scope-change-controller-scott-margetts
Scope management for legal matters — baseline capture, in-flight change control, OOS documentation, and scope retrospective. Use when asked to review scoping assumptions, assess whether work is in or out of scope, draft a scope change notice, track scope changes, prepare an OOS justification, run an OOS report, prepare a scope call agenda, or review what changed on a matter. Trigger on: 'scope change', 'out of scope', 'OOS', 'scope creep', 'is this in scope', 'the client wants us to also', 'additional work', 'scope review', 'what changed from the original scope', 'we need to revisit the quote'
npx skills add lawve-ai/awesome-legal-skills --skill scope-change-controller-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
The skill manages scope across the lifecycle of a legal matter. It emphasizes capturing a baseline, tracking changes, and surfacing information for confirmation rather than forcing humans to log records. It supports both lightweight Standard deliverables (scope summary, simple OOS list, client communication draft) and Extended deliverables (full scope register, fortnightly scope pulse, scope retrospective, and OOS call agenda) depending on matter economics. It triggers from phrases related to scope and OOS and aims to surface evidence-backed records to inform client discussions and budget management.
How it works
- In manual mode, the skill produces draft records: a draft OOS entry, a draft client communication, and a draft scope register update from user input.
- In connected mode, Claude monitors matter signals, drafts the scope entry with source evidence auto-linked, and surfaces it for confirmation by the LPM.
- Step 1 determines needed scope work (Standard vs Extended) based on matter size and triggers (e.g., scope change, is this in scope, OOS report).
- Step 2 establishes baseline by identifying engagement letter, scoping email, or fee proposal and key assumptions.
- Step 3 extracts baseline elements: 3-5 items for Standard or 10-15 for Extended, including quantifiable parameters, inclusions, exclusions, implicit boundaries, fee basis, and caveats.
- Step 4 assesses in-flight changes against the baseline using a structured 5-step check (in scope, excluded, reasonable extension, new work, same scope with more volume) and applies a materiality test.
- Step 5 outputs a structured deliverable: a Summary with recommended actions, and then the appropriate Standard or Extended artifacts (scope summary, OOS list, client communication draft, and if Extended, full scope register, pulse check, and retrospective).
When to use it
Trigger phrases include: 'scope change', 'out of scope', 'OOS', 'scope creep', 'is this in scope', 'the client wants us to also', 'additional work', 'scope review', 'what changed from the original scope', 'we need to revisit the quote', 'scope report', and related variations like 'OOS report' or 'scope call with the client'. The workflow adapts to matter size to apply Standard or Extended scope management artifacts.
What it can touch
The skill assumes interaction with standard scope artifacts: an engagement letter, scope assumptions, and emails or notes used to populate the scope deliverables. In connected mode, it auto-links source evidence to the drafted scope entry and surfaces it for confirmation. The output includes a One-page scope summary, a Simple OOS list, and a Client communication draft (and, if Extended, a Full scope register, Fortnightly scope pulse check, and Scope retrospective) with structured fields and references in the Source column for traceability.
Caveats
- The license is NOASSERTION per the repository metadata; the skill’s stated license in frontmatter is Apache-2.0, but the local field shows NOASSERTION.
- It relies on user confirmation for changes (manual mode) and on signal detection (connected mode); it does not unilaterally modify client engagements.
- Standard deliverables have explicit formats (tables and drafts) and are tied to whether the matter warrants Extended scope governance based on economics.
- The practice emphasizes not treating scope changes as a billing trap and frames changes as collaborative, factual updates rather than confrontations.
# Scope Change Controller ## Purpose Manage scope across the lifecycle of a legal matter. Scope is the baseline that everything else references — status is progress against scope, risk is threat to scope delivery, budget is the price of scope. When scope is unmanaged, every other discipline is working against an unreliable target and the client gets surprised. The fundamental problem: legal teams consistently fail to manage scope because it feels adversarial, it's perceived as the partner's job, and nobody established a simple mechanism for managing change at matter setup. The result is budget overruns, write-off conversations that could have been managed change conversations, and clients who conclude that external counsel never sticks to their budget. Good scope management is a service to the client, not a confrontation. The client would rather have a managed conversation about additional costs mid-matter than a surprise invoice at the end. Framing scope change as professional and unemotional — an opportunity for both parties to deliver their sides of the bargain — is as important as the mechanics. ### Core design philosophy: automate capture, surface for confirmation LPMs and att
- Purpose
- Core design philosophy: automate capture, surface for confirmation
- Two layers — scale to the matter
- Standard (every matter)
- Extended (large or complex matters)
- Step-by-step process
- Step 1: Determine what's needed
- Step 2: Establish the baseline
- Step 3: Extract the scope baseline
- Surfacing historical scope knowledge at point of capture
- Step 4: Assess scope changes (in-flight)
- Step 5: Produce the output
- Extended: Excel workbook structure
- Scope management — the operational knowledge
What does the scope-change-controller-scott-margetts skill do?
Scope management for legal matters — baseline capture, in-flight change control, OOS documentation, and scope retrospective. Use when asked to review scoping assumptions, assess whether work is in or out of scope, draft a scope change notice, track scope changes, prepare an OOS justification, run an OOS report, prepare a scope call agenda, or review what changed on a matter. Trigger on: 'scope change', 'out of scope', 'OOS', 'scope creep', 'is this in scope', 'the client wants us to also', 'additional work', 'scope review', 'what changed from the original scope', 'we need to revisit the quote'
How do I install it?
Run `npx skills add lawve-ai/awesome-legal-skills --skill scope-change-controller-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.