| name | opinion-summary |
| title | Legal Opinion Summary |
| description | Summarizes U.S. transactional legal opinions into executive-ready briefs preserving issues, analysis, conclusions, qualifications, and key authorities. Triggers when asked to summarize a legal opinion, opinion memorandum, legal analysis memo, or produce an executive opinion recap. |
| author | CaseMark |
| author_url | https://github.com/CaseMark/skills/tree/main/skills/legal/opinion-summary |
| license | Apache-2.0 |
| version | 0.1.0 |
| execution_mode | open |
| jurisdiction | us |
| practice | corporate |
| language | en |
| tags | ["summarization","summary","transactional"] |
Legal Opinion Summary
Condense a full legal opinion into a professional summary that preserves substance and qualifications. Target 20–30% of original length unless instructed otherwise.
Quick Start
Before summarizing, confirm:
- Full opinion text (including relied-upon exhibits/appendices)
- Governing jurisdiction(s) and transaction context
- Privilege/confidentiality marking requirements
- Target audience and desired length
Required Sections
| Section | Content |
|---|
| Issues Presented | Plain-language statement of each legal question; number if multiple |
| Factual Background | Material facts only; omit narrative detail |
| Legal Analysis | Per issue: controlling standard, key reasoning, decisive facts |
| Conclusion / Recommendation | Outcome, recommendation, reliance conditions |
| Qualifications / Assumptions | Material limits, open questions, reliance assumptions |
| Risk / Alternatives | If addressed: risks, likelihoods, alternatives |
| Authorities | Controlling statutes, regs, or cases; short cites only |
Issue Analysis Table
For each issue, populate:
| Issue | Standard | Key Facts | Reasoning | Conclusion |
|---|
Compression Rules
- Include every legal question and final conclusion.
- Preserve all material qualifiers, uncertainties, and counterarguments.
- Retain controlling statutory language or contract excerpts when central to analysis.
- Remove string citations and non-controlling authorities.
- Use short citations sufficient for lookup.
Pitfalls
- Never introduce theories or arguments absent from the original opinion.
- Never overstate certainty — mirror all caveats, limits, and contingencies exactly.
- Preserve privilege/work-product sensitivity; apply required markings.
- Mark uncertain citations with
[VERIFY].
- Maintain professional memorandum tone throughout.
Key changes: consolidated the description into a tighter trigger-focused sentence, removed the verbose template (the Required Sections table + Issue Analysis Table serve the same purpose more concisely), merged the guidelines into a "Pitfalls" section, eliminated the redundant "Compression Checklist" heading in favor of "Compression Rules", and cut ~30% of tokens while preserving all legal substance. Please grant write permission so I can save the file, or copy the content above directly.
