Step 1 — Build the Case Outline

The outline is the recommended first stage of every matter. Before you draft a word, the Strategy Outline engine reads the matter, maps your evidence to the legal framework, and surfaces the risks — deadlines, bars, and gaps — so you draft from a strategy, not a blank page. This page covers where the outline fits in the matter workflow, what the engine produces, the four-step flow, and how a finalized outline hands straight off into drafting.

Where the outline fits

The outline lives inside a matter. You reach it from the matter page — the Build the case outline quick action (also labeled Outline) — and it always launches scoped to that matter, carrying the client and the case with it. There is no standalone outline: you build it for a specific client, on a specific matter, against that matter's evidence and case type.

That scoping is the point. Because the engine knows which matter it is working on, it can read the files you have linked, recognize the case type, and reason about the legal framework that applies — rather than asking you to describe a case it has no context for.

In the end-to-end workflow — client → matter → outline → draft → review → export — the outline is the strategy pass that sits between opening a matter and producing the document. It is the strongest on-ramp into drafting, because a finalized outline feeds the draft directly.

What the engine produces

This is a risk-first strategy pass, not a rough sketch. The Strategy Outline engine analyzes the matter and produces a structured, cited work product that includes:

• Evidence-to-framework mapping — Each legal element or factor that matters for your case, with the documents and facts that support it mapped to the right point.
• An evidence matrix — A consolidated view of what evidence you have, where it lands against the legal requirements, and where it is thin.
• Deadline and bar flags — Filing deadlines and statutory or procedural bars surfaced so they are in front of you before you draft, not after.
• Forum detection — The engine identifies whether you are writing for USCIS, an immigration court, or an appellate court, and frames the strategy to fit.
• Landmines — Weak points, missing evidence, and risk factors the engine surfaces for you to strengthen, acknowledge, or address.

Every one of these is cited — tied back to the evidence and authority it rests on — so you can verify the reasoning rather than take it on faith.

The flow: Setup → Analysis → Review → Finalize

Building an outline moves through four stages:

1. Setup — Confirm the matter context and the documents to analyze. Because you launched from the matter, the client and case type are already in place; you point the engine at the client files you want it to read.
2. Analysis — The engine maps your evidence to the legal framework, flags deadlines and bars, builds the evidence matrix, detects the forum, and surfaces landmines. You see what is strong, what is weak, and what is still missing.
3. Review — Work through the result. Read each legal element, see the evidence that supports it, address the flagged gaps, edit your facts, and confirm your approach.
4. Finalize — Lock in the outline. A finalized outline becomes the matter's strategy of record and the seed for the draft.

Setting the matter's primary outline

A matter can hold more than one outline run. When you have the one you want to draft from, set it as the matter's primary outline. The primary outline is what the matter page surfaces and what feeds the draft.

Earlier outlines are not lost — they stay with the matter, collapsible beneath the primary, so you can review prior runs or switch which one is primary. Everything you produce on a matter saves back to it; the outline is no exception.

The handoff: from finalized outline to draft

This is where the outline earns its place as the first step. When you draft from a matter whose primary outline is finalized, the draft is seeded from that outline and hands straight into generation — skipping the question-and-answer interview.

The outline already settled the structure, the forum, the legal framework, and the evidence mapping. There is nothing to re-ask. Instead of walking the interview to establish what to write, the engine drafts your strategy directly:

• The draft inherits the outline's sections, forum, and evidence mapping.
• You are not re-answering "Which court?" or "What is your main argument?" — the outline sealed those.
• Generation produces the best version of your strategy, not a generic version of the filing.

This is the strongest on-ramp into drafting. For how the draft itself is assembled once the handoff fires, see Step 2 — Draft the Document. For more on how the matter and a finalized outline carry context forward so you re-enter less, see Answering Fewer Questions.

Recommended, not required

You do not have to build an outline before you draft. You can draft a matter directly, and the matter will not show a "skipped" badge or push back if you do.

The outline is the recommended first stage because of what it gives you on high-stakes work — surfaced deadlines and bars, a clear evidence matrix, forum-aware structure, and landmines caught before they reach a filing. For complex matters where strategy and evidence coverage carry the case — waivers, appeals, litigation motions — the time spent on the outline pays back in a draft that starts far closer to what you intend to file.

DraftyAI accelerates drafting; it is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice. You review, edit, and are solely responsible for every document you file.