Sharpens a legal-scholarly piece's thesis into a single contestable claim and names the contribution type (descriptive, doctrinal, theoretical, normative, or critical).
How this skill is triggered — by the user, by Claude, or both
Slash command
/yale-law-journal-skills:ylj-thesis-and-contributionThe summary Claude sees in its skill listing — used to decide when to auto-load this skill
A YLJ piece lives or dies on a **single, sharp claim** that a generalist reader can restate. Student
A YLJ piece lives or dies on a single, sharp claim that a generalist reader can restate. Student
editors (and faculty advisors they consult) reject pieces whose "thesis" is really a topic or a survey.
This skill nails the claim and labels the contribution; it does not yet prove novelty
(ylj-preemption-check) or sequence the argument (ylj-argument-structure).
Write: "This [Article/Essay] argues that ____, and therefore ____." It must be:
ylj-topic-selection).If you need "and" three times, you have three theses; pick the one the piece is actually about.
| Type | What it adds | Tell |
|---|---|---|
| Descriptive | A pattern no one has named (a doctrine is incoherent, a practice is widespread) | "Courts/agencies are actually doing X." |
| Doctrinal | A better reading of authority (statute, precedent, constitutional text) | "The correct rule is X, not Y." |
| Theoretical | A framework that reorganizes how we understand a field | "X is best understood as Y." |
| Normative | A reform: what the law should be and who should change it | "Congress/the Court should do X." |
| Critical | An immanent critique exposing a hidden assumption | "The standard account rests on an untenable Z." |
State which type(s) you are making — and to whom the normative payoff is addressed (court, Congress, agency, bar), because YLJ readers include all of them.
ylj-preemption-check).ylj-preemption-check【Thesis】"This [Article/Essay] argues that ___, and therefore ___."
【Contribution】descriptive / doctrinal / theoretical / normative / critical (+ blend)
【Displaces】the prevailing view this claim challenges
【Addressee】who should act on the normative payoff
【Next】ylj-preemption-check to confirm the claim is genuinely new
../../resources/worked-examples/01-introduction.md — a before→after YLJ introduction built around one claim../../resources/exemplars/library.md — YLJ pieces grouped by contribution typenpx claudepluginhub brycewang-stanford/awesome-journal-skills --plugin yale-law-journal-skillsArticulates the central legal claim and normative payoff of a Harvard Law Review piece so it reads as an original contribution, not a doctrinal survey.
Screens legal-scholarship ideas for fit with The Yale Law Journal: tests generalist significance, timeliness, and novelty potential, and recommends Article vs. Essay vs. Forum vs. Note/Comment track.
Positions a JLE manuscript's marginal contribution against prior law-and-economics work when the addition is fuzzy or undersold.