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research-start

Generate an unverified legal research roadmap from clinic seed documents.

9.1k|1.8k|Updated Apr 21, 2026
Search Tags:#legal research#case law#research roadmap#jurisdiction#statutes#search terms#leads not authorities
One-click install
npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill research-start-anthropics
Or copy as Structured Prompt for Agent▼
Please help me install this Agent Skill.
Skill: research-start
Source: https://github.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal/tree/main/legal-clinic/skills/research-start
Command: npx skills add https://github.com/anthropics/claude-for-legal --skill research-start-anthropics

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION & REQUIREMENTS

What problem does it solve?

Researching legal issues from a blank page is slow and confusing, so students need a structured starting point that tells them what to look for first without pretending it’s authoritative.

Core Features & Use Cases

  • Roadmap-first legal research planning: Generates an unverified plan of statutory starting points, case-law areas to investigate, administrative sources, and secondary sources to orient the work.
  • Seed-document prioritization: Starts by reading the clinic’s own CLAUDE.md seed documents to align the roadmap with the supervising attorney’s precedent bank.
  • Leads not authorities safeguard: Clearly labels everything as unverified and instructs students to validate and citator-check before relying on any item.
  • Gap-aware follow-up: If the student has uploaded prior research, it synthesizes what’s covered and flags what’s missing.

Quick Start

Ask the skill for a starting plan for your issue by running: /legal-clinic:research-start "habitability defense to nonpayment eviction in [State]"

Frequently Asked Questions about research-start

High-intent search queries and answers about installing and using this skill.

FAQPage Schema
How do I create a legal research roadmap from a blank page?▼

A legal research roadmap provides unverified leads for statutes, case-law areas, regulatory frameworks, and search terms. It gives you a structured starting point without pretending the suggestions are authoritative or citator-checked.

How do I plan case law research when I already have partial prior research?▼

Upload your existing research and the skill synthesizes what is already covered, then gap-fills by flagging missing statutes, regulatory frameworks, and case-law areas to investigate next.

Can I use jurisdiction context to generate statutory starting points for a law clinic?▼

Yes, the skill loads jurisdiction and practice-area context from the clinic's CLAUDE.md seed documents, prioritizing the supervising attorney's precedent bank to align statutory starting points with your clinic's focus.

What's the best way to find search terms and leads for legal issues without treating them as authorities?▼

The skill outputs explicitly labeled leads-not-authorities with verification uncertainty flags, directing you to validate and citator-check all statutory and case-law suggestions before relying on them.

Are the case-law areas and statutes suggested by this research planner verified?▼

No, all statutes, case-law areas, and regulatory frameworks generated are unverified leads. The output includes explicit verification uncertainty flags, requiring students to validate and citator-check everything independently.

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