The rules table
Who may perform each act in the legal brand's six Services, per Service, frozen under a version. Every row is illustrative and records its position; a brand's counsel writes its real table.
legal's wordsmatter is a jobasset is a subjectreview is a tasksigner is a membernetwork is a pooloutcome is a end
Every row on this page is illustrative. A brand's counsel writes its real table, and law.org.ai is where positions like these are set out and argued. The model reads a row the same way whatever it says: an act is reserved to a credential, open to the brand, the client's alone, or refused, and each row records the position it rests on. Rules explains the key.
cat rules.ts version: '2026-10',
second_look: { reserved: practitioner, where: '*', rail: 'brand', position: 'Judgment on a draft the review still flags is the practitioner\'s.' },
sign: { reserved: practitioner, where: '*', self: true, rail: 'brand', position: 'Signed by a registered practitioner, or by the applicant for themselves.' },
file: { reserved: practitioner, where: '*', self: true, rail: 'brand', position: 'Filing for another is practice before the office.' },
respond: { reserved: 'bar admission', where: '*', rail: 'member', position: 'A response for the applicant is signed by an attorney admitted in any state.' },
file: { reserved: 'bar admission', where: '*', rail: 'member', position: 'Filing the response for the applicant is practice before the office.' },
fee: { open: true, position: 'Paying the office its fee is a delivery act.' },
advise: { reserved: 'bar admission', where: 'client', regions: ['US-CA', 'US-NY', 'US-TX'], kind: 'advice', rail: 'member', position: 'Advice on a contract is legal advice in the client\'s state.' },
send: { open: true, position: 'Sending a signed memo to its client is a delivery act.' },
reserved: 'bar admission', where: 'client', rail: 'member', position: 'A letter on counsel\'s letterhead is signed by counsel.',
send: { open: true, position: 'Delivering a signed letter is a delivery act.' },
courier: { open: true, position: 'Delivering it by courier is a delivery act.' },
settle: { client: true, position: 'Whether to settle, and for how much, is the client\'s decision alone.' },
ack: { open: true, position: 'Acknowledging a date on the docket is a delivery act; the response is its own Service.' },
advise_entity_choice: { reserved: 'bar admission', where: 'client', kind: 'advice', rail: 'member', position: 'Which entity to form is advice.' },
form_entity: { open: true, position: 'The brand files the certificate as a filing service.' },
advise_83b: { reserved: 'bar admission', where: 'client', kind: 'advice', rail: 'member', position: 'Whether to make the election is advice.' },
shared: { litigate: { refused: true, route: 'https://referrals.example.test/litigation', position: 'Litigation is retained directly, never ordered here.' } },The whole file, and check after it.
| Service | Act | Who performs it | Where | Who sells the fee | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| provisional-patent | second_look | a patent attorney or agent | anywhere | the brand | Judgment on a draft the review still flags is the practitioner's. |
| provisional-patent | sign | a patent attorney or agent, or the applicant for themselves | anywhere | the brand | Signed by a registered practitioner, or by the applicant for themselves. |
| provisional-patent | file | a patent attorney or agent, or the applicant for themselves | anywhere | the brand | Filing for another is practice before the office. |
| trademark-response | respond | an attorney | admitted in any state | the attorney | A response for the applicant is signed by an attorney admitted in any state. |
| trademark-response | file | an attorney | admitted in any state | the attorney | Filing the response for the applicant is practice before the office. |
| trademark-response | fee | the brand: open | Paying the office its fee is a delivery act. | ||
| contract-review | advise | an attorney: advice | where the client is, in US-CA, US-NY and US-TX | the attorney | Advice on a contract is legal advice in the client's state. |
| contract-review | send | the brand: open | Sending a signed memo to its client is a delivery act. | ||
| demand-letter | sign | an attorney, flagged when the recipient is elsewhere | where the client is | the attorney | A letter on counsel's letterhead is signed by counsel. |
| demand-letter | send | the brand: open | Delivering a signed letter is a delivery act. | ||
| demand-letter | courier | the brand: open | Delivering it by courier is a delivery act. | ||
| demand-letter | settle | the client, alone | Whether to settle, and for how much, is the client's decision alone. | ||
| docket-watch | ack | the brand: open | Acknowledging a date on the docket is a delivery act; the response is its own Service. | ||
| formation | advise_entity_choice | an attorney: advice | where the client is | the attorney | Which entity to form is advice. |
| formation | form_entity | the brand: open | The brand files the certificate as a filing service. | ||
| formation | advise_83b | an attorney: advice | where the client is | the attorney | Whether to make the election is advice. |
| every Service | litigate | refused, and routed to a referral | Litigation is retained directly, never ordered here. |
An advice row reserves a class of answer as well as a step: an answer in that class waits in the matter's thread until the attorney on the matter adopts it. A new position is a new version, and each matter keeps the version it was ordered under.
Each Service's boundary, as check says it:
npx services.dev check # each Service's bounds lineservices/contract-review.ts
bounds reserved advise to bar admission where the client is, in US-CA, US-NY and US-TX only · the attorney sells the fee · open send · refused litigate
services/demand-letter.ts
bounds reserved sign to bar admission where the client is · the attorney sells the fee · open send and courier · the client decides settle, alone · refused litigate
services/docket-watch.ts
bounds open ack · refused litigate
services/formation.ts
bounds reserved advise_entity_choice and advise_83b to bar admission where the client is · the attorney sells the fee · open form_entity · refused litigate
services/provisional-patent.ts
bounds reserved second_look, sign and file to patent attorney or agent · refused litigate
self: reserved second_look to patent attorney or agent · the applicant performs sign and file, in their own name · refused litigate
services/trademark-response.ts
bounds reserved respond and file to bar admission · the attorney sells the fee · open fee · refused litigateA buyer reads the same boundary on the Service's page, each act with its position:
open http://localhost:8787/contract-reviewThe boundary
advise: reserved to bar admission where the client is, in US-CA, US-NY and US-TX only · Advice on a contract is legal advice in the client's state.
send: the brand performs it · Sending a signed memo to its client is a delivery act.
litigate: never performed here · Litigation is retained directly, never ordered here.An order for an act the table refuses answers with the row it rests on, and the referral as next. Nothing is charged:
npx services.dev litigatelitigate is never performed here: Litigation is retained directly, never ordered here.
cites rules 2026-10 · shared.litigate
next hand https://referrals.example.test/litigation to the person it asks
docs https://api.lawyer/docs/errors/act_refusedAn advice row with regions answers in those states only. An order from anywhere else is refused before any work, with the waitlist as next:
→ POST /matters {"service":"contract-review","contract":{"url":"data:text/plain,A%20lease.","name":"lease.pdf"},"client":{"name":"Ada Lovelace","email":"ada@example.com"},"client_region":"US-FL","max_usd":99,"key":"lease-fl"}{
"type": "BLOCKED",
"category": "unavailable",
"code": "region_not_ratified",
"reason": "advise is ratified in US-CA, US-NY, US-TX under rules 2026-10, and this order's region is US-FL.",
"param": "client_region",
"act": "advise",
"region": "US-FL",
"regions": [
"US-CA",
"US-NY",
"US-TX"
],
"rule": {
"version": "2026-10",
"at": "services['contract-review'].advise",
"position": "Advice on a contract is legal advice in the client's state."
},
"next": {
"do": "waitlist",
Where an act happens covers where and regions, and Refusals and cures every refusal a row can bring.