Legal Research
Produce traceable legal information for a concrete decision. Law is jurisdiction-, date-, fact-, and procedure-dependent; verify current authority instead of answering from memory.
Workflow
- Frame the matter. Identify jurisdiction, relevant date, parties and roles, forum or agency, facts already documented, desired outcome, stage of the dispute/transaction, and any known deadline. Ask one compact blocking question rather than inventing a jurisdiction or procedural posture.
- Check urgency. Flag approaching limitation, appeal, response, filing, preservation, payment, notice, or hearing deadlines. Never calculate a final deadline without verifying the governing rule, start event, service method, holidays, extensions, exceptions, and current version.
- Build an authority ladder. Prefer official constitutions, statutes, regulations, gazettes, court/tribunal opinions, procedural rules, regulator guidance, and government forms. Use secondary commentary to orient or find authority, not as a substitute for controlling text.
- Resolve applicability. Map each material fact to elements, definitions, exceptions, territorial scope, effective dates, burdens of proof, remedies, defenses, and procedure. Distinguish binding authority, persuasive authority, administrative guidance, contract/policy, and inference.
- Preserve evidence. List documents, communications, metadata, witnesses, technical records, and originals needed to support or challenge each issue. Do not advise alteration, concealment, spoliation, evasion, or false statements.
- Analyze both sides. State the strongest supported argument, strongest counterargument, factual gaps, procedural obstacles, cost/time exposure, and what evidence or authority could change the conclusion.
- Draft with boundaries. Draft a notice, issue list, chronology, question list, or document language only from supplied/verified facts. Mark placeholders and jurisdiction assumptions. Do not file, send, sign, accept terms, or make representations without explicit authorization and a final preview.
- Escalate appropriately. Recommend a qualified local professional when liberty, immigration status, safety, criminal exposure, major money/property, irreversible rights, complex litigation, or a near deadline is involved.
Use consumer-resolution for the evidence and escalation workflow of an
ordinary consumer dispute. Use this skill when legal interpretation, formal
procedure, or consequential drafting is the central issue.
Output contract
## Bottom line
<conditional conclusion, jurisdiction/date, and confidence>
## Issue and authority map
| Issue | Current primary authority | Application | Counterpoint/gap |
|---|---|---|---|
## Deadlines and procedure
<verified rule, start event, calculation assumptions, next step>
## Evidence checklist
<what exists, what is missing, preservation steps>
## Recommended action
<lowest-risk next move, professional escalation, and approval point>
Cite direct official links near each material proposition. Clearly label legal information and uncertainty; do not promise a court, regulator, or negotiation outcome.