From prototype to a platform a firm runs on.

What changed.

Within months, a prototype became a live legal platform in daily use: intake, signatures, payments and a client portal.⁠Note 1

1. From an unlaunched demo to the platform the firm runs on. Shown privately, on test data, after a mutual NDA.

The real work was in the parts a demonstration skips. A signed agreement had to leave a record that would stand up later: the name typed, the email address, the network address, the browser and the time, with the agreement text stored as it was signed.⁠Note 2 Payments had to land in the firm’s own account. Documents had to file themselves to the right folder, and try again without making duplicates when a connection failed.

1. Each signature is stored with that record. The walkthrough shows one, on test data.

Connecting the portal to the firm’s document storage took about three days.⁠Note 3 It was tested from end to end on test data before it touched a real file.

1. Case folders created and filled automatically, with a full test run before launch.

What to ask before you trust one.

1. 01

   When a client signs, what is recorded, and where does that record live?

2. 02

   Whose account does the money land in, and who can move it?

3. 03

   If a connection fails halfway, what happens to the file? Does it try again, and can it file the same thing twice?

4. 04

   Who on your staff can see what, and who decides?

5. 05

   Was it tested from end to end on test data before it touched a real client’s file?

What to do about it.

Ask those questions before a demonstration becomes your system, and ask to see the answers on screen, not on a slide. If the answers are vague, it is still a demonstration.

Who wrote this.

Daniel Levine, Principal. Written on 26 October 2026 and reviewed before publishing.⁠Note 4 Corrections: none.

1. If something here turns out to be wrong, the correction is listed on this page with its date.