Legal Canned Responses

⚠️ EXPERIMENTAL — This skill is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It does NOT constitute legal advice. All responsibility for usage rests with the user. Consult qualified legal professionals before acting on any output.

Legal Canned Responses Skill

Overview

Production-ready toolkit for generating templated responses to common legal inquiries with built-in escalation detection. Covers 7 response categories with multiple sub-types each, plus a universal and category-specific escalation trigger system. Designed for legal operations teams handling high volumes of recurring inquiries while ensuring critical matters are routed to counsel.

Table of Contents

• Tools
• Reference Guides
• Workflows
• Response Categories
• Escalation System
• Troubleshooting
• Success Criteria
• Scope & Limitations
• Anti-Patterns
• Tool Reference

Tools

1. Response Generator (scripts/response_generator.py)

Generate formatted legal responses from templates with variable substitution and escalation detection.

python scripts/response_generator.py \
  --category dsr --sub-type acknowledgment \
  --var requestor_name="Jane Doe" \
  --var request_type="access" \
  --var request_date="2026-04-10"

python scripts/response_generator.py \
  --category nda --sub-type standard-form \
  --var counterparty="Acme Corp" \
  --var purpose="due diligence" --json

python scripts/response_generator.py \
  --category discovery --sub-type initial-notice \
  --var matter_name="Smith v. Corp" \
  --var custodians="Engineering,Sales"

2. Escalation Detector (scripts/escalation_detector.py)

Analyze inquiry text for escalation triggers and recommend routing.

python scripts/escalation_detector.py \
  --text "We received a subpoena from the DOJ regarding our pricing practices"

python scripts/escalation_detector.py \
  --text "A reporter from the Wall Street Journal is asking about our data practices" --json

python scripts/escalation_detector.py \
  --category vendor \
  --text "The vendor is threatening litigation over the contract dispute"

Reference Guides

Workflows

Template Lifecycle

1. Creation -- Draft response template for identified recurring inquiry type
2. Review -- Legal counsel reviews template for accuracy, tone, and compliance
3. Publication -- Template added to system with metadata, variables, and triggers
4. Use -- Staff selects category/sub-type, fills variables, generates response
5. Feedback -- Track usage and collect feedback on template effectiveness
6. Update -- Revise templates based on feedback, legal changes, or policy updates
7. Retirement -- Archive templates that are no longer applicable

Response Generation Workflow

1. Classify Inquiry -- Determine category (DSR, NDA, subpoena, etc.) and sub-type
2. Check Escalation -- Run escalation detector on inquiry text
3. If Escalation Detected -- Stop; route to counsel with escalation report
4. If No Escalation -- Generate response with appropriate template and variables
5. Review & Send -- Review generated response before sending; adjust if needed

Response Categories

DSR Sub-Types

Discovery/Litigation Hold Sub-Types

Escalation System

Universal Triggers (Always Escalate)

Escalation Response Protocol

1. Stop -- Do not send any templated response
2. Alert -- Notify designated counsel immediately
3. Explain -- Provide escalation context with matched triggers
4. Recommend -- Suggest routing based on trigger type
5. Draft -- Mark any preliminary draft "FOR COUNSEL REVIEW ONLY"

Troubleshooting

Success Criteria

• Response Time: Templated responses generated within 5 minutes vs. 30+ minutes manual drafting
• Escalation Accuracy: 100% of genuine escalation triggers detected (zero false negatives on CRITICAL triggers)
• Template Coverage: Templates cover 80%+ of recurring legal inquiry types
• Consistency: All responses within a category use consistent language, tone, and legal caveats
• Audit Trail: Every generated response logged with category, sub-type, date, and escalation status

Scope & Limitations

This skill covers:

• Template-based response generation for 7 common legal inquiry categories
• Escalation detection using keyword and pattern matching against known triggers
• Variable substitution for organization-specific customization
• Response metadata generation for audit trail purposes

This skill does NOT cover:

• Legal advice or attorney-client privileged analysis
• Automated sending of responses (generation only; human review required)
• Contract drafting, negotiation, or legal document creation
• Case management, docketing, or deadline tracking
• Jurisdiction-specific legal compliance validation of response content

Anti-Patterns

Tool Reference

scripts/response_generator.py

Generate formatted legal responses with variable substitution.

usage: response_generator.py [-h] [--json]
                              --category {dsr,discovery,privacy,vendor,nda,subpoena,insurance}
                              --sub-type SUB_TYPE
                              [--var KEY=VALUE [KEY=VALUE ...]]

options:
  -h, --help            Show help message and exit
  --json                Output in JSON format
  --category            Response category
  --sub-type            Response sub-type within category
  --var                 Variable substitution as KEY=VALUE pairs

scripts/escalation_detector.py

Analyze inquiry text for escalation triggers.

usage: escalation_detector.py [-h] [--json]
                               --text TEXT
                               [--category {dsr,discovery,privacy,vendor,nda,subpoena,insurance}]

options:
  -h, --help            Show help message and exit
  --json                Output in JSON format
  --text                Inquiry text to analyze for escalation triggers
  --category            Optional category for category-specific trigger detection