risk-analysis

Risk Analysis — Clause-by-Clause Risk Scoring

Standalone deep-dive skill that scores every material clause in a contract against ten risk categories, flags poison pills, and estimates financial exposure. Designed to surface the clauses that could cost the most money or create the most liability.

Overview

Every contract contains trade-offs. This skill systematically identifies which trade-offs are reasonable and which are dangerous by scoring clauses on a 1-10 severity scale across ten categories. It specifically hunts for "poison pills" — clauses that appear innocuous but create disproportionate risk when triggered.

Unlike a general review, this skill produces a quantified risk profile: a heat map of where the danger lives, what it could cost, and what to do about it.

Prerequisites

• A contract must be provided as a file path or pasted text.
• The user should ideally specify which party's perspective to analyze from (e.g., "I am the service provider" or "I am the client"). If not specified, the analysis defaults to the party that did not draft the contract.

Instructions

1. Read the full contract. Use the Read tool if a file path is provided.

2. Identify all material clauses. Extract each numbered section or clause that creates obligations, rights, restrictions, or liabilities.

3. Score each clause across 10 risk categories (1 = minimal risk, 10 = extreme risk):

   #	Category	What to Evaluate
   1	Financial Liability	Uncapped damages, liquidated damages, penalty clauses
   2	Indemnification	Scope, carve-outs, caps, duty to defend vs. hold harmless
   3	Intellectual Property	Work-for-hire, assignment breadth, background IP protection
   4	Termination	For-cause vs. convenience, cure periods, termination fees
   5	Non-Compete / Non-Solicit	Duration, geographic scope, industry breadth
   6	Confidentiality	Duration, scope of "confidential," residual knowledge carve-outs
   7	Limitation of Liability	Cap amount, exclusion of consequential damages, mutual vs. one-sided
   8	Data & Privacy	Data ownership, breach notification, sub-processor controls
   9	Dispute Resolution	Arbitration vs. litigation, venue, fee allocation, class action waiver
   10	Regulatory / Compliance	Representations of compliance, audit rights, change-in-law provisions

4. Detect poison pills. Scan for these specific patterns:

   • Clauses buried in definitions that create substantive obligations
   • Cross-references that expand scope (e.g., "including but not limited to" chains that remove boundaries)
   • Survival clauses that extend obligations indefinitely post-termination
   • Automatic renewal with silent rollover and difficult opt-out
   • Unilateral amendment rights ("Company may modify these terms at any time")
   • Fee escalation triggers hidden in appendices or schedules
   • Broad assignment rights that allow transfer to unknown third parties
   • Waiver of jury trial buried in boilerplate

5. Estimate financial exposure. For each high-risk clause (score >= 7), estimate the potential financial impact:

   • Direct costs: Stated penalties, liquidated damages, fee caps
   • Indirect costs: Lost IP value, opportunity cost of non-compete, litigation expenses
   • Worst-case scenario: Maximum realistic exposure if the clause triggers

6. Build the risk heat map. Rank all clauses by composite risk score (severity x probability). Flag the top 5 as "Critical Attention Required."

7. Generate recommendations. For each high-risk clause, provide:

   • What to negotiate (specific language changes)
   • Fallback position if negotiation fails
   • Walk-away threshold

Output

Filename: RISK-ANALYSIS-{YYYY-MM-DD}.md

# Risk Analysis Report
## Contract Summary
## Risk Perspective: [which party]
## Risk Heat Map
| Clause | Section | Category | Severity (1-10) | Probability | Composite |
## Poison Pill Alerts
## Financial Exposure Summary
| Risk | Best Case | Expected | Worst Case |
## Top 5 Critical Risks (detailed analysis)
## Negotiation Recommendations
## Overall Risk Rating: [LOW / MODERATE / HIGH / CRITICAL]
## Disclaimer

Error Handling

Failure Mode	Cause	Resolution
Missing party perspective	User did not specify their role	Ask which party they represent before proceeding
Incomplete contract	Schedules or exhibits referenced but not provided	Note the gaps explicitly; score only what is available
Ambiguous clause language	Deliberately vague or circular definitions	Flag as a risk in itself; score higher for intentional ambiguity
No financial terms stated	Contract omits dollar amounts	Estimate exposure qualitatively (low/medium/high) instead of dollar amounts
Multiple governing laws	Contract references conflicting jurisdictions	Flag the conflict as a dispute-resolution risk

Examples

Example 1 — SaaS Agreement risk analysis:

User: Analyze the risks in this SaaS agreement. I am the customer.

Top Risks:
1. Section 9.3 — Indemnification: 9/10
   Customer indemnifies vendor for "any claims arising from use" with no cap.
   Exposure: Potentially unlimited. Negotiate mutual indemnification with cap.

2. Section 14.1 — Unilateral Amendment: 8/10
   "Company may modify terms with 30 days notice." No opt-out except
   termination. Poison pill: effectively allows price increases mid-term.
   Negotiate: Require mutual consent for material changes.

3. Section 5.2 — Data Ownership: 8/10
   "Customer grants Company a perpetual, irrevocable license to use
   Customer Data for product improvement." Survives termination.
   Negotiate: Limit to anonymized, aggregated data only.

Overall Risk Rating: HIGH

Example 2 — Employment agreement:

User: What are the risks in ~/contracts/offer-letter.pdf? I am the employee.

Poison Pill Detected:
Section 12(c) — "Inventions Assignment" includes work created
"using any Company equipment" with no time-of-day limitation.
Combined with Section 3(a) requiring use of company laptop,
this effectively assigns ALL inventions to employer — including
personal side projects.

Resources

• CommonPaper Risk Assessment Framework — Open-source contract analysis patterns (CC BY 4.0).
• American Bar Association — Indemnification Provisions — Model clauses and risk allocation guidance.
• FTC Unfair Contract Terms Guidance — Federal Trade Commission guidance on unfair or deceptive contract practices.
• Restatement (Second) of Contracts, Sections 205-208 — Unconscionability and duty of good faith standards.

---

Legal Disclaimer: This skill provides AI-generated risk analysis for informational and educational purposes only. It does not constitute legal advice, create an attorney-client relationship, or substitute for consultation with a qualified attorney. Risk scores are heuristic estimates, not legal determinations. Actual risk depends on jurisdiction, specific facts, and applicable law. Always consult a licensed attorney before making decisions based on this analysis.