/chronology

/chronology

1. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/matter.md → theory, pivot fact, key facts.
2. Load ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md → Document storage sources, default matter folder pattern.
3. Follow the workflow and reference below.
4. Identify sources in order: user-provided paths this session, default matter folder, declared sources from ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/CLAUDE.md.
5. For readable sources: extract dated events. For unreachable sources: note in Gaps.
6. De-dupe, merge with sources list per event.
7. Tag significance (🔴/🟡/⚪) per matter theory.
8. Write ~/.claude/plugins/config/claude-for-legal/litigation-legal/matters/[slug]/chronology.md (or format variant per flag).
9. If prior version exists: version number increments, diff summary presented to user.
10. Confirm before finalizing: "Here's what I built. Scan the 🔴 entries — anything I miscalled?"

Chronology

Disclosed-document use restrictions

Before working with a set of litigation documents, ask: "Were any of these documents obtained through disclosure or discovery in legal proceedings?" If yes:

• England & Wales (CPR 31.22): Documents obtained through disclosure are subject to the implied undertaking — you may only use them for the purpose of the proceedings in which they were disclosed, unless the court grants permission, the disclosing party consents, or the document has been read in open court. Using them for a different matter, a different claim, or a commercial purpose without permission is a contempt.
• US: Protective orders and Rule 26(c) may impose similar restrictions. Check the order.
• Other jurisdictions: Similar restrictions commonly apply. Check the local rule.

Confirm: "This use is within the proceedings in which the documents were disclosed, or I have permission / consent, or the documents are now public." If not confirmed, flag it: "⚠️ Disclosed documents may have use restrictions. Confirm this use is permitted before proceeding."

Purpose

Facts happen in order. The chronology is the spine every narrative hangs on — the statement of facts in a brief, reserve memos, settlement memos, depo prep, witness prep. Building a chron by hand is slow; AI is good at structured extraction. The catch: garbage-in, garbage-out. This skill pulls from the sources the configuration declares and from whatever the user uploads.

Modes

This skill serves two practice settings. Pick a default from the user's ## Role in the plugin's configuration CLAUDE.md; the user can override per-run with a flag.

• --matter mode (default for in-house litigation counsel). Matter-history-focused. Reads the matter's case theory and key facts from matter.md, pulls from declared document-storage sources (Google Drive, SharePoint, Gmail, iManage, CLM — whatever the ## Landscape section of CLAUDE.md declares), and treats history.md as the running internal log (decisions, holds, reserve memos — intentionally not in the chronology). Output is matter-centric: what happened across the dispute, tagged for advocacy use.
• --documents mode (default for firm associate / paralegal). Production-document-focused. Reads the case theory from the configuration, then extracts from an eDiscovery export, a custodial file set, or a Bates-numbered production. Output is production-centric: what the documents show, with Bates citations, tagged per the case theory.

Both modes converge on the same output structure (timeline, 🔴/🟡/⚪ significance tags, gaps, SoF variant). The difference is the source profile and the significance frame.