# Introducing Dispute Triage & First Response | Wordsmith > Wordsmith’s Dispute Triage & First Response skill flags legal threats in your inbox, rates the risk and drafts first-response documents for review. Canonical URL: https://www.wordsmith.ai/blog/introducing-dispute-triage-skill Nov 12, 2026ARTICLE ## Introducing Dispute Triage & First Response Wordsmith’s Dispute Triage & First Response skill flags legal threats in your inbox, rates the risk and drafts first-response documents for review. ![Wordsmith Skill of the Week #1 cover card: “Dispute Triage & First Response. Catch every legal threat before it becomes a deadline."](https://cdn.sanity.io/images/fzjkft9j/production/d9b5e55533dd3bb1ffc500fcbe62427817bd79ab-3840x2400.jpg?w=3840&fit=max&fm=webp&q=90) A letter before action arrives among routine emails. Before anyone drafts a reply, your team needs to establish how urgent it is, who should handle it and what to do first. Our new **Dispute Triage & First Response** skill helps in-house legal teams spot incoming legal threats and take a considered first step. Built by Wordsmith Legal Engineer _Larissa Meredith-Flister_, it turns incoming correspondence into a risk assessment and first-response documents for a lawyer to review. A running Disputes Tracker report keeps triaged matters in one place. #### **Why the first response matters** An overlooked deadline, a rushed reply or lost evidence can make a difficult situation harder. Larger organisations also need consistency: a reliable way to recognise incoming threats, decide who should handle them and escalate at the right time. Over the past six months, litigation, investigations and enforcement have become an increasingly important focus in our conversations with enterprise teams. This skill brings structure to the first steps of those matters, reducing time spent on initial triage while keeping lawyers in charge of decisions. #### **What it covers** The skill covers: - Letters before action - Demand letters alleging a legal wrong - Newly served claims - Threatened employment claims Regulator inquiries Routine undisputed invoices and later-stage litigation are out of scope. You can customize it to suit your needs. #### **How it works** 1. **Spot incoming legal threats.** Ask Wordsmith to review your connected inbox. A general request to review or summarise your emails is enough. Wordsmith identifies correspondence containing a legal threat, claim, newly served proceedings or regulator inquiry and triggers the skill. You do not need to find the item yourself or specifically ask for dispute triage. 2. **Assess risk and prepare a first response.** Wordsmith analyses the main facts, identifies the jurisdiction from the information you provide, assigns a red, amber or green risk rating and lists actions for the first 24 hours. It delivers the triage as a Word document, which can include relevant pre-action requirements, evidence-preservation and litigation-hold steps, and a draft holding response. 3. **Escalate if needed.** Where escalation is needed, it also drafts emails to the GC or external or local counsel. You review the assessment and drafts before acting. Nothing is sent without your explicit approval. 4. **Keep track of matters.** Wordsmith creates a Disputes Tracker report on first use and updates it each time you run the workflow. It also avoids duplicate tasks when the same matter arrives more than once in a connected inbox. You can also share correspondence directly by uploading or pasting it into a chat, rather than using a connected inbox. #### **Built to work across jurisdictions** The skill is jurisdiction-neutral. Each assessment takes the relevant jurisdiction into account, including whether a pre-action protocol may apply. It supports a qualified lawyer's review. Applicable rules and deadlines need confirmation before action. The aim is practical: help teams spot threats earlier and spend less time on initial assessment, with more consistent handling and less risk of missed deadlines or rushed responses. #### **Legal engineering that keeps building value** Our legal engineers turn legal expertise into repeatable workflows that teams can use in their daily work. Here, that means a structured process rather than a blank prompt each time. As customer needs evolve, they will keep building around the work teams face, including litigation, investigations and enforcement. #### **See it in action** ### Book a demo *An interactive form is available on the web page.* FEATURE SECTION ### Explore [ ![Wordsmith in Microsoft Word](https://www.wordsmith.ai/_next/image?url=%2Fintegrations%2Fword%2Fhero.png&w=3840&q=75&dpl=dpl_7NzipEKTug4b7Vqv8cJtUR6RhbbG) #### Word Integration Lawyers live in Word. Wordsmith works there too. Review, redline, draft, research, and translate without ever leaving the document in front of you. ](https://www.wordsmith.ai/integrations/word)[ ![Wordsmith Research intelligence](https://www.wordsmith.ai/_next/image?url=%2Fproducts%2Fresearch%2Fhero.jpg&w=3840&q=75&dpl=dpl_7NzipEKTug4b7Vqv8cJtUR6RhbbG) #### Research Global legal intelligence built around your business, hundreds of trusted sources across 130+ jurisdictions, combined with deep knowledge of your entities, risk profile, and prior positions. ](https://www.wordsmith.ai/products/research)[ ![Wordsmith AI legal agents](https://www.wordsmith.ai/_next/image?url=%2Fproducts%2Fagents%2Fhero.jpg&w=3840&q=75&dpl=dpl_7NzipEKTug4b7Vqv8cJtUR6RhbbG) #### AI Agents Chain drafting into a full end-to-end workflow. Receive the request, draft the document, route for approval, and send. No manual step required. ](https://www.wordsmith.ai/products/agents) BOOK A DEMO ### Ready to transform your legal department? 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