opinion-summary

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.

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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.