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SOP-OPS-legal-request-intake-v1.0

1. Purpose

Define how legal requests enter the legal.exec queue, get classified by type and urgency, and get routed to the correct research or drafting path. Ensures legal work is tracked, prioritized, and not handled ad-hoc.

Note on sensitivity: All legal work is HIGH sensitivity per SOP-EXEC-council-review-v1.0 Section 2A. Any council review on legal artifacts uses Ollama local only — no external API calls for legal content.

Type Examples
Contract review Vendor agreements, customer MSAs, partnership agreements
Compliance research GDPR/CCPA applicability, data residency requirements, regulatory question
IP / trademark eco
Risk assessment "Can we do X?" questions before taking a business action
Template drafting Assessment SOW, NDA, standard engagement letter
Incident response Legal implications of a data incident, breach notification obligation

3. Request Sources and Intake Points

Source How it arrives Routed by
CEO Slack DM or inbox.md chief.staff
COO Direct session-dir drop COO
CRO Pre-deal legal question CRO → COO → legal.exec
Any agent Status Report flag chief.staff
Vendor review process Per SOP-OPS-vendor-review-v1.0 Step 4 COO

All requests land in legal.exec session dir via COO dispatch within 24 hours of receipt.

4. Intake Procedure

Step 1 — Intake classification

legal.exec classifies the request:

Classification Criteria Priority
Blocking Legal answer is needed before a business action can proceed (e.g., can we sign this contract?) P1 — same day
Standard Important but not blocking immediate action P2 — within 48 hours
Research Background research, no immediate decision needed P3 — within 1 week
Template Reusable document drafted for future use P3 — scheduled

Step 2 — Research and analysis

For each request, legal.exec:

  1. Identifies the applicable legal framework (jurisdiction, regulatory body, contract type)
  2. Conducts research using available sources (internal knowledge, public regulatory guidance)
  3. Notes where external counsel would be needed (eco|monetize has no retained outside counsel currently — flag to COO when a matter exceeds agent scope)

Scope limitation: legal.exec provides research synthesis and risk identification. It does not provide legal advice that replaces qualified legal counsel. For any matter involving significant financial risk, customer data breach notification, or litigation, COO must involve outside counsel.

legal.exec files a Legal Memo at /Claude/operations/reports/legal/legal-memo-{slug}-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md:

LEGAL MEMO
──────────────────────────────
Request: {summary of the question}
Requestor: {agent / CEO}
Date: {YYYY-MM-DD}
Classification: {Blocking / Standard / Research / Template}
Legal framework: {applicable law, regulation, or contract standard}
Analysis: {findings}
Risk level: {LOW / MEDIUM / HIGH / CRITICAL}
Recommendation: {specific guidance}
Limitations: {where outside counsel is needed}
Reviewer: legal.exec

Step 4 — Approval and routing

Risk level Routing
LOW legal.exec autonomous; memo filed; requestor notified
MEDIUM COO reviews memo before routing to requestor
HIGH COO + CEO review; outside counsel recommended
CRITICAL CEO notified immediately; outside counsel required before action

Beyond ad-hoc requests, legal.exec maintains:

Function Cadence
Trademark monitoring Quarterly — scan for eco
Contract template review Annual — ensure templates reflect current offer, pricing, and regulatory requirements
Compliance calendar Quarterly — flag any upcoming regulatory deadlines (GDPR audit, data retention review, etc.)

Recurring outputs filed to /Claude/operations/reports/legal/ and surfaced in COO check-ins.

6. Escalation

Any legal matter involving: - Customer data breach → immediate CEO + COO + outside counsel - Active or threatened litigation → CEO + outside counsel immediately; COO manages - Regulatory investigation → CEO + outside counsel; no agent communication with regulators without counsel present

Change Log

Version Date Change
v1.0 2026-04-21 Initial draft — sop.manager.

Owner: legal.exec Executive sponsor: coo Drafted by: sop.manager Status: Draft — pending COO review + approval Version: v1.0