Common Workers’ Comp letters drafted with live case data pulled from Merus — NOR, lien letters, TD demand with LC 5814 penalty cites (dollar amounts left as [amount] for attorney completion), client updates, medical authorization requests. Every output is labeled DRAFT and ends with “copy and send manually.” AAI does not have a send button. The attorney signs everything.
At the prompt:
aaicase> draft a TD demand for DoeOr any of:
aaicase> write an NOR for case [CASE-ID]
aaicase> lien letter for Sample
aaicase> draft a client update for RoeThe skill resolves the case, pulls the live data (parties, injury, claim number, ADJ, employer, defense, adjuster, etc.), and produces a complete draft letter populated with real values. The output is plain text or markdown, formatted for direct copy into Word/letterhead, and bracketed with a DRAFT label top and bottom.
| Letter type | To whom | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| NOR (Notice of Representation) | Carrier/TPA/employer/defense | Establish the firm represents the applicant; direct correspondence to the firm; request benefits log + medical reports + job description. |
| Lien Letter | Medical providers | Notice of representation + LC 4903 lien assertion + request for treatment records. |
| TD Demand | Carrier/adjuster | Demand unpaid temporary disability benefits with LC 4650(a) timing, LC 4453 rate caps, and LC 5814 penalty exposure spelled out. |
| General Demand | Carrier/defense | Pre-settlement demand on any benefit (PD, future medical, mileage, interest). |
| Client Status Update | The client | Plain-language case update; next hearings/QMEs; action items for the client; optional Spanish translation if the contact’s language is Spanish. |
| Medical Authorization Request | Providers / the client | HIPAA authorization request to obtain medical records. |
If the attorney names a letter type that isn’t in this list (“draft an objection to QME panel”), the skill asks for clarification rather than guessing. Templates for less common letters live in skills/templates/ and are added on demand.
Before drafting anything, the skill fetches:
node bin/merus-fetch.mjs /caseFiles/view/[CASE-ID] → case header, applicant, comments, attorney
node bin/merus-fetch.mjs /parties/view/[CASE-ID] → carrier, adjuster, employer, defense counsel, providers
node bin/merus-fetch.mjs /injuries/view/[CASE-ID] → DOI, body parts, ADJ#, carrier claim #From those three calls the draft picks up: client name, DOI, body parts, ADJ number, carrier claim number, employer name, carrier name, adjuster name + address + fax, defense attorney name + address + fax, attorney of record, firm name + address + phone + fax, client phone/email/language. Every field that has a value gets filled in; every field that’s missing is left as a bracketed placeholder ([Adjuster Address]) so the attorney sees exactly what to fill in.
If the case is missing a critical party (say a TD demand on a case with no carrier party on file), the skill flags it before drafting:
This case has no carrier party recorded. The TD demand needs to go to a specific adjuster — do you want me to draft it as a generic demand with bracket placeholders for the carrier info, or stop and add the carrier party first via aaicase> new party?
The NOR is the first letter that goes out on every new case — it’s task #2 in the new case compliance scaffold. Format:
DRAFT — Notice of Representation
[Date]
[Carrier/TPA Name]
[Adjuster Name]
[Address]
RE: Doe, Jane v. Sample County Agency
Claim #: [CLAIM-#]
DOI: 2026-04-12
ADJ#: [ADJ-#]
Dear [Adjuster Name]:
Please be advised that this office represents Jane Doe in the
above-referenced workers' compensation matter.
Please direct all future correspondence regarding this claim to:
[Firm Name]
[Firm Address]
Phone: [phone]
Fax: [fax]
Please do not contact our client directly regarding this claim.
Please forward the following at your earliest convenience:
1. Complete benefits payment log
2. All medical reports in your possession
3. Copy of the job description for [client's occupation]
Very truly yours,
[Attorney Name], Esq.
[Firm Name]
---
DRAFT — Copy and send manually. Do not send without attorney review.The three requests at the bottom (benefits log, medical reports, job description) are intentional — they’re the data the firm will need within the first week of the case for TD verification, mileage, and PD vocational analysis.
Sent to every treating provider the firm knows about. Combines:
The skill draws the provider list from the parties endpoint — any party with a treating-provider type. For multiple providers, it generates a series of letters (one per provider, ready to copy) rather than a single combined letter.
The most consequential drafting task in the system. The skill assembles the narrative claim from live case data (DOI, applicant name, employer, date off work, payment history if any) and leaves the dollar amounts as bracketed placeholders. The attorney fills in the AWW-driven TD rate from the wage statement and the LC 4650(d) / LC 5814(a) penalty math; aaicase does not compute settlement numbers (rate computation is an attorney function per pass 427).
DRAFT — Demand for Temporary Disability Benefits
[Date]
RE: Doe, Jane v. Sample County Agency
Claim #: [CLAIM-#]
DOI: 2026-04-12
Dear [Adjuster]:
Our client has been temporarily totally disabled since 2026-04-15.
To date, no temporary disability benefits have been paid.
Pursuant to LC 4650(a), TD must commence within 14 days of employer
knowledge of the injury. The applicable rate for a 2026 date of
injury is 2/3 of AWW, subject to a maximum of $[max-rate]/week
(LC 4453).
Based on the reported AWW of $[X], the weekly TD rate is $[2/3 of AWW
or max, whichever is lower].
Period of unpaid TD: 2026-04-15 through [today] = X weeks, Y days
Amount owed: $[weekly rate × period]
LC 4650(d) 10% self-increase (automatic for late TD): $[+10%]
LC 5814(a) penalty exposure (up to 25% per payment, Milpitas): $[+up to 25%]
TOTAL DEMAND: $[amount]
Failure to commence timely TD benefits will result in:
- Automatic 10% self-increase (LC 4650(d))
- Penalty exposure up to 25% per payment (LC 5814(a) — per Milpitas
Unified School District v. WCAB, penalties attach per payment, not
lump sum)
Please remit payment within 10 days.
---
DRAFT — Copy and send manually. Verify all calculations independently.
Attorney must review the AWW source, work-restriction dates, and
penalty math before sending.Three things make this letter different from a hand-written demand:
The draft ends with an explicit attorney-must-verify line: AWW source, work-restriction dates, and penalty math. The skill computes these from available data; the attorney signs only after confirming.
Plain-language case update for the client. Pulls current status from the case, the next hearing/event from the calendar, the next QME if scheduled, and any open action items the client needs to do.
If the client’s language is Spanish (per the contact record), the skill drafts the English version and a Spanish translation immediately below it. The firm decides whether to send both or just one based on the client’s preference, but the bilingual default avoids the trap of forgetting that a non-English-speaking client received a letter they couldn’t read — a Rule 1.4 problem.
Update letters are intentionally conservative on legal content. They describe what is happening; they do not give legal advice in writing where a paralegal might be tempted to send without attorney review.
Every letter starts with DRAFT — [letter type] at the top and ends with DRAFT — Copy and send manually. Do not send without attorney review. at the bottom. This is not a polite suggestion — it is a deliberate label that:
This is the rule across AAI’s writing operations. Correspondence under a firm’s name is a legal act — under Bus. & Prof. Code 6125–6126 it requires attorney authorization, and increasingly under California ethics opinions it requires meaningful attorney review of AI-assisted content. The skill is designed to make the attorney’s job easier; it is not designed to remove the attorney from the loop.
In practice: the attorney reviews the draft, makes any edits, prints or emails from their own workflow (the firm’s actual letterhead, signature, mail processing), and files the sent letter back into Merus via the normal upload path. The audit trail is intact.
After showing the draft, the skill offers:
Want me to save this to a file? Or adjust anything?
Options:
~/aaicase-drafts/ with a YYYY-MM-DD-letter-type-applicantlast.md filename.pandoc if installed, otherwise markdown with a note about how to convert.Draft files never auto-upload to Merus. After the attorney finalizes and sends the letter, the sent version is uploaded through the regular Merus workflow — which lets process mail file it correctly with the right tag.
[amount] for attorney completion, and the actual settlement language is attorney-drafted.The data isn’t in Merus where the skill expects it. Common: the carrier party isn’t on the case, or the adjuster contact doesn’t have a fax. Add the missing data to Merus (via aaicase> new party or the Merus UI), then re-run.
Usually the AWW source — the skill defaults to the AWW on the injury record if available, but for cases where the wage statement hasn’t been received yet, the AWW field may be empty or inaccurate. The attorney-verify line at the bottom of the demand is there for exactly this reason. Update the AWW and re-run, or hand-correct the rate before sending.
Client-update letters are intentionally conservative on legal content. If you want a more specific update, include the specific points in the prompt (“draft a client update for Roe, mention the upcoming QME with Dr. Sample on 6/15 and the PD rating we’re expecting next month”).
Ask. The skill will tell you what data it can pull and let you describe the structure you want. For letters used routinely — objection to QME panel, demand for medical mileage, demand for SJDB voucher — consider adding a template to skills/templates/ so future runs are one command.
Translation quality depends on the underlying model. Treat it as a draft like the English version — a bilingual paralegal at the firm should review before sending.
Part of AAI for MerusCase — code-guarded AI case intelligence for California Workers’ Comp attorneys.