How to use the Matter Close agent skill (matter-close)

What the matter-close skill makes the agent do

The skill handles the closing step for a matter that is already in your matter log. It asks for the resolution type (settled, dismissed, judgment for or against you, withdrawn, consolidated, or other), the date the matter actually ended, the final cost compared with the intake exposure range, and a two or three sentence honest lessons summary.

It then updates the matter log entry to status closed, adds a closed date and outcome, and appends a final entry to the matter's history file. The matter is not deleted: it stays in the log and on disk, and the portfolio status view filters it out of active rollups.

• Records resolution type, date, final cost and reserve accuracy (if reserved)
• Updates _log.yaml with status, closed date, outcome and final cost
• Appends a closing entry to history.md and a closing block to matter.md
• Shows you the full close entry and yaml changes before writing

Install the matter-close skill

Download the ZIP from the directory page and unzip it. The skill is delivered as a folder containing SKILL.md. Place that folder in one of two locations: your personal skills folder at ~/.claude/skills/, or a project's .claude/skills/ folder if you want the skill limited to one project.

If you use the Claude apps instead, upload the skill under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

• Personal install: unzip into ~/.claude/skills/
• Project install: unzip into the project's .claude/skills/ folder
• Claude apps: Settings → Capabilities → Skills, then upload

Check the prerequisites before you run it

The skill depends on the claude-for-legal litigation-legal plugin. Its matter log and matter folders must exist at ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/. The matter you want to close must already have been intaken through /litigation-legal:matter-intake.

This is a hard requirement, not a suggestion. The skill checks _log.yaml for the matter slug first and refuses to close a matter that is not in the log.

• Claude-for-legal litigation-legal plugin with its matter log and matter folders
• A prior intake of the matter via /litigation-legal:matter-intake
• The matter slug, which the skill takes as its argument

Trigger the skill with a natural request

You can invoke the skill with the slash command /matter-close and a slug, or describe what happened in plain language. The skill description is written to match requests such as closing a matter, saying a matter is done, or recording a settlement, dismissal, judgment, withdrawal or consolidation outcome.

The skill asks you to confirm the slug and the current status before it captures anything, so a typo in the slug will be caught early.

• "Close the acme-v-widget matter, it settled last Friday for the agreed amount."
• "[matter] is done, it was dismissed with prejudice."
• "Record the judgment against us in the vendor-dispute matter and close it out."
• "Consolidate the second-lawsuit matter into the parent case and close it."

Work through a close, step by step

The skill walks through five parts: resolution type, resolution date, final exposure, lessons, and an optional prompt for the related document such as a settlement agreement or final order. The lessons section is the one future counsel will reread, so the skill asks for an honest account, such as where the intake misjudged likelihood, not just a note that the matter resolved favorably.

If you do not have a lessons summary, leave it empty. The skill is written to leave that section blank rather than invent one.

• Resolution type: settled, dismissed, judgment-for-us, judgment-against-us, withdrawn, consolidated (give the parent slug), or other
• Final exposure: actual cost including settlement, fees and any structural cost, compared with the intake range
• Reserve accuracy: booked versus actual, if a reserve was set
• Related document path is optional

Safety notes: scripts and network

The skill does not run scripts and does not use the network. Its work is reading and writing files in your local matter log and matter folder.

Because closing a matter ends active tracking, the skill has a consequential-act check. If your role in the litigation plugin's CLAUDE.md is recorded as non-lawyer, the skill pauses before writing anything and produces a one-page summary to take to a licensed attorney. It also reminds you that a related legal hold may need to be released separately with /legal-hold --release. Nothing is written until you give an explicit yes.

• No scripts are run by this skill
• No network use
• Non-lawyer role triggers an attorney review summary before any write
• Close fields and the history entry are written only after an explicit yes

Tips for reliable closing records

Check the slug in _log.yaml before you start, because a wrong slug will be refused. Keep the lessons honest and specific, since that is the value of the record. If a closed matter returns (for example on appeal or related litigation), the skill does not re-open it; open a new matter that references the closed one in its matter.md.

• Look up the slug in _log.yaml first
• Write concrete lessons, such as what the intake missed
• Attach a settlement agreement or final order path when you have one
• For a returning matter, open a new matter instead of re-opening