How the engine builds a filing

The short version

The software takes your filing through 15 phases in 7 stages, with 93 defined steps, each with a written check. The work runs on its own between 3 checkpoints. By default, you approve twice, and the whole filing gets a final read before it ships. You file the finished papers yourself.

The 15 phases, stage by stage

15 phases · 93 defined steps · 3 checkpoints, generated from the engine’s process file, as of 30 Sep 2026. The names and counts are the same as on the engine site, which shows every step.

Act I: Capture

Intake (6 steps). Every document is captured, read in full and transcribed, then listed in a manifest.
Docket and deadlines (7 steps). Every document is checked for deadlines, which are computed from the document and the rule text.
Case file (4 steps). The record is compiled into one chronological file that is checked for completeness.

Act II: Understand

Record review (6 steps). The whole record and prior work are read before any strategy is discussed.
Vehicle and elements (8 steps). The filing type is chosen from the record and the official court rules, then you approve. Checkpoint 1 · The consult (You approve). After intake: what the problem is, what the client wants, and which filing fits.

Act III: Research

Research (12 steps). Authorities are gathered, read in full, verified and entered in the cite ledger.

Act IV: Argue with itself

Second-model consult (3 steps). A second, independent model looks for leads the first pass missed; its leads must earn their way in.
Strategy (10 steps). Plans are written independently, attacked, and summarized in a candid assessment for you to sign off. Checkpoint 2 · Strategy sign-off (You approve). Before drafting: the plan after it has been attacked, and for law firms, the one-page assessment.

Act V: Build and attack

Filing blueprint (6 steps). The court's exact requirements become a binding outline for the filing.
Drafting (steps per component). Each component the court requires is drafted against its own captured rule text. Drafting adds its own steps for each required component of a filing; those are not in the count.
Attack (4 steps). The draft is attacked as the other side and a hostile reader would.

Act VI: Prove

Verification (9 steps). Independent checks confirm every case citation, fact, placeholder and required component.
Final read (3 steps). The complete text is read end to end and marked ship or send back.
Packet check (6 steps). Format, page layout and the packet are checked against the court's own requirements. Checkpoint 3 · Final read. Before filing: the exact pages to be filed.

Act VII: After filing

Filing record and follow-through (9 steps). Records are updated, the docket confirms what happened, and lessons feed later work.

Four rules the whole process follows

Different eyes every time. Wherever the roles allow, the builder, the verifier and the final reader are separate.
Two models from two companies. By default, the engine uses two AI model families built by different companies, currently Anthropic’s Claude and xAI’s Grok, so one model’s blind spots are checked by a model built differently. Neither one’s word is a source, and a disagreement is never averaged. If the second is unavailable, the matter pauses; it proceeds without it only on a recorded, logged waiver.
State is not federal. Using the wrong rulebook is the most common way a filing fails. Every phase that touches the rules checks again which court system applies, instead of trusting the phase before.
Nothing passes on a promise. Every step has a written check. A phase is done when it shows evidence: a receipt, a file, a check that ran. A claim that the work was done is not enough.

What you receive

A finished packet you can take to the clerk. Not an outline, a template or a research memo.

The filing itself, formatted to your court's rules: caption, margins, fonts, spacing, and page or word limits.
Every companion document that court requires with it, such as a cover page, certificate of service, certificate of compliance and table of authorities.
Exhibits, indexed and numbered. A record appendix is ordered separately.
A citation ledger: every case the filing relies on, where it came from, and why it fits your facts.
The deadline math, written out, with the rule each date comes from.
A print-ready PDF, checked page by page.

The packet is yours to file. The software does not appear in your case, speak for you, or sign anything for you.

Where you decide: the 3 checkpoints

The engine works on its own between 3 stops. By default, you approve twice, and the whole filing gets a final read before it ships.

Checkpoint 1 · The consult (after phase 5, You approve). After intake: what the problem is, what the client wants, and which filing fits.
Checkpoint 2 · Strategy sign-off (after phase 8, You approve). Before drafting: the plan after it has been attacked, and for law firms, the one-page assessment.
Checkpoint 3 · Final read (after phase 14). Before filing: the exact pages to be filed.

After that, you decide what happens next: whether to file, when, and with what changes.

How every case citation is checked

A made-up or misquoted case can sink a filing fast. So every case citation is checked against the full court opinion, on four points:

It exists. The case is found in the source, not recalled from memory.
The quote is word for word. Any quoted language matches the opinion exactly.
It says what the brief says it says. The point it is cited for is actually in the opinion.
No later decision found overrules it. The research looks for later decisions that cite it. Only overruled U.S. Supreme Court decisions are flagged automatically, so read the limits.

A citation that fails any point is removed. Each one that passes gets a row in the citation ledger, with where it was fetched from. When the PDF is made, any citation on the page with no ledger row stops the render.

The law against you

The research runs both ways. The law against your filing is searched as hard as the law for it. When a case cuts against you, it is named with its source, not hidden for the other side to find. If no higher court has decided the point, the research says so and builds from the closest binding rule instead of pretending.

This is research output from software. It is not legal advice, and it does not predict what a court will do. The software does not tell you what to file or whether to file. That choice is yours. A licensed lawyer or a legal-aid office can advise you on your case.

How to start a filing

Pick the filing and the court, and give the date on your order or notice.
Order it at the price on the pricing page. The engine starts.
Decide at the checkpoints: by default you approve twice, and the whole filing gets a final read before it ships.
Receive the finished packet, then file it yourself.

The engine’s deep dives, topic by topic

The engine site walks through each phase in more detail: the engine's phase-by-phase pages.