Three justices wrote when the Michigan Supreme Court released Thursday’s 62-page decision in Shareef El-Jamaly v Kirco Manix Const (164902-4).

Justice Welch penned the 32-page majority (joined by Justices Bernstein, Cavanagh, and Bolden).

Chief Justice Clement filed a 3-page opinion that concurred and dissented in part.

Justice Zahra authored a 27-page dissent (joined by Justice Viviano).

Four different prompts can help to gain a quick understanding of an appellate decision, despite its length or number of separate writings.

First, go back to first principles. Refer to the Court’s original argument order and the questions it ordered to be briefed. Prompt Claude on how the attached decision answered those questions.

Second, prompt Claude to create multiple-column tables that outline the argument differences and areas of agreement between the opinions. And then re-ask a couple of times: “Were there any other areas of agreement or disagreement?”

Third, ask “What are the key lessons for trial court judges from this decision?”

Last, give Claude a complex prompt to outline the decision.

This 11-page .pdf file shows how Claude responded to each of these prompts in the El-Jamaly decision.