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Westlaw Deep Research

Runs multi-step legal research on Westlaw and returns a written U.S. law research report

Source Download skill
Repository
anthropics/claude-for-legal
Stars
9,870
Licence
Apache-2.0
Files
1 file

What it does

When you ask a U.S. legal question, this skill sends it to Westlaw's Deep Research service, which searches caselaw, statutes, regulations and secondary sources, then returns a written report explaining and analyzing the relevant authority. The agent handles the start, waiting and retrieval steps itself and shows the report with its citations. It is meant to replace hours of manual searching with a sourced summary, but it does not draft documents or predict outcomes.

Great for

  • Lawyers or law students who need a sourced overview of how courts have treated an issue in a given U.S. jurisdiction
  • Researchers who already have a Westlaw subscription and the CoCounsel Legal MCP server connected
  • People who want the arguments on both sides of an unsettled legal question

Skip it if

  • Legal advice on a real dispute without a licensed attorney reviewing the output, since the report is research, not advice
  • Foreign or non-U.S. law, which the skill says to route to Westlaw UK, Westlaw Canada or Westlaw International
  • Outcome predictions, calculations such as filing deadlines, or drafting contracts or forms, which the skill explicitly declines

Try asking

  • “Research how California courts have ruled on whether a non-compete clause is enforceable”
  • “What authority supports and challenges the use of the stored-communications exception in New York?”
  • “Summarize the arguments on both sides of the debate over algorithmic pricing liability in federal courts”
Step-by-step guide: how to use Westlaw Deep ResearchInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Install in 3 steps

  1. 1

    Download the skill

    The ZIP contains the 1 original files, the Apache-2.0 licence and an attribution note.

    deep-research.zip
  2. 2

    Add it to your agent

    Claude Code (all projects)

    mkdir -p ~/.claude/skills && unzip deep-research.zip -d ~/.claude/skills/

    Claude Code / Agent SDK (this project only)

    mkdir -p .claude/skills && unzip deep-research.zip -d .claude/skills/

    Claude apps (web/desktop): Settings → Capabilities → Skills → Upload skill, and choose the ZIP.

  3. 3

    Ask for the task

    No special command needed — the agent reads the skill's description and loads it when your request matches. Try one of the prompts above.

Get better results

  • Name one to three U.S. jurisdictions in your request, otherwise the agent will ask which to use.
  • Keep questions to a single legal issue; the skill is weak at exhaustive lists or Boolean-style searches.
  • Verify every citation in the report on Westlaw before relying on it in any filing or client advice.

What's inside

  • SKILL.md

Redistributed unmodified from anthropics/claude-for-legal under the Apache-2.0 licence. The assessment was drafted with AI from the skill's files on 2026-10-29. Skills can instruct your agent to run code — read SKILL.md and any scripts before installing.