Scope: Complete phased execution plan for building AttorneyOS — from database schema through production launch across 4 phases Date: March 2026 Sources: 17 research documents (250 primary sources), Abrahamson & Uiterwyk operating handbook (88-page SOPs, 9-page PIIS form, Phase 0/1/2 checklists), medref prototype codebase
Executive Summary
AttorneyOS will be built in 4 phases, following a vertical-slice approach: each phase delivers a complete, usable workflow — not isolated modules. The partner firm (Abrahamson & Uiterwyk) validates real cases through every phase.
The execution starts with the post-intake engine (Phase 1) because the research is unambiguous: the 24–72 hour window between intake completion and first document dispatch is the single most structurally unaddressed gap in PI software. No dedicated software category exists for it. Firms manage it on paper calendars and spreadsheets. Missing the Florida 14-day PIP treatment deadline forfeits $10,000 in benefits per case. This is where we deliver value faster than anything else we could build.
The data model is derived directly from the partner firm’s actual operating documents — the 9-page PIIS form (~120 fields), the Immediate Action Memo, the File Opening Directive, and the Phase 1/2 checklists. This is not speculative architecture — every table and every field maps to a real document used daily by a real PI firm.
Infrastructure uses free tiers during development. The security architecture is identical across tiers — RLS, MFA, audit trails, encryption all work on free tiers. When the first firm signs with real patient data, we upgrade to compliant tiers by flipping a billing switch. No code changes, no migration.
1. Strategy at a Glance
$2.18B
PI Software Market
115K
Launch Market Firms
4
Build Phases
16
Modules
1.1 Execution Philosophy
Vertical slice, not module-by-module. Each phase delivers a complete workflow that replaces something the firm currently does manually or across disconnected tools. The research shows the 10 cross-module integration handoffs are where compound value lives — a “Case Manager” module alone is a slightly better dashboard; the post-intake workflow engine is something no competitor offers.
Architecture-first where it’s load-bearing. Five decisions are locked before any feature code: (1) case data model, (2) multi-tenant RLS on every table, (3) append-only audit trail, (4) deadline engine as a first-class system, (5) document template/generation infrastructure. Everything else emerges from feature work.
Partner firm as functional spec. The handbook’s PIIS form, Immediate Action Memo, File Opening Directive, and Phase 1/2 checklists provide more detailed requirements than most product teams ever receive. Every field, every workflow step, every checklist item maps to a feature.
1.2 Competitive Positioning
AttorneyOS is differentiated on four axes simultaneously — no incumbent covers more than one:
Cross-vertical — native modules for PI, construction, and real estate (no competitor serves all three)
Haiku for OCR/summarization, Sonnet for demand generation
Certified Mail
Lob.com
USPS legacy API retired Jan 2026; saves $3.15/letter
2.2 Compliance Posture — Two-Tier Approach
Key insight: The security architecture is built from day 1 — RLS, MFA, audit trails, encryption all work identically on free tiers. The expensive part (BAA, HIPAA add-on) is a billing upgrade, not a code change. We build compliant, pay for certification only when real patient data enters the system.
Requirement
Architecture (Built Day 1, Free)
Certification (Paid, When Needed)
HIPAA encryption
AES-256 at rest + TLS 1.2+ in transit (Supabase default on all tiers)
BAA signed when first firm onboards with real ePHI
HIPAA MFA
Supabase Auth MFA enabled from day 1 (free)
Formally required under BAA
HIPAA BAA
N/A during dev — no real ePHI
Supabase Team + HIPAA add-on ($949/mo) at first signed contract
ABA Model Rule 1.6(c)
RLS on every table, audit trails, encryption (all free)
Already met by architecture
IOLTA
Append-only ledger, DB CHECK constraints, double-entry (all free Postgres features)
Phase 3 — no paid add-on needed
SOC 2 Type II
N/A during early stage
Vanta/Drata when selling to 10+ attorney firms
Florida Bar
Supabase/Vercel exceed “adequate encryption customary in industry” even on free tiers
Already met
2.3 Infrastructure Cost — Two Tiers
Development & Pilot (No Real Patient Data)
Service
Plan
Monthly Cost
Supabase
Free (then Pro at $25 when hitting limits)
$0–25
Vercel
Free (then Pro at $20)
$0–20
Claude API
Pay-as-you-go
$5–50
DocuSign
Developer sandbox (free)
$0
Domain + misc
—
$15
Total
$20–110/mo
This covers the entire development period through partner firm pilot with test data. Full Postgres, auth, storage, real-time, hosting, AI — everything needed to build and demo the complete product.
Production (First Signed Contract with Real ePHI)
Service
Plan
Monthly Cost
Supabase
Team ($599) + HIPAA add-on ($350)
$949
Vercel
Pro
$20
Claude API
Pay-as-you-go
$50–200
DocuSign
Starter
$50
Domain + misc
—
$15
Total
$1,085–1,235/mo
Activated only when the first firm signs and real patient medical records enter the system. The upgrade is a billing switch — no code changes, no data migration, no architectural changes.
What changes between tiers? Only the Supabase billing plan and BAA signature. The code, schema, RLS policies, MFA, audit trails, and encryption are identical. We build to production security standards from day 1 — we just don’t pay for the formal compliance certification until revenue justifies it.
3. Data Architecture
Derived directly from the partner firm’s 9-page PIIS form (~120 fields), Immediate Action Memo, File Opening Directive, and Phase 1 Checklist. Every table maps to a real document or workflow.
3.1 Entity Relationship Overview
firms(multi-tenant root)
├ contacts— all people: clients, attorneys, adjusters, witnesses, providers
├ cases(the universal entity)
├ incidents— accident/event details, MVA-specific fields
├ defendants[]— multiple per case, linked to insurance sources
├ passengers[]— multiple per case
├ insurance_sources[]— up to 8+ per case (the critical multi-source tracker)
├ injuries— checklist + categorization (Cat 1–4)
├ medical_referrals[]— provider referrals with appointment tracking
└ └ treatment_records[]— visit-level data
├ documents[]— templates + generated + uploaded, lifecycle tracking
├ deadlines[]— first-class engine with calculation rules & escalation
├ liens[]— per-provider with perfection deadline tracking
└ case_tasks[]— paralegal workflow from Immediate Action Memo / FOD
└ audit_log(append-only — NO UPDATE, NO DELETE)
3.2 Key Schema Design Decisions
Decision
Rationale
insurance_sources is a single flat table with source_type enum
Not 8 separate tables. Enables cross-source queries (total coverage, dependency chain, exhaustion sequencing). priority_order field handles UM/UIM sequencing.
contacts is polymorphic (all people in one table)
Simpler joins, full-text search across all contacts. type discriminates. Provider fields (NPI, specialty) nullable for non-providers.
deadlines is first-class with calculation rules
Not embedded in other tables. Background job computes due dates from source events and fires escalation alerts. Powers PIP 14-day, SOL, lien perfection, Medicare reporting from one engine.
documents tracks full lifecycle
Template → merge-field population → send → sign → file. merge_data JSONB captures what case data generated the document.
audit_log is immutable
Postgres trigger blocks UPDATE/DELETE. Every write to sensitive tables logs full before/after state. Compliance backbone for IOLTA and HIPAA.
SSN stored with column-level encryption
Via Supabase Vault or pgcrypto. All other PII protected by RLS + TLS + AES-256 at rest.
Every table carries a firm_id column with Row Level Security (RLS) policies enforced at the PostgreSQL level. A query from Firm A can never return Firm B’s data — this is the foundation of attorney-client privilege in a multi-tenant system. RLS is not optional, not “Phase 2” — it ships on every table in the first migration.
4. Phase Roadmap
Phase 1: The Post-Intake Engine
Phase 1
After this phase, a paralegal can enter a new PI MVA case and have the system auto-generate all first-action documents, track the PIP deadline, and initiate medical referrals — replacing the Immediate Action Memo paper process.
1A. Foundation
Supabase project on free tier (upgrade to Pro/Team when needed — architecture is identical)
Full database schema — all core tables with RLS policies on every table
Supabase Auth with MFA support enabled (works on free tier)
Append-only audit trigger on all sensitive tables (Postgres functions — free)
Column-level encryption for SSN via pgcrypto (free Postgres extension)
Next.js app shell migrated from medref scaffold, deployed on Vercel free tier
PWA foundation — manifest.json for home screen install on mobile devices. Camera access for insurance card / injury / scene photos works natively in any mobile browser via <input capture> — no special infrastructure needed. Full PWA (service worker, push notifications, offline drafts) ships in Phase 3 with the client portal, where installability and push reminders drive the 80%+ client adoption benchmark.
1B. Digital Intake
Digital PIIS form — multi-step wizard replacing the 9-page paper form, all ~120 fields organized into 14 logical sections (client info, prior attorney, accident details, property damage, passengers, witnesses, defendants + insurance, client auto insurance, host vehicle insurance, resident relatives, injury checklist, medical treatment, health insurance, background)
LOR generation — template-based Letter of Representation for each carrier and defendant, merge fields from case data, track sent/received/acknowledged per recipient
PIP application tracker — separate from LOR: submission date, carrier, claim number, benefit status, benefits paid/remaining
14-day PIP deadline — auto-calculated from incident date, countdown on dashboard, escalating alerts at 10/7/3/1 days and overdue
Spoliation & collateral source letters — templates for all 6 collateral categories (health insurance, workers comp, Medicare, Medicaid, VA, Social Services)
Certified mail tracking — Lob.com integration, auto-calendar 10–15 day follow-up
Deadline dashboard — firm-wide view of all upcoming deadlines sorted by urgency
Case ManagerDeadlinesMedical ReferralsInsuranceDocuments (partial)
Phase 2: Treatment-to-Demand Pipeline
Phase 2
After this phase, firms can track treatment across all cases, monitor gaps, manage all 9 Florida PI document types, track liens, generate AI-assisted demand packages, and begin consolidating their workflow away from Total Office with Outlook sync, conflict checking, and a full document vault.
2A. Document Management & Vault
All 9 Florida PI document types as templates with merge fields: LOR, LOP, Spoliation, 627 Letter, Collateral Source, Sovereign Immunity Notice, PIP Application, Settlement Demand, Civil Remedy Notice
Template engine: merge-field system reading from case data ({{client.full_name}}, {{insurance_sources.defendant_bi.carrier_name}})
Document viewer: in-app preview, PDF generation, download, email/fax dispatch
Document vault — full document management system per case: folder hierarchy (correspondence, medical records, insurance, court filings, internal), document tagging, full-text search across all case documents, version history with change tracking, bulk upload/download. Replaces the file server + Total Office document management the partner firm uses today.
Word export & integration — all templates export to .docx with merge fields populated. Attorneys draft in Word, not in browsers. Phase 2 delivers export-to-Word; future: Word add-in that pulls case data into an open document (Harvey/Clio pattern).
Medical records management: upload, organize by provider/date, completeness tracking
Document lifecycle tracking (draft → sent → received → signed → filed)
2B. Multi-Insurance Enhancement
Dependency chain visualization — BI must be pursued before UM; visual flowchart
PIP offset calculator — how health insurance/workers comp/Medicare/disability reduce PIP benefits
Coverage verification workflow — verbal vs. written confirmation tracking
Policy limits tracker with remaining balance and exhaustion alerts
2C. Treatment & Lien Management
Continuous treatment gap monitoring — real-time dashboard with color coding (green/yellow/red)
PIP log integration — track all providers, cross-reference against records requests
Lien tracker: per-provider liens, 180-day perfection deadline (auto-calculated from last treatment), 60-day Medicare reporting deadline (from settlement), alert escalation
Medical chronology generation — upload records → Claude processes → chronological treatment timeline
Demand letter drafting — AI generates from case facts, medical chronology, special damages, general damages narrative, Colossus-weighted keywords, coverage information
Treatment summary generation for demand packets
Document summarization — upload any document, AI extracts key points
OCR batch processing — bills, records, reports → auto-populate treatment_records and liens
Demand readiness checker — evaluates all prerequisites (records complete, treatment done, liens documented, coverage confirmed, no gaps) and alerts when case is demand-ready
AI guardrails: all output marked “DRAFT — Attorney Review Required”, source attribution, audit trail
2E. Total Office Migration Features
Why Phase 2, not Phase 1: During the parallel run, firms still use Total Office for existing cases. Conflict check data lives in TO’s database (years of history) — checking against 5–10 new cases in AttorneyOS is meaningless. Outlook already syncs from TO — a second system pushing tasks creates noise. These features become essential when AttorneyOS has enough case volume that it’s becoming the primary system, which is Phase 2 territory.
Conflict check — before opening a new case, query contacts and cases for matching parties (same defendant name, related parties, opposing counsel). Flag conflicts for attorney review. Becomes valuable once enough cases are in AttorneyOS to have meaningful match data.
Outlook push sync — one-way push via Microsoft Graph API: case tasks → Outlook Tasks, deadlines → Outlook Calendar events. This is the first step toward replacing TO’s Outlook integration. One-way avoids the complexity of conflict resolution while giving paralegals their tasks where they already look.
Email-to-case logging — BCC or forward emails to a case-specific address, auto-filed in the document vault. Firms email constantly with carriers, providers, and clients — this captures the correspondence trail without manual filing.
After this phase, firms can calculate compliant disbursements, manage IOLTA trust accounting, process lien negotiations, give clients a portal, and handle e-signatures — the full case lifecycle.
3A. Settlement Calculator
Disbursement sheet: attorney fee, case costs, medical liens (per provider), FL §768.76 pro-rata lien reduction, collateral source credits, Medicare/Medicaid set-aside, client net recovery
Settlement summary document auto-generated from calculation
What-if calculator: model different settlement amounts to show client net at each level
3B. Trust Accounting
Zero-defect module. A trust accounting bug can end an attorney’s career. This module gets property-based tests, formal verification of overdraft prevention, and mandatory shadow mode before any firm goes live.
Mobile-first design. Benchmark: Case Status achieves 80%+ adoption, 50%+ call reduction
Full PWA — service worker for offline access, Web Push API for treatment reminders and deadline alerts, background sync for document uploads. Clients install from a link — no App Store friction.
3E. E-Signature Integration
DocuSign: fee agreements, medical authorizations, settlement releases, lien acknowledgments
Embedded signing within the client portal
3F. Workflow Builder & Full Outlook Sync
Why Phase 3: By now we have multi-firm usage data showing which parts of the workflow firms want to customize vs. which are universal. Building the abstraction before understanding the variation is premature architecture. Also, full bi-directional Outlook sync is the “we’re your primary system now” feature — it belongs here, after trust accounting makes the full TO replacement possible.
Custom workflow builder — firms define their own automation rules: “When case enters Phase 2, auto-generate these 5 documents and assign these 3 tasks to this paralegal.” Visual rule builder, not code. Pre-built templates from A&U workflows ship as defaults; other firms customize from there.
Outlook bi-directional sync — full two-way: changes in Outlook (task completed, event rescheduled) reflect back in AttorneyOS. Delta sync via Microsoft Graph API with conflict resolution. This replaces Total Office’s Outlook integration entirely.
After this phase, firms can refer cases to other attorneys (viral growth), migrate from any major competitor for free, manage their intake pipeline, and access firm-wide analytics.
4A. Referral Network
Attorney-to-attorney referral with viral invitation mechanic (like DocuSign)
Fee agreement automation — 50-state bar rule compliant
Co-counsel workspace with controlled access, reciprocity tracking
Geographic concentration: launch Miami, Tampa, Orlando first (15–20% metro density target)
4B. Data Migration Engine
Free automated migration — “we’ll migrate you free in 48 hours”