How the engine works, from the first page to the last watch

Act I: Capture

Phase 1 · Intake

• What happens. Every incoming document is captured and read page by page by a vision model. OCR of a scan does not count as reading. Every "form enclosed" becomes an action item, and anything that could end the case is flagged the moment it arrives. An intake manifest lists each document with its transcript, a checksum and one line saying what it is.
• Why it matters. Deadlines hide in enclosures and in pages nobody read.
• What it refuses to do. Call intake complete while the manifest and the record disagree. The two are compared file by file, not by count, and an empty record is a failure, never a pass.
• The receipt. INTAKE MANIFEST · 3 documents · 3 transcripts · 3 checksums · record match: yes · flagged: 1 (dismissal risk)

Phase 2 · Docket and deadlines

• What happens. The docket phase re-checks the manifest it receives. Every document gets a docket entry or a written reason it sets no deadline. Each deadline is computed from the document's own face and the governing rule, and by default the second model computes it again from the same text.
• Why it matters. A missed deadline is the one error no brief can fix.
• What it refuses to do. Invent a deadline. An order that sets no date becomes a dated watch, not a guess. An ambiguous deadline is docketed to the earlier reading. A mismatch between the two computations is never averaged; it is argued from the rule text, and if it can't be settled, it comes to you.
• The receipt. DOCKET ENTRY · response to motion to dismiss · due Tue 15 Dec 2026 · Standing order ¶ 4 (fictional); L.R. 7.1(c) (fictional); Fed. R. Civ. P. 6(a)(1) · second computation: MISMATCH, AGREED on the earlier reading

Phase 3 · Case file

• What happens. One master case file: every transcript word for word, in date order, checked by checksum against the record. Leads are tagged to their source documents as the file is built, and new documents are added as they arrive.
• Why it matters. Every later phase reads the same complete record.
• What it refuses to do. Let record review begin on an incomplete case file.
• The receipt. CASE FILE · checksum complete · 3 of 3 documents · 5 leads tagged

Act II: Understand

Phase 4 · Record review

• What happens. Prior work on the matter is mined first. The whole record is read, and the governing documents are read from the primary source in the same session. The actual prayer for relief is read before any mootness or standing question is answered. When a government actor has won an adverse order, an adverse-order audit lays that order beside the filing it answered: which arguments it addressed, which it passed over, whether each rule it cites says what the order says, and whether each case it quotes is quoted fairly.
• Why it matters. A court rules on what was actually asked. And every point an order passed over or misstated is ground kept for rehearing or appeal.
• What it refuses to do. Talk strategy before the audit exists.
• The receipt. ADVERSE-ORDER AUDIT · 7 arguments raised · 4 addressed · 3 not addressed · 1 rule quotation incomplete · all kept for review

Phase 5 · Vehicle and elements

• What happens. An interview on the goal, the facts and the relief actually wanted. The right filing in the right court, argued from the record and outside references, never from memory alone. Required companion filings are calculated from data. An element sheet lists everything the claim must prove, every row starting unanswered. The court's official rule book, for the court and for this filing type, is fetched before any strategy.
• Why it matters. The right vehicle, in the right court, with every companion document, decided before anything expensive happens.
• What it refuses to do. Proceed without the court's rules. An empty result means the book isn't loaded, not that no rule exists, and a page of links is not a rule book.
• The receipt. RULES PACKET · District of Example (fictional) · general rules + motion rules · retrieved 2026-10-06 14:32 UTC · class: full text

Checkpoint 1 · The consult

After intake, by default, you decide what the problem is, what the client wants, and which filing fits. Research does not start until this checkpoint is stamped with who approved it, when, and on what basis, or with the client's recorded standing instruction to proceed.

Act III: Research

Phase 6 · Research

• What happens. The research ladder runs rung by rung, never from memory. It starts in the engine's own case-law database, which ranks each candidate by how often the courts that bind this court have cited it, then pulls each lead from primary sources. For every right, the state provision and the state's highest court are paired with the federal provision and the U.S. Supreme Court. Each candidate case is read in full and tested against the four-part standard, screened for negative treatment, and written to the citation ledger. A loss-pattern sweep lists the known dismissal traps for this claim type, with how each is avoided. By default, the second model family also hunts for authority the first pass missed, as leads only.

• Why it matters. The law that controls your court comes first, and the law against you is found before the other side finds it.

• What it refuses to do.

  • Accept a research table whose authorities all sit below the highest court of their sovereign.
  • Record "nothing adverse found" without the searches that were run. The adverse sweep runs in both directions on every rung, and if controlling authority against the theory turns up, here or in any later phase, the line stops until a pivot is recorded: a new theory, a new vehicle, honest distinguishing, or an informed decision to go ahead.
  • Treat its database snapshot as current. Checking for the most recent controlling statement is its own step, done as a live search.
  • Rely on a statute without its text. Statute text is required before reliance, and it is retrieved from the source.

• The receipt (one ledger row).

  CITATION LEDGER · row 12 · Illustration, fictional matter
  case ............ Harlan v. Ostrander (fictional)
  citation ........ 123 Ex. Rptr. 456, 461 (Example Sup. Ct. 2019) (fictional)
  read in full .... yes · source: primary (court's own server)
  quotation ....... matched word for word at 461
  fits because .... same posture: denial of leave to amend after one amendment
  standard ........ primary source ✓ · read in full ✓ · supports the point ✓ · still good law ✓
  citator ......... no negative treatment
  proposed by ..... research ladder, rung 1
  verified by ..... verifier (not the drafter) · 2026-10-06 14:32 UTC
  

Act IV: Argue with itself

Phase 7 · Second-model consult

• What happens. By default, the second model family reads the complete case file, the research log and the vehicle record, and proposes its own plan. Two independent agents from that model do this, one after the other. Where they agree, the input carries more weight; where they differ, both views are recorded. The second model is told to use its own tools to check every case and rule it offers, and to read each opinion in full before suggesting it.
• Why it matters. An independent reasoner from a different company sees what the first one missed.
• What it refuses to do. Accept any case the second model offers until it passes the same verification. Until then it waits in quarantine. And if the second model is unavailable, the matter pauses; it proceeds without it only on a recorded, logged waiver.
• The receipt. SECOND-MODEL INPUT · 2 agents · agree on 3 of 4 points · 1 difference recorded · 2 cases in quarantine pending verification

Phase 8 · Strategy

• What happens. Two plans are written independently. They are attacked as opposing counsel would attack them and read as a hostile panel would read them, round by round, and every finding from the adverse-order audit is turned into an affirmative argument. A preservation map records where each issue must be raised now to stay alive in every court above. A theories ledger records every plausible theory as included, or excluded with a reason. The trap list from research is answered trap by trap. By default, the strategy is then debated with the second model under the debate protocol. Last, the one-page assessment is prepared for the strategy sign-off.
• Why it matters. The strategy you sign off on has already survived its strongest attack.
• What it refuses to do. Drop a theory silently, leave a known trap unanswered, or record the strategy sign-off without the one-page assessment.
• The receipt. THEORIES LEDGER · 6 theories · 4 included · 2 excluded, each with a reason · TRAP TABLE · 5 traps · 5 answered

Checkpoint 2 · Strategy sign-off

Before drafting, by default, you sign off on the plan after it has been attacked, together with the one-page assessment. Drafting does not start until this checkpoint is stamped, by an approval or by the client's recorded standing instruction, and the stamp cannot be recorded without the assessment.

Act V: Build and attack

Phase 9 · Filing blueprint

• What happens. The court rules are checked again for the exact court and filing type. A binding filing specification is regenerated after the strategy sign-off. The choice of filing is re-verified against everything learned since the consult, and any doubt goes back to the consult now, while it is cheap. Every required component is laid out in the order the rules require, with the court's certificate wording, and the governing rule text for each component is carried into drafting.
• Why it matters. Clerks reject filings for missing pieces. Drafting starts from the court's own list.
• What it refuses to do. Draft from a stale specification, or silence a warning when two rule sources disagree. Each one is read, settled and recorded.
• The receipt. FILING BLUEPRINT · 9 components in rule order · rule text captured for each · cross-check warnings: 1 read and settled

Phase 10 · Drafting

• What happens. The filing is drafted section by section, each against its own captured rule text. Preservation is written in as the text is written: record-cited facts, explicit objections, rulings requested, and any denial framed as reviewable error. Drafting adds its own steps, one per required component of the filing.
• Why it matters. Rules compliance is built in, not checked on at the end.
• What it refuses to do. Type a case citation that isn't in the ledger. On a rebuild, nothing from the prior version is dropped; text is replaced only to correct the record, and each replacement is logged.
• The receipt. COMPONENTS · 9 of 9 drafted and checked

Phase 11 · Attack

• What happens. The draft is attacked as opposing counsel will attack it: the strongest counter to every argument, and a pivot away from anything that falls. A hostile-panel survival table rewrites each vulnerable point so that skipping it becomes visible, reviewable error. A final citator screen runs over every case the draft relies on. On the full lane, the second model can also be asked for the three strongest attacks the other side will make, each with the counter that answers it.
• Why it matters. The other side's best arguments are answered in the filing itself.
• What it refuses to do. Close the attack with fewer than three attacks answered or pivoted.
• The receipt. ATTACK MEMO · 5 attacks · 4 answered · 1 pivot · SURVIVAL TABLE · 6 points rewritten

Act VI: Prove

Phase 12 · Verification

• What happens. Wherever the roles allow, a fresh verifier, never the drafter, checks the draft.
  • The ledger join. A two-pass scanner matches every case citation in the draft, short forms included, against the ledger by reporter, volume and first page, never by name. A case citation without a complete ledger row blocks the document. So does a short form that can't be traced to its full citation. A case mentioned by name alone, without a reporter citation, is flagged with a warning rather than blocked.
  • Every number, name and date is checked against the document it came from.
  • No placeholder text may survive.
  • The element sweep: an element counts as answered only when its paragraph exists in the draft, its record file exists, its authority is verified, and real facts are stated.
  • The components are checked against the rule text.
  • By default, two models each read the complete final text and sign a verdict.
• Why it matters. Wherever the roles allow, the builder never grades its own work.
• What it refuses to do. Produce a document with an unverified case citation, an untraceable short form, a placeholder, or an unanswered element.
• The receipt. LEDGER JOIN · 41 case citations · 41 rows matched · 0 blocked · 1 warning: case named without a reporter citation

Phase 13 · Final read

• What happens. The complete text is read from start to finish, and four questions are answered in writing: does it read well, does it follow the court's rules, is it the best that can be produced, and does it ship or go back?
• Why it matters. The whole text has to be read the way a judge will read it.
• What it refuses to do. Let an old pass count for new text. Sending a draft back returns it to drafting with the defects named and voids the attack and verification receipts of phases 11 and 12, which then re-run on the new text. Two send-backs without convergence return the matter to strategy; a second strategy escalation on the same matter puts it on hold for you to decide.
• The receipt. FINAL READ · verdict: SENT BACK · 2 defects named · phases 11–12 receipts voided

Phase 14 · Packet check

• What happens. The filing packet is assembled. Every exhibit the filing refers to must be in it. A clerk-rejection scan checks the caption, the deadline, the copies, the fees and the format.
• Why it matters. A rejected filing costs days that some deadlines don't have.
• What it refuses to do. Pass a packet that is missing a referenced exhibit, or pass the scan while a hard deadline on the matter's docket has already run.
• The receipt. PACKET · 4 exhibits referenced · 4 present · clerk scan: format ✓ deadline ✓

Checkpoint 3 · Final read

By default, the matter stops here until you approve the exact pages to be filed.

A client may instead record a standing instruction to proceed. It is stamped at every checkpoint it clears, it can be revoked, it never lifts a hold, and it never skips the candid analysis. How the standing instruction works

Act VII: After filing

Phase 15 · Filing record and follow-through

• What happens. Proof of filing comes from the court's own docket. The matter's registers are updated. 72 hours after filing, the docket is checked again, and every "waiting on" item becomes a dated watch. When a ruling comes in, it is written back: every loss becomes a trap that future research must confront, and every adverse-ruling report lists what the ruling does not kill. If the claim type had no element map, the matter must add verified rows before it closes.
• Why it matters. The case isn't over when the brief is filed, and each matter leaves the next one better equipped.
• What it refuses to do. Close a docket item because a document was drafted. An item closes only when the obligation is discharged: filed and accepted, mailed, or ruled on.
• The receipt. 72-HOUR CHECK · docket confirmed · 2 watches dated · 0 open items without a date

Routine filings take the express lane. Checks don't.

A routine filing, such as a notice, can take an express lane that skips research, the second-model consult, strategy and the attack phase. It never skips intake, the docket, the case file, record review, the vehicle decision, the blueprint, drafting, verification, the final read, the packet check or the filing record. If an express filing cites any case, each case is fetched, read in full and verified before it can appear, or the matter moves to the full lane. On the board, a skipped phase shows as skipped, never as a false green.

All 93 steps of the engine's process

One plain line per step, generated from a sanitized public export of the engine's process file (as of 30 Sep 2026). Drafting adds its own steps for each required component of a filing; those are not in the count.

One matter through the engine

Illustration, fictional matter.

[0:00] A matter arrives: a motion to dismiss, an order, and a notice with a form enclosed. Everything here is fictional.

[0:06] Every page is read. The enclosed form becomes an action item.

[0:12] By default, two models compute the response deadline from the rule text. They differ, the rule text decides, and the earlier date is docketed.

[0:19] The court's own rule book is fetched before any strategy.

[0:25] Research climbs to the highest court that binds this one. Each case is read in full and checked against the four-part standard before it becomes a ledger row.

[0:37] By default, a second model family, from a different company, proposes its own plan. Every plan is attacked the way opposing counsel would attack it.

[0:45] By default, you sign off on the strategy before a word is drafted.

[0:49] The draft is written against the rule text, then attacked again.

[0:55] At verification, a case citation with no ledger row is blocked, and the draft cannot go on until it is fixed.

[1:00] At the final read, the draft is sent back, and the attack and verification checks run again on the new text.

[1:05] The whole filing gets a final read before it ships.

[1:09] After filing, the docket is checked again, and every open item gets a date.

[1:15] Legal Ops Depot. Autonomous litigation, built on primary law. Legal Ops Depot is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.

How AI is used in the engine's process

The engine uses AI models to research, draft, test and check documents. Every case citation is verified against the full opinion before it can appear. By default, you approve twice, and the whole filing gets a final read before it ships; each approval, or the client's recorded standing instruction to proceed, is stamped in the record. A standing instruction never lifts a hold, and the candid analysis still runs. Read the full AI-use disclosure.

Claude is a trademark of Anthropic, PBC. Grok is a trademark of xAI Corp. Other names are trademarks of their respective owners and are used only to describe the technology in our process. Legal Ops Depot is not affiliated with, sponsored by or endorsed by Anthropic or xAI.

What the phases are built to prevent

• A case citation that nobody read reaching a filing.
• A deadline computed once, from memory, with no second look.
• A filing type chosen before the court's rules were read.
• An argument that nobody tried to break before the other side did.
• A draft sent back from the final read, then shipped on its old checks.
• A matter closed because a document was drafted, not because the obligation was met.

Engineers can read how each step's check is labeled, and the glossary defines the terms used in the phases. There are also answers to common questions about the process.

Deep dives into how the engine works

• Verification: the unverified-citation rule, the four-part standard, and the gate demo.
• Two models: the second model family, the debate protocol, and what happens when one is unavailable.
• Adversarial review: the plan and draft attacks, the hostile panel, the survival table and the send-back.
• Primary law: the research ladder and Legal Ops Depot's own case-law library.
• Court rules: official rule text before strategy, and a clerk's eye before filing.
• Docket: deadline computation, done twice by default, and the docket manager.
• Hard cases: the preservation map, adverse orders, candor and questions of first impression.
• Safeguards: checkpoints and the standing instruction, and fail-closed gates.
• Connector: connect your AI agent to the legal research connector over MCP.

Firms can see what firms receive at each checkpoint.

How the engine works: FAQ

Does every step have a machine check? Every step has a written check. Some are computed by the engine; others are judgments that are recorded and then relied on by later gates. We describe a step as enforced only where the engine's process file labels it that way. The ledger join at verification is the clearest example: a case citation without a verified row blocks the document.

Why is the step count dated? Because it changes. The engine's process file grows as steps are added, and the count on this site is generated from it at each build. Drafting also adds its own steps for each filing, which the count leaves out.

What happens when the final read sends a draft back? The draft returns to drafting with its defects named, and the attack and verification receipts of phases 11 and 12 are voided and re-run on the new text. Two send-backs without convergence return the matter to strategy.

Do you see the work before it is filed? By default, yes: the matter stops at the final read until you approve the exact pages. A client can record a standing instruction to proceed instead; it is stamped at every checkpoint it clears. The safeguards

Ask about the process

Email us with your questions about any of the 15 phases or the 3 checkpoints.

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Legal Ops Depot is not a law firm and does not give legal advice.