Weekly matter status digest for the GC with Claude

A Claude Skill that pulls matter activity from the matter management system every Monday morning and produces a one-page digest for the GC: what’s open, what changed last week, what’s at risk, what needs the GC’s attention this week. Replaces the Friday-afternoon attorney status updates that nobody enjoys writing or reading.

What you’ll need

• Claude Code or Claude.ai with custom Skills enabled
• Export from your matter management system — typically a CSV or JSON dump of active matters with status, owner, recent activity, and budget data
• Optional: integration with your matter management system’s API for live pulls instead of CSV export
• Email or Slack channel for delivering the digest to the GC

Setup

1. Drop the Skill. Place matter-status-digest.skill into your Claude Code skills directory or Claude.ai project. The Skill exposes one callable function: generate_digest.
2. Configure the data source. Edit data_source.yaml to point at either: (a) the path of the latest matter export CSV, or (b) the matter system API endpoint for live data.
3. Configure the GC’s preferences. Edit digest_template.md to match what the GC wants — some GCs prefer narrative summaries, some prefer structured tables, some want only matters above a dollar threshold or risk tier.
4. Schedule weekly execution. Either:
   • Manual: Legal Ops Manager runs the Skill Monday morning, sends the output
   • Automated: cron + email script that runs the Skill, formats output, and emails the GC

How it works

The Skill pulls the matter data and:

1. Identifies materially-changed matters since last digest. New matters opened, status changes, budget overruns, deadline approaches.
2. Categorizes by attention need. “Needs GC action this week” / “GC FYI” / “Routine — no action needed”.
3. Drafts the digest. One-page Markdown following the configured template, with sections for action items, status changes, financial flags, and forward look (deadlines and matters approaching status changes).
4. Includes drill-down paths. Each matter mentioned includes a link to its matter management record so the GC can dig in if needed.

Output format

# Matter Status Digest — Week of [date]

## This week's actions
- **[Matter X]** — [Description]. [Action needed]. Owner: [name]. Due: [date].
- **[Matter Y]** — [Description]. [Action needed]. Owner: [name]. Due: [date].

## Status changes since last digest
- [Matter Z] — Stage moved from [A] to [B]. [What this means].
- [Matter Q] — Closed. [Outcome and key terms].

## Financial flags
- [Matter R] — Budget at 80% utilization with 4 weeks of work remaining.
- [Matter S] — Outside-counsel invoice anomaly flagged (see invoice review).

## Forward look (next 30 days)
- [Date]: [Matter T] discovery deadline.
- [Date]: [Matter U] settlement conference.
- [Date]: [Matter V] contract renewal — non-standard terms, requires decision.

## Portfolio summary
- Active matters: [N] (was [N-1] last week)
- Open litigation: [N]
- Active transactions: [N]
- Outside-counsel run-rate: $[X] this quarter ([+/- vs last quarter])

Where it fits

This Skill is the operational alternative to the “every attorney sends a status update by Friday at 5pm” pattern that produces inconsistent, low-signal updates. The digest distills attorney-side activity into the form the GC actually needs — synthesized, prioritized, action-oriented.

Pair with quarterly portfolio reviews where the GC and Legal Ops Director look at trends across matters; the weekly digest is the operational view, the quarterly review is the strategic view.

Watch-outs

• Data quality matters. A digest is only as good as the matter management data underneath. If status fields aren’t kept current, the digest reflects stale state. Make matter status hygiene a discipline before deploying the digest.
• GC tone calibration. Different GCs want different digest styles. Iterate on the template with the GC’s feedback in the first 4-8 weeks.
• Don’t auto-send without review. Legal Ops Manager reviews each digest before it goes to the GC for the first 60-90 days. After calibration, automation can take over.
• Keep the digest short. A two-page digest doesn’t get read. Force triage at the digest level — if everything is in the digest, nothing gets attention.
• Privileged matter handling. Some matter activity is privileged or sensitive (board investigations, M&A in flight). Confirm the digest distribution list is appropriate for the most sensitive content included.