Approved methods can carry across the firm. Matter knowledge cannot.
Two matters can share a standard of proof without either one learning the other exists.
A method is a decision, written down.
Not a prompt and not a template. The things your best people already do the same way every time.
How an issue is tested
The steps a delay argument is put through before anyone relies on it.
What proof an argument needs
The evidence a notice point has to carry before it is treated as proven.
The order work is done in
Which questions are settled first because the rest depend on them.
Where an expert is required
The points a firm has decided are not for the model to answer.
Who may approve a change
The roles that can accept a method into the firm's set.
What is written down
The record each step has to leave behind to be reviewable later.
A method earns its place.
It comes out of real work, is tested against the firm’s own criteria, and is accepted by a person.
Recurring task
Test whether contractual notice requirements were satisfied.
Current method
The firm’s existing method for testing notice compliance.
Proposed method
A revised method that checks:
- Relevant contract language
- Triggering event
- Date of awareness
- Date notice was served
- Applicable exceptions
- Support in the record
Tested against completed work
The proposed method is retested against completed work approved by the firm for evaluation.
Firm approved
The revised method carries forward only after it performs better and receives firm approval.
The approved method enters the Firm Model and becomes available wherever the firm performs the same work.
Only approved methods carry forward. Matter facts remain isolated.
The firm stays in charge of it.
Authority sits with people, and every one of these is enforced rather than promised.
The firm decides
What may change, who may approve it, and what carries forward.
Roles hold authority
Lawyers and experts keep control of the judgments assigned to them.
Changes are reversible
Every applied change can be traced, reviewed, and rolled back.
Everything is recorded
Every action, revision, approval, and open question is kept.
What the Firm Model never holds.
None of the following leaves the matter it belongs to, for any reason.
Documents and productions
Names, dates, and figures
Findings and conclusions
Privileged analysis
Start with one matter.
The Firm Model is built from real, examined work, so it begins with a matter your team already knows.