01
Case-scoped file system and sidecars
Original evidence remains intact while bounded case workspaces and versioned Markdown and JSON sidecars expose document text, structure, fields, and source locations.
The technical stack
The models will change. Your evidence and workflows should not.
OBE keeps source-linked evidence, case state, permissions, and approval gates in a durable technical layer. A scoped MCP bridge and case-level sidecars make that context usable by firm-approved AI without outsourcing legal judgment.
EvidenceSource-linked sidecarsSealed
StatePhase and milestone engineRunning
AccessCase-scoped workspaceBounded
ActionsApproval and audit policyEnforced
The observability gap
Models cannot operate reliably inside a case black box.
Without structured state, an agent cannot explain where a case is, why it is stalled, which evidence changed, or what the next permitted action should be.
01Where is the case currently, and which operating phase is active?
02What required field, document, signature, or fee is blocking progress?
03What activity occurred, when, through which channel, and under whose authority?
The core substrate
Evidence, state, and governed access in one architecture.
Firm systems remain the operational record. OBE gives changing models and tools a controlled way to work with the same case-scoped evidence, permissions, and review state.
02
Verifiable evidence state
Cloud and private parsing paths feed the same durable record of citations, canonical facts, confidence, exceptions, permissions, and human review.
03
CaseMap and MCP bridge
Firm-approved AI can inspect authorized sidecars, resolved entities, activity, and workflow state through scoped tools, with consequential actions held behind approval gates.
Architecture
Firm controlledOne substrate from evidence to workflow
- 04Firm workflowsReview, phases, approvals
- 03Governed agentsScoped tools and audit trail
- 02Canonical case stateFacts, rules, activity
- 01Source evidenceOriginals, sidecars, citations
State flow
Every action becomes inspectable case state.
Human interfaces and governed agents use the same projection of activity, milestones, blockers, evidence, and next actions.
01
Activity engine
Unifies emails, transcripts, tasks, notes, uploads, and system events into a chronological record.
02
Phase and milestone engine
Projects case progression, readiness requirements, deadlines, and blockers into reviewable state.
03
File-system CaseMap
Maps evidence and active state into a scoped directory representation for approved agent tools.
Technical foundation
What sits under the operating workflow.
A
Machine-native sandboxes
Isolated environments bound document and tool access to the assigned matter while keeping writes and actions controlled.
B
Geometric provenance
Page, section, Bates reference, and bounding-box locations connect material assertions back to the record.
C
Human-confirmed interface actions
Consequential actions pause for explicit approval rather than executing invisibly.
D
Scoped evidence retrieval
Organization and case permissions remain attached to indexed evidence and working context.
E
Versioned sidecar writes
Optimistic concurrency and content hashes protect document metadata from conflicting updates.
Complete application scaffolding
The surfaces required to put the foundation to work.
Lead intake
Conversational qualifying flow.
Capture case parameters and route prospects into the firm-approved review path.
Client portal
Document requests and milestones.
Guide uploads, track missing evidence, and keep clients oriented through a branded portal.
Review workspace
Case, expert, and evidence review.
Give authorized reviewers the source documents, extracted facts, and workflow tasks they need.
Operations
Phase and milestone management.
Keep worksheet, filing, commencement, hearing, and award stages bound to readiness rules.
Durable evidence layer
Keep the evidence and workflows. Change the models when you choose.
Connect firm-approved AI through the MCP bridge while case-scoped sidecars, permissions, source provenance, and approval gates remain under the firm’s workflow rules.