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Redline contracts with Claude for Legal

Review a contract clause by clause against your playbook with Claude for Legal in Cowork, then get a tracked-changes redline in about 20 minutes.

By Recaply EditorsIntermediate21 min5 stepsUpdated

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What you need

Every output is a draft for a lawyer to review, not legal advice. On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner may need to make the plugin available.

  1. Step 1: Add the Commercial Legal plugin

    3 min

    Claude for Legal is a set of 12 practice-area plugins. Commercial Legal is the one for vendor agreements and NDAs.

    1. Open the Claude Desktop app and go to Customize > Plugins.
    2. Look for Commercial Legal under Discover.
    3. If it isn't listed, choose Add > Add marketplace and enter anthropics/claude-for-legal.
    4. Select Commercial Legal and add it.

    You should see Commercial Legal in your plugin list, with its skills on their own tab.

    There's no Add marketplace option?

    On Team and Enterprise plans, an Owner decides which plugin sources members see. Ask them to make Commercial Legal available.

    A plugin you add is saved to your account, so it also works in chat and in Claude Code.

  2. Step 2: Point Cowork at your contract folder

    2 min

    Cowork reads the files where they sit and saves its memo and redline back next to them.

    1. Put the contract and your playbook in one folder, such as Contracts/Acme-MSA.
    2. In the desktop app, start a Cowork task, click + Add folder and pick that folder.

    You should see the folder's name in the message box.

    Claude says it can't reach the file?

    Keep the desktop app open while the task runs. Cowork reaches files on your computer through the app. Then add the folder again.

  3. Step 3: Teach it your playbook

    5 min

    The plugin reviews against your positions, not a textbook, so it interviews you first.

    1. Type the command below in the message box and send it.
    2. Choose the sales side if you sell, the purchasing side if you buy, or both.
    3. Pick the quick start for now. Answer its questions about your positions, fallbacks and who approves what.
    Run this
    /commercial-legal:cold-start-interview

    You should see a summary of your practice profile: standard positions, fallbacks and approvers.

    Reviews still feel generic?

    Run the interview again and skip the quick start. The full version takes 10 to 15 minutes and asks for 5 to 10 signed agreements.

    Your answers go into a plain-English practice profile that every skill reads. You can edit it or re-run the interview later.

  4. Step 4: Run the clause-by-clause review

    7 min

    One command reads the whole agreement and flags each clause that moves away from your playbook.

    1. Paste the command below with your file name and details, and send it.
    2. Confirm the agreement type when Claude asks.
    3. Read the Bottom line first, then the issues from Critical down to Low.
    Run this
    /commercial-legal:review [YOUR CONTRACT].pdf

We're the customer. Focus on liability, data protection and termination. We need to sign by [DATE].

    You should see a review memo with a bottom line, issues rated Critical, High, Medium or Low, and replacement language for each one.

    Every finding is tagged PROVISIONAL?

    The plugin found no practice profile, so it used generic US defaults. Finish the interview in step 3, then run the review again.

    Citations tagged verify came from the web or the model's memory. Check those first, or connect a legal research tool such as CourtListener.

  5. Step 5: Get the tracked-changes redline

    4 min

    A redline in Word with tracked changes is what goes to the other side, once a lawyer signs off.

    1. Paste the prompt below into the same task.
    2. Open the new .docx from your folder in Word and read each change and its comment.
    Your prompt
    Create a redline .docx of the contract with every proposed change as a tracked change. Add a comment on each change that cites our playbook position. Then write a one-page summary of the top issues for the deal team.

    You should see a redlined .docx and a one-page summary saved in your contract folder.

    The redline rewrites whole clauses?

    Ask for smaller edits: "Change only the words that need to change." Small, exact edits are easier for the other side to read and accept.

    Take out internal comments and the work-product header before anything goes to the counterparty.

You get

A clause-by-clause review memo and a tracked-changes redline, both checked against your own playbook

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