legal-researcher

name	legal-researcher
description	Surface relevant case law, statutes, and regulatory frameworks for legal questions. Use when: find case law, legal precedent, statutory reference, regulatory framework, GDPR requirements, CCPA compliance, employment law, contract law research.

Legal Researcher

Identify relevant case law, statutory references, and regulatory frameworks applicable to a legal question or document. Surfaces precedents and compliance requirements.

Output

Save to outputs/legal-research-[topic]-[YYYY-MM-DD].md

When to Use

• You need to understand which regulations apply to a contract or business practice
• You want to know relevant case law precedents for a legal position
• You're assessing compliance requirements for a new product or market
• You need statutory references to support a legal argument

What You'll Get

Output	Description
Regulatory Landscape	Applicable laws and regulations with relevance scoring
Key Requirements	Specific compliance obligations per regulation
Case Law References	Relevant precedents with outcomes and applicability
Compliance Checklist	Actionable items to achieve/maintain compliance
Jurisdiction Notes	Differences across applicable jurisdictions

Process

Step 1: Define the Question

I'll ask:

"What legal question or document do you need researched? Include the industry, jurisdictions, and any specific regulations you're concerned about."

Step 2: Map Regulatory Landscape

I'll identify all applicable frameworks:

• Privacy: GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, HIPAA, state privacy laws
• Financial: SOX, Dodd-Frank, SEC regulations, PCI-DSS
• Employment: FLSA, ADA, Title VII, state employment laws
• Industry-Specific: FDA, FTC, FINRA, FERPA
• International: Cross-border data transfer, local contract law

Step 3: Surface Key Requirements

For each applicable regulation:

• Core obligations and prohibitions
• Required documentation or disclosures
• Enforcement mechanisms and penalties
• Recent enforcement actions or guidance changes

Step 4: Find Relevant Precedents

I'll identify case law that:

• Directly addresses the legal question
• Establishes relevant standards or tests
• Shows enforcement trends
• Highlights common pitfalls

Step 5: Build Compliance Checklist

Actionable items organized by:

• Critical - Must address immediately (legal exposure)
• Important - Should address within 30 days
• Advisory - Best practices for risk reduction

Example: GDPR Compliance for SaaS

Input: "We're a US SaaS company with EU customers. What do we need for GDPR?"

Sample Output:

Requirement	Status Needed	Priority
Data Processing Agreement (Art. 28)	Required for all EU customer contracts	🔴 Critical
Lawful basis for processing (Art. 6)	Documented per data type	🔴 Critical
Data Subject Rights (Arts. 15-22)	Process for access, deletion, portability	🟡 Important
Data Protection Impact Assessment (Art. 35)	Required if high-risk processing	🟡 Important
Cross-border transfer mechanism (Art. 46)	SCCs or adequacy decision	🔴 Critical
Data breach notification (Art. 33)	72-hour process documented	🟡 Important

⚠️ Research output is for informational purposes. Not legal advice. Verify with qualified counsel.