This skill provides a structured approach to triaging incoming legal service requests in ServiceNow Legal Service Delivery. It helps you:
Identify and review new or unassigned legal requests from the sn_legal_request table
Classify requests by type: contract review, compliance inquiry, intellectual property, employment law, litigation, or regulatory
Assign priority based on urgency indicators and business impact assessment
Route requests to the appropriate legal team or specialist
Document triage decisions with work notes for audit trail
When to use: When legal requests are submitted through the Legal Service Delivery portal and need to be reviewed, categorized, prioritized, and routed to the correct legal team for action.
Plugin required:com.sn_legal_service_delivery
Prerequisites
Roles:sn_legal_case_user, sn_legal_case_manager, or sn_legal_admin
Access: Read/write access to sn_legal_request, sn_legal_case, and sn_legal_task tables
Knowledge: Understanding of your organization's legal team structure, request categories, and routing rules
Plugin: Legal Service Delivery (com.sn_legal_service_delivery) must be activated
Procedure
Step 1: Identify Requests Requiring Triage
Query for active legal requests that are in a new or unassigned state.
Using MCP (Claude Code/Desktop):
Tool: SN-NL-Search
Parameters:
table_name: sn_legal_request
query: "new legal requests that are not yet assigned or triaged"
fields: number,short_description,description,state,priority,request_type,requested_by,opened_at,assignment_group,assigned_to
limit: 25
Using REST API:
GET /api/now/table/sn_legal_request?sysparm_query=active=true^assigned_toISEMPTY^ORstate=1&sysparm_fields=sys_id,number,short_description,description,state,priority,request_type,requested_by,opened_at,assignment_group,assigned_to,urgency,impact,business_unit&sysparm_limit=25&sysparm_display_value=true
Step 2: Classify Each Request by Type
For each request, analyze the short description and description fields to determine the legal request type:
GET /api/now/table/sys_user_group?sysparm_query=nameLIKEContracts&sysparm_fields=sys_id,name,manager,description&sysparm_limit=5&sysparm_display_value=true
Step 5: Update the Legal Request
Apply the triage classification, priority, and assignment.
For requests that require formal legal engagement, create a legal case record.
Using MCP:
Tool: SN-Update-Record
Parameters:
table_name: sn_legal_case
sys_id: new
data:
short_description: "Contract Review - Vendor MSA Renewal for Acme Corp"
description: "[Details from the legal request]"
legal_request: [request_sys_id]
priority: 2
assignment_group: [group_sys_id]
case_type: contract_review
state: 1
Using REST API:
POST /api/now/table/sn_legal_case
Content-Type: application/json
{
"short_description": "Contract Review - Vendor MSA Renewal for Acme Corp",
"description": "[Details from the legal request]",
"legal_request": "[request_sys_id]",
"priority": "2",
"assignment_group": "[group_sys_id]",
"case_type": "contract_review",
"state": "1"
}
Step 7: Document the Triage Decision
Add work notes to the legal request documenting the triage rationale.
Tool: SN-Add-Work-Notes
Parameters:
table_name: sn_legal_request
sys_id: [request_sys_id]
work_notes: |
=== LEGAL REQUEST TRIAGE ===
Analyst: AI Legal Triage
Timestamp: [current_timestamp]
Classification: Contract Review
Keywords detected: "MSA", "renewal", "vendor agreement"
Business Unit: Procurement
Priority Assessment:
- Urgency: 2 (High) - Contract expires in 21 days
- Impact: 2 (Business Unit) - Procurement operations affected
- Calculated Priority: P2 - High
Routing: Contracts & Commercial Team
Rationale: Vendor MSA renewals are handled by the Contracts team per legal routing policy
Legal Case Created: LC0004521
Next Steps: Contracts team to review renewal terms and redlines within 5 business days
Tool Usage
MCP Tools Reference
Tool
When to Use
SN-NL-Search
Natural language queries for legal requests
SN-Query-Table
Structured queries for requests, groups, users
SN-Read-Record
Retrieve a single legal request by sys_id
SN-Update-Record
Update request type, priority, assignment, state
SN-Add-Work-Notes
Document triage decisions and rationale
REST API Reference
Endpoint
Method
Purpose
/api/now/table/sn_legal_request
GET
Query legal requests
/api/now/table/sn_legal_request/{sys_id}
PATCH
Update legal request
/api/now/table/sn_legal_case
POST
Create a legal case
/api/now/table/sn_legal_task
POST
Create legal tasks
/api/now/table/sys_user_group
GET
Find legal assignment groups
Best Practices
Respond promptly: Legal requests with regulatory deadlines or litigation holds should be triaged within 4 hours
Classify accurately: Misclassification causes delays; when uncertain, route to Legal Operations for manual review
Document thoroughly: All triage decisions must include rationale for audit and compliance purposes
Check for duplicates: Before creating a new case, query sn_legal_case for existing matters involving the same parties or subject
Escalate P1 immediately: Critical requests (active litigation deadlines, regulatory enforcement) require immediate notification to the General Counsel
Protect privilege: Never include privileged legal analysis in work notes visible to non-legal staff; use internal-only fields
Track SLAs: Legal request SLAs vary by type; contract reviews typically have 5-day SLA, litigation matters require same-day response
Troubleshooting
"Legal request table not found"
Cause: Legal Service Delivery plugin is not activated
Solution: Verify that com.sn_legal_service_delivery plugin is active. Navigate to System Definition > Plugins and search for "Legal Service Delivery."
"Cannot assign to legal group"
Cause: Assignment group does not have the legal type or is inactive
Solution: Query sys_user_group with type=legal^active=true to find valid legal groups. Verify group membership includes active attorneys.
"Request type field not available"
Cause: The request_type choice list may not include your classification
Solution: Check sys_choice table: name=sn_legal_request^element=request_type to see available values. Add new choices through the dictionary if needed.
"Insufficient permissions to create legal case"
Cause: Missing sn_legal_case_user or sn_legal_case_manager role
Solution: Verify user roles via sys_user_has_role table. The sn_legal_admin role includes all legal permissions.
Examples
Example 1: Contract Review Request Triage
Input: Legal Request LR0001234 - "Need legal review of new cloud services vendor agreement before signing"
