resource-planner-scott-margetts
Team structure, gearing analysis, continuity planning, and competing demand management for legal matters. Use when setting up a matter team, reviewing whether work is being done at the right grade, planning cover for an unavailable team member, or managing a resource conflict across matters. Trigger on: 'who should be on this matter', 'team structure', 'gearing', 'right people at the right level', 'partner is doing associate work', 'cover for maternity leave', 'who has capacity', 'team member leaving', 'over-allocated', 'staffing conflict', 'pinch point', 'capacity problem', 'how do we resourc
npx skills add lawve-ai/awesome-legal-skills --skill resource-planner-scott-margetts --agent claude-code
Same command for any agent — swap --agent for codex, cursor, copilot.
Weekly change comes from our own snapshots, not the repository page — it measures attention, not adoption.
What it does
You are a Legal Project Management skill that helps design and monitor legal matter team structures, identify gearing problems, plan team continuity, and manage resource conflicts across matters.
How it works
The skill operates by using available information (time entries, stated team structures, known absences, specific named conflicts) to produce analysis and options regarding matter staffing, gearing, continuity, and competing demands. It emphasizes that it does not produce authoritative resource plans and that all resourcing decisions require partner authority. It provides different modes:
- Mode 1: Gearing model at matter setup — translates scope into required grade mix, compares to proposed team, identifies gaps, and produces a team structure recommendation with hours by phase and grade.
- Mode 2: In-flight gearing review — compares actual time entries by grade to budget gearing, highlighting where senior time is used on delegatable work or junior time lacks oversight, detailing cost and delivery implications.
- Mode 3: Continuity planning — assesses impact when a team member is unavailable and produces cover options, with an emphasis on impact assessment and actionable handover requirements.
- Mode 4: Competing demand flag — models conflicts for over-allocated individuals, generates capacity-based conflict maps and options, and requires partner decision for resolution.
When to use it
Use when setting up a matter team, reviewing whether work is being done at the right grade, planning cover for an unavailable team member, or managing a resource conflict across matters.
What it can touch
The skill uses inputs such as time entries, team structures, absences, and named conflicts to generate analysis and options. It requires that fee basis and rate data be provided in input when needed for Mode 2–4; it cannot access firm billing rates directly and will rely on supplied inputs or budget data.
Caveats
All resourcing decisions require partner authority. The output explicitly notes data limitations and uses placeholders if milestones or cover candidates are unknown. The partner decision is required for final staffing actions and for resolving competing demands (Mode 4).
# Resource Planner You are a Legal Project Management skill that helps design and monitor legal matter team structures, identify gearing problems, plan team continuity, and manage resource conflicts across matters. Law firm resourcing is fluid and operates with incomplete information. Partners staff matters based on availability, relationships, development needs, and department workload signals that are often informal and lagging. This skill works with the information that is actually available — time entries, stated team structures, known absences, specific named conflicts — and produces analysis and options. It does not produce authoritative resource plans. All resourcing decisions require partner authority. ## When to use this skill - Setting up a matter team — what grade mix and hours does this matter actually need? - Mid-matter gearing review — is the work being done at the right level? - A team member is unavailable — what is the impact and how do we cover it? - A person is over-allocated across matters — what gives, and what are the options? --- ## Before Starting Any Mode **Stop. Confirm identifiers before any output is produced.** ``` Client: [Name] Client number: [Number]
- When to use this skill
- Before Starting Any Mode
- Rate Data — A Design Constraint
- Operating Modes
- Mode 1 — Gearing model at matter setup
- Mode 2 — In-flight gearing review
- Mode 3 — Continuity planning
- Mode 4 — Competing demand flag
- Domain Knowledge — Gearing
- What gearing is and why it matters
- Common gearing failure modes
- Gearing model — standard output
- The delegation test
- Domain Knowledge — Law Firm Resourcing Reality
What does the resource-planner-scott-margetts skill do?
Team structure, gearing analysis, continuity planning, and competing demand management for legal matters. Use when setting up a matter team, reviewing whether work is being done at the right grade, planning cover for an unavailable team member, or managing a resource conflict across matters. Trigger on: 'who should be on this matter', 'team structure', 'gearing', 'right people at the right level', 'partner is doing associate work', 'cover for maternity leave', 'who has capacity', 'team member leaving', 'over-allocated', 'staffing conflict', 'pinch point', 'capacity problem', 'how do we resourc
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add lawve-ai/awesome-legal-skills --skill resource-planner-scott-margetts --agent claude-code` — it drops the skill into your project so the agent can pick it up. Swap the --agent value for codex, cursor or copilot if you use one of those.
Where does this skill come from?
From lawve-ai/awesome-legal-skills, a repository with 618 stars. We read it straight from the repository tree rather than a submitted listing, so what you see here is what is actually published.
Is a popular skill a good skill?
Not necessarily. Stars measure attention, not adoption — a repository can trend for a week and be abandoned. That is why we show the weekly change from our own snapshots next to the total, instead of a single flattering number.