{
  "id": "legal-hr-case-capsule",
  "name": "Legal-HR Case Capsule",
  "type": "skill",
  "provider": "generic",
  "harnesses": ["codex", "claude-code", "cursor", "gemini", "kiro", "other"],
  "summary": "Shared, auditable handoff contract for Legal and HR agents — a redacted case capsule carrying facts, uncertainty, evidence quality, risk labels, privilege and privacy posture, a named decision owner, and an explicit do-not-do list. Does not give legal or HR advice.",
  "source_type": "original",
  "official_docs": [
    "https://www.nist.gov/privacy-framework",
    "https://www.eeoc.gov",
    "https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2016/679/oj"
  ],
  "security_notes": "Defines a minimum-necessary handoff record; never carries medical records, government IDs, credentials, privileged email text, or protected-class data beyond what the matter requires. Never authorizes action; flags privilege and privacy posture and routes decisions to a named human owner.",
  "last_verified": "2026-05-18",
  "path": "skills/cross-functional/legal-hr-case-capsule",
  "author": "github: VincentChuWaiChow",
  "version": "0.1.0"
}

# 📦 Legal-HR Case Capsule

The **case capsule** is the single, auditable handoff contract for Legal and HR agentic coordination. When a matter crosses a boundary — an HR investigation that needs privileged legal review, or a legal litigation hold that triggers an HR data freeze — the case capsule carries a structured, redacted payload between agents while preserving privilege, minimizing personal data, and recording the escalation path.

## What is a case capsule?

A 30-field structured handoff contract that:
- **Carries facts and risk posture**, never an authorization or final decision
- **Minimizes personal and sensitive data** through explicit redaction rules
- **Preserves legal and HR privilege** with mandatory do-not-disclose markers
- **Names one decision owner** — the human responsible for the next action
- **Enforces a do-not-do list** — irreversible actions that are explicitly forbidden until human sign-off

See [`SKILL.md`](SKILL.md) for the skill itself, and [`references/capsule-schema.md`](references/capsule-schema.md) for the complete 30-field specification, redaction rules, and a worked example.

## Why a case capsule?

Without a case capsule, agents would improvise handoffs — dumping raw case context, leaking personal data, losing track of who said what, and creating audit gaps. The case capsule is the guardrail: it enforces a shape, a payload contract, and a privilege boundary.

Every handoff is auditable: an auditor, a regulator, or opposing counsel can trace exactly what facts moved between agents, why, and who approved the motion.

## For Legal agents

When your review reveals an HR issue (wrongful termination exposure, discrimination risk, retaliation red flag), you hand off to HR via a case capsule. The capsule says *"here's what I found, here are the privilege markers, here's who owns the next step, here's what we must NOT do without consent."*

## For HR agents

When your review reveals a legal issue (whistleblower report, conflict of interest, anti-bribery exposure), you hand off to Legal via a case capsule. The capsule carries the HR context without leaking the employee's medical history, protected-characteristic data, or confidential HR files.

## Vault principles

- **Redaction is mandatory.** Every field has a redaction rule; no field carries unredacted personal data unless explicitly required.
- **Privilege is explicit.** Mandatory `attorney_client_privilege` and `work_product_doctrine` labels control what can be disclosed downstream.
- **One human owner.** Every handoff names a single `decision_owner` (a real person's title or role) who is accountable for the next irreversible action.
- **Refusal by default.** The case capsule carries a `do_not_do_list` — explicit, non-empty actions that are forbidden until human approval.

## Cross-references

- [`SKILL.md`](SKILL.md) — the skill prompt and scaffold for case-capsule composition
- [`references/capsule-schema.md`](references/capsule-schema.md) — 30-field specification, redaction rules, worked example, and validation checklist
- [`docs/architecture/legal-hr-agent-communication.md`](/docs/architecture/legal-hr-agent-communication.md) — cross-functional coordination principles, case capsule as the only channel, audit trail

---

*The case capsule is part of the vanguard frontier's cross-functional protocol layer. It enables agentic coordination that survives audit and legal scrutiny.*

---
name: legal-hr-case-capsule
description: Use this skill when a Legal or HR agent must hand a matter to another agent and the context, uncertainty, evidence quality, privilege posture, and privacy posture must survive the handoff. It defines the shared legal-hr-case-capsule — a controlled, auditable exchange record with redacted identifiers, risk labels, privilege and privacy labels, a decision-owner field, and an explicit do-not-do list. It does not give legal or HR advice and does not authorize any action.
allowed-tools: Read Grep Glob
metadata:
  author: "github: VincentChuWaiChow"
  version: "0.1.0"
  updated: "2026-05-18"
  category: compliance
  lifecycle: experimental
---

# Legal-HR Case Capsule

## Purpose
This skill defines the **legal-hr-case-capsule** — the single structured record
that Legal and HR agents exchange when a matter crosses an agent boundary. The
capsule exists so that no agent works in a silo, no context is lost in a
handoff, and every cross-domain exchange is auditable. It is a data contract,
not a decision: a capsule never approves, denies, or directs an action. It
carries facts, uncertainty, risk posture, and an explicit decision owner.

## When to use
- A maestro agent routes a matter to one or more specialist agents.
- A specialist agent escalates a matter that has crossed into another domain.
- Any matter touches both Legal and HR risk and must be reviewed in parallel.
- A matter must be paused and escalated to a human owner.

## Core rules
- Every cross-agent handoff MUST be expressed as a capsule. No free-form
  agent-to-agent chatter.
- Every capsule MUST name exactly one `decision_owner` (an accountable human)
  and exactly one `primary_agent`.
- Every capsule MUST carry a `do_not_do_list`. An empty list is not acceptable;
  if nothing is prohibited, the capsule is not ready to send.
- Every capsule MUST label `privilege_sensitivity` and `privacy_sensitivity`.
- Identifiers MUST be redacted to the minimum necessary. Use role and
  business-unit references, not names, government IDs, or contact details.
- A capsule records uncertainty honestly: `assumptions`, `inferences`, and
  `missing_evidence` are mandatory fields, not optional.
- A capsule never states "this is legal", "this is compliant", or "this action
  is approved". `risk_rating` uses risk language only.
- High-risk cross-domain capsules MUST set `escalation_required: true` and
  `recommended_next_action` to a pause-and-escalate posture unless documented
  controls already exist.

## Capsule field set
The capsule has 30 required fields. See
[references/capsule-schema.md](references/capsule-schema.md) for the full field
definitions, allowed values, and redaction rules. Summary:

- Identity and routing: `case_id`, `source_agent`, `receiving_agent`,
  `primary_agent`, `secondary_agents`, `matter_type`,
  `employee_or_party_identifiers_redacted`, `jurisdiction_or_location_if_known`,
  `business_unit`, `timeline`.
- Evidence discipline: `facts`, `allegations`, `assumptions`, `inferences`,
  `missing_evidence`, `evidence_quality`.
- Risk posture: `risk_rating`, `privilege_sensitivity`, `privacy_sensitivity`,
  `retaliation_risk`, `discrimination_or_harassment_risk`, `regulatory_risk`,
  `litigation_hold_needed`, `data_minimization_notes`.
- Ownership and action: `decision_owner`, `human_approval_required`,
  `escalation_required`, `recommended_next_action`, `do_not_do_list`,
  `audit_log_summary`.

## References
Load only when needed:
- [Capsule schema and redaction rules](references/capsule-schema.md) — full
  field-by-field contract, allowed values, and worked example.

## Security notes
- The capsule is a minimum-necessary record. Never widen it to carry medical
  records, government IDs, credentials, privileged email text, or
  protected-class data beyond what the matter strictly requires.
- A capsule that would extend the circulation of privileged or investigation
  material must be narrowed before it is sent; flag privilege explicitly.
- The capsule never authorizes action. Any field that reads as a directive to
  terminate, discipline, settle, file, notify a regulator, or send an employee
  communication is a defect — rewrite it as a recommendation with a named human
  owner.