client-letter

The saved excerpt is a snapshot from review. The external source remains the complete and most current version.

---
name: 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.
argument-hint: "[appointment | doc-request | update]"
---

# /client-letter

1. Load `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-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 → `/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 `/status client` or a conversation, not a template letter.

## Load context

`~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-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 `~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-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 ne