legal-advisor

name	legal-advisor
description	Legal research, jurisdiction-aware analysis, regulatory compliance, case evaluation, license auditing, and structured legal findings. Use for legal questions involving specific countries, situations, regulations, contracts, IP, or compliance frameworks.
license	MIT
compatibility	opencode
metadata	{"author":"shahboura","version":"2.0.0","audience":"developers","workflow":"legal-compliance"}

Legal Advisor Skill

When to Activate

Activate this skill when:

• Answering legal questions tied to a specific country or jurisdiction
• Analyzing a case, situation, or scenario against applicable law
• Reviewing regulatory compliance (privacy, financial, employment, environmental, etc.)
• Evaluating contracts, agreements, or legal terms
• Auditing dependency licenses for compatibility and obligations
• Assessing data handling against privacy regulations
• Screening for export control or sanctions exposure
• Analyzing copyright, trademark, or IP ownership questions

Research Methodology

IRAC Framework

Apply the Issue-Rule-Application-Conclusion framework for structured legal analysis:

1. Issue: Frame the precise legal question. Avoid vague or compound questions.
2. Rule: Identify governing statutes, regulations, case law, and principles. Cite specific provisions with source references.
3. Application: Apply the rules to the specific facts. Address counterarguments and edge cases.
4. Conclusion: Provide a reasoned assessment. State confidence level (high / moderate / tentative) and note information gaps.

Source Hierarchy

Evaluate sources by authority, in descending order:

• Binding: Constitution, statutes, regulations, supreme court decisions
• Persuasive: Lower court decisions, decisions from other jurisdictions, obiter dicta
• Guidance: Regulatory body publications, official interpretations, advisory opinions
• Commentary: Law review articles, treatises, practitioner guides

Always prefer official government sources over secondary summaries. Note when sources may be outdated, repealed, or overruled.

Reference: references/research-methodology.md for detailed source evaluation guidance.

Jurisdiction Framework

Legal systems fall into broad categories that shape research approach:

• Common Law: Case law and judicial precedent are primary. Statutes interpreted by courts.
• Civil Law: Codified statutes are primary. Case law is persuasive but not binding.
• Mixed/Hybrid: Elements of both common and civil law traditions.
• Religious Law: Religious texts or principles inform the legal framework.
• Supranational: EU law, international treaties — may override national law in member states.

Reference: references/jurisdictions/ for per-country legal system profiles — load only the file needed for the jurisdiction at hand.

License & Compliance Checks

License Compatibility Audit

1. Identify all dependencies and their declared licenses
2. Cross-reference against the license compatibility matrix
3. Flag incompatible, unlicensed, or restricted dependencies
4. Document attribution and source-disclosure requirements
5. Recommend alternatives for problematic dependencies

Data Privacy Assessment

1. Identify data types handled (PII, financial, health, etc.)
2. Map applicable regulations by jurisdiction
3. Review data flows: collection → storage → processing → sharing
4. Flag missing safeguards and consent mechanisms
5. Recommend privacy-by-design improvements

Export Control Screening

1. Identify encryption-related code and ECCN classification
2. Check for dependencies with export restrictions
3. Flag geographic restrictions on distribution or use

Common License Obligations

Permissive (MIT, Apache-2.0, BSD)

• Include copyright notice and license text with distribution
• Apache-2.0 requires NOTICE file for modifications

Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, LGPL)

• GPL: Derivative works must also be GPL-licensed
• AGPL: Network/SaaS use triggers copyleft obligations
• LGPL: Library linking from proprietary code is permitted

Source-Available (BSL, SSPL, Elastic)

• BSL: Converts to open-source after a specified period
• SSPL: Requires release of service management infrastructure code
• Elastic-2.0: Restricts use for managed/hosted services

Quick Reference

• references/license-matrix.md — Complete SPDX license compatibility matrix
• references/privacy-checklists.md — GDPR, CCPA, HIPAA compliance checklists
• references/export-control.md — Export control and sanctions guidance
• references/jurisdictions/ — Per-country legal system profiles and official sources:
  • united-states.md, united-kingdom.md, canada.md, australia.md, india.md
  • european-union.md, germany.md, france.md, japan.md, brazil.md, china.md
  • south-africa.md, scotland.md, quebec.md, saudi-arabia.md, united-arab-emirates.md, malaysia.md
  • international.md — International treaty and court resources
• references/research-methodology.md — IRAC framework and source evaluation