escalation-routing

slug	escalation-routing
name	Escalation Routing
description	When a specialist reports a blocker, decide between retry, reassign, or escalate-to-human.
version	0.1.0
metadata	{"sources":[{"mode":"port-original","author":"Jannes Stubbemann","added_in":"0.1.0"}]}

Escalation Routing

Port-original skill. Hand-authored for this Agent Company; not from upstream anthropics/claude-for-legal. Owned by the CEO role.

When to fire

A specialist agent reports a blocker — the workflow paused and the agent cannot proceed without intervention. Examples:

• The matter has missing inputs (jurisdiction unclear, source documents incomplete, counterparty unidentified, governing-law clause silent).
• The agent's analysis surfaced a question outside its competence (a contract dispute that becomes a litigation question; a privacy review that surfaces an unsettled AI law question).
• The agent reached a confidence floor (e.g., privilege call, send-authority call, sanctions-list match) and is required by its own boundary rules to stop.
• A retry has already failed N times for the same root cause.

Inputs

• The blocker report: which agent, which skill, what step, what error or boundary tripped, what the agent tried already.
• The matter context (priority, deadline, privilege posture, jurisdiction).
• The retry history (if any) — same blocker, prior attempts, prior CEO decisions.

Outputs

An escalation decision, written back as a note on the matter:

action: retry | reassign | escalate-to-human
rationale: <one paragraph: why this action, not the others>
retry:                          # if action == retry
  with_inputs: <what's now provided that wasn't before>
  attempt_count: <n / max>
reassign:                       # if action == reassign
  from: <agent-slug>
  to: <agent-slug>
  reason: <why this specialist, not the original>
escalate:                       # if action == escalate-to-human
  to: <human role, e.g., "general counsel", "outside counsel for jurisdiction X">
  urgency: P0 | P1 | P2
  packet: <link to the assembled escalation packet>
  deadline_recommendation: <when the human must respond>
audit_log_entry: <one-line      

Decision matrix

Blocker class	Action
Missing input (document, jurisdiction, party) — recoverable from the requester	retry after one targeted clarifying question to the requester.
Wrong specialist (e.g., what looked like contract review is actually litigation prep)	reassign to the correct practice.
Agent confidence below threshold on a factual question (sanctions match, OFAC list, jurisdiction-of-suit)	escalate-to-human — never bypass a confidence floor.
Agent boundary tripped on an authority question (send a demand letter; sign a board consent; issue a legal hold; file a brief)	escalate-to-human — every authority decision is a human one.
Privilege call (is this attorney work product? does this waive privilege?)	escalate-to-human — never let an agent decide privilege.
Conflict of interest (the matter touches another client of the firm)	escalate-to-human immediately; pause the workflow.
Regulator-imposed deadline inside 72 hours	escalate-to-human regardless of whether the agent has a draft ready.
Same blocker, third retry	escalate-to-human — root cause is not retry-fixable.

Boundaries

• The CEO never overrides a specialist's confidence floor. If the specialist says "I cannot decide this," the answer is not "try harder."
• The CEO never sends, files, signs, or settles. Every send/file/sign/settle action escalates by definition.
• The CEO never relaxes a privilege boundary to unblock a workflow.
• The CEO never escalates to a human without an assembled packet: the matter context, the specialist's blocker report, what was tried, and a recommended deadline.

Output protocol

Record the decision on the matter, with a one-line audit-log entry. If escalate-to-human, assemble the escalation packet (matter snapshot + specialist blocker report + retry history + recommended deadline) and route it to the named human role. If retry, requeue the specialist with the new inputs. If reassign, run intake-triage again with the new specialist and update the cross-practice plan if one exists.