and then help paste it somewhere the header won't protect it. See the canonical ## Shared guardrails → Destination check in this plugin's CLAUDE.md.

Purpose

Most inbound NDAs are fine. A few have landmines. This skill sorts them in under a minute so legal only reads the ones that matter.

The goal: a GREEN NDA should need nothing more than a signature. A YELLOW needs a lawyer's eyes on one or two specific things. A RED stops before anyone wastes time.

Load the playbook first

Which side? Before applying the playbook, determine which side the company is on for this NDA. Usually obvious from the context: if the counterparty is a vendor or partner evaluating your product, you're sales-side; if you're evaluating theirs, you're purchasing-side. Mutual NDAs still have a side — whose paper is it, and which direction is the evaluation running. If it's not obvious, ask. Read the matching playbook section (### Sales-side playbook or ### Purchasing-side playbook) from the config. Note which side in the output so the reviewer knows which playbook was applied. If the matching side is [Not configured], stop and tell the user to run /commercial-legal:cold-start-interview --side <side> before this triage can proceed.

Before triaging anything, read ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md → ## Playbook → the matching side → NDA triage positions. That section is the source of truth for what makes an NDA GREEN, YELLOW, or RED for this team on this side. This skill does not ship with default positions on NDA terms — the law, the market, and each team's risk tolerance vary too much for hardcoded defaults to be safe.

If ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md doesn't have an NDA triage positions section yet, or it's silent on a term that comes up in the NDA you're reviewing, ask the user:

Your playbook doesn't cover [term — e.g., "residuals clauses," "survival period," "one-way NDAs where you're the receiver"]. What's your default position — when should this be GREEN, when YELLOW, when RED? I'll add it to ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md so the next review is consistent.

Then record the answer in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md and proceed with the triage using the new position.

Scope check

Before reviewing NDA-specific provisions, check whether the document is doing more than its name suggests. Mutual commercial NDAs can hide: standstills, licensing grants, exclusivity, non-solicits, non-competes, IP assignments, right of first refusal, most-favored-nation clauses, and arbitration/jurisdiction clauses that govern far more than confidentiality disputes.

If the NDA contains obligations beyond confidentiality: auto-YELLOW regardless of the NDA-term analysis. Flag the non-NDA provisions:

This document is labeled an NDA but contains [standstill / license grant / non-solicit / exclusivity / IP assignment / ROFR / MFN / broad arbitration]. It's more than an NDA. Route for attorney review.

Do not silently push a document labeled "NDA" through NDA triage when the substantive obligations are a services agreement, a term sheet, or a covenant package in NDA clothing.

The triage

Classify the NDA into one of three buckets by applying the positions from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md. The bucket definitions below are stable; the criteria that fill each bucket come from the playbook.

GREEN — route to signature

The NDA satisfies every position in the team's playbook, and no term triggers a RED flag per the playbook. Examples of checks the playbook typically covers: mutuality, term length, survival period, carveouts, governing law, restrictive covenants, fee-shifting. Confirm each one against ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md before calling GREEN.

GREEN requires attorney-reviewed playbook positions. GREEN is the only path to signature without lawyer review. It cannot be issued against default or absent positions. Before issuing GREEN, check: does the practice profile have an attorney-reviewed ## NDA triage positions section? If not:

I can't issue GREEN without attorney-reviewed NDA positions in your practice profile. Run /commercial-legal:cold-start-interview --full with your commercial counsel to set them, or route this NDA for attorney review. Issuing GREEN against defaults means a non-lawyer set the positions the next non-lawyer relies on.

Do not route to signature on defaults. YELLOW is the right call when positions are missing — it surfaces the NDA to a human who can decide.

Output:

Prepend the work-product header from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md ## Outputs (it differs by user role — see ## Who's using this).

[WORK-PRODUCT HEADER — per plugin config ## Outputs]

## NDA Triage: [Counterparty]

GREEN — route to signature

### Executive Summary

No red flags identified under the playbook. Route for signature per standard process.

| Check | Status | Playbook reference |
|---|---|---|
| [Each playbook check] | [pass/fail] | [`~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md` section] |

**Next step:** [Submit to [CLM] standard NDA workflow | Send to [approver from `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md`] for signature]

Before proceeding past GREEN to signature: Read ## Who's using this in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md. If the Role is Non-lawyer:

This step has legal consequences (countersigning an NDA binds the company). Have you reviewed this with an attorney? If yes, proceed. If no, here's a brief to bring to them:

[Generate a 1-page summary: counterparty, NDA direction (mutual / one-way), the playbook checks run, anything the playbook didn't cover, what could go wrong if signed as-is, and the three things to ask the attorney.]

If you need to find an attorney, solicitor, barrister, or other authorised legal professional: contact your professional regulator (state bar in the US, SRA/Bar Standards Board in England & Wales, Law Society in Scotland/NI/Ireland/Canada/Australia, or your jurisdiction's equivalent) for a referral service.

Do not proceed past this gate without an explicit yes.

YELLOW — needs a lawyer's eyes on specific items

One or more terms deviate from the playbook but aren't categorical deal-breakers, OR a term appears that the playbook doesn't address. Surface each item individually so the approver can make the call.

Output:

Prepend the work-product header from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md ## Outputs (it differs by user role — see ## Who's using this).

[WORK-PRODUCT HEADER — per plugin config ## Outputs]

## NDA Triage: [Counterparty]

YELLOW — flag for [approver name from `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md`]

### Executive Summary

- [One-line actionable edit, e.g. "Strike non-solicit clause (Section 6)"]
- [One-line actionable edit]

### Flagged items

**1. [Issue]** — Section [X]
   What: [one line]
   Why flagged: [one line — which playbook position this hits, or "playbook is silent on this"]
   **Legal risk:** [🔴/🟠/🟡/🟢] | **Business friction:** [🔴 Blocks deals / 🟠 Slows deals / 🟡 Confuses customers / 🟢 Invisible]
   Likely resolution: [accept / push back on X / depends on deal context]

[repeat for each flag]

### Everything else

| Check | Status | Playbook reference |
|---|---|---|
| [playbook checks that passed] | pass | [`~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md` section] |

**Next step:** Ask [approver] about the flagged items, then route to signature if they're okay with it.

RED — stop, talk to legal first

The NDA hits a position on the playbook's "never accept" list, or the structure of the agreement is incompatible with the team's standard posture (e.g., a one-way NDA where the team's playbook requires mutual; a perpetual term where the playbook caps at a finite period; governing law on the "never" list).

Output:

Prepend the work-product header from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md ## Outputs (it differs by user role — see ## Who's using this).

[WORK-PRODUCT HEADER — per plugin config ## Outputs]

## NDA Triage: [Counterparty]

RED — do not submit, talk to legal first

### Executive Summary

- [One-line actionable edit, e.g. "Section 4 — route to Legal for review"]
- [One-line actionable edit]

### Critical issues

**1. [Issue]** — Section [X]
   > "[exact quote]"
   Why this is a problem: [specific risk; cite the playbook position it violates]
   **Legal risk:** [🔴/🟠/🟡/🟢] | **Business friction:** [🔴 Blocks deals / 🟠 Slows deals / 🟡 Confuses customers / 🟢 Invisible]
   Recommended response: [use our paper instead | push back with specific language | walk]

**Next step:** Send this triage to [GC or named escalation person from `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md`]. Do not send to [CLM or approvals workflow]. Do not tell the counterparty we'll sign.

Redline granularity

Edit at the smallest possible granularity. A redline is a negotiation artifact, not a rewrite. Wholesale clause replacement signals "we threw out your drafting" — it's aggressive, it forces the counterparty to re-read the whole clause, and it discards the parts of their drafting that were fine. Surgical redlines — strike a word, insert a phrase, restructure a subclause — signal "we have specific asks" and are faster to read, understand, and accept.

Default to the smallest edit that achieves the playbook position:

• Replace a word before a phrase. ("twelve (12)" → "twenty-four (24)")
• Replace a phrase before a sentence. ("paid by the Buyer" → "paid and payable by the Buyer")
• Restructure a subclause before replacing the sentence. (Add "(a)" and "(b)" to split a compound condition.)
• Replace a sentence before replacing the clause.
• Only replace a whole clause when the counterparty's version is so far from your position that surgical edits would be harder to read than a fresh draft — and when you do, say so in the transmittal: "We've replaced §8.2 rather than marking it up because the changes were extensive. Happy to walk you through the delta."

When in doubt, smaller. A client who receives a surgical redline trusts that you read carefully. A client who receives a wholesale replacement wonders whether you read at all.

Jurisdiction assumption

This triage applies the governing-law and restrictive-covenant positions recorded in ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/commercial-legal/CLAUDE.md. Legal rules (enforceability of non-competes, non-solicits, fee-shifting, choice of law) vary materially by jurisdiction. If the NDA involves a jurisdiction outside the team's configured posture, flag it in the output and note that the triage may not transfer as written.