The method, on real problems.
Three examples of how the verification method plays out — a fabricated citation caught, a contract reviewed against a playbook, and AI approved for privileged data.
The citation that didn't exist
An AI-assisted research memo arrived with a confident quotation from a case. The proposition was exactly what the matter needed — which is what made it dangerous.
A missing citation is far better than a false one.
- Opened the authority in a primary source — it could not be found.
- Ran the four-minute citation check: existence, currency, proposition, pin cite.
- Replaced the fabricated authority with a real one that decided the point.
- Recorded the change in the provenance ledger.
A citation that would have reached a court was caught and replaced before the memo left the firm.
A contract reviewed in forty minutes
A 30-page supply agreement needed reviewing against the firm's standard positions before a negotiation the next morning.
The tool finds the deviations; the lawyer decides what matters.
- Loaded the playbook: standard positions, fallbacks and red lines per clause type.
- Ran a clause-by-clause review with risk and departure flags.
- Swept the key terms — price, dates, notice, caps — against the client's intent.
- Built a negotiation plan: must-have, tradeable and walk-away positions.
A review grid, a key-terms check and a negotiation plan — produced in an afternoon instead of a day, with every deviation explained.
AI the board would approve
The business wanted AI assistance, but privileged and personal data could not go to a public model, and procurement wanted a policy first.
Say yes to AI — in writing, with the controls to match.
- Tiered the data: green, amber, red — with red staying on-premise.
- Set up a private model with the Rules loaded and a verification pass.
- Drafted a one-page AI policy, a permitted-tools register and a model-update log.
- Agreed the disclosure line and the sign-off owner.
AI use approved and documented — a policy the board could read, and a method that kept red-light data in-house.
These are illustrative worked examples of the method in practice, anonymised and composited. They show how the method plays out — not client endorsements.