Your Workflow, End to End

Every filing in DraftyAI follows one path. You create a client, open a matter, build the outline, draft the document, review and edit it, and export the finished Word file. This page walks that spine in order so you can see where each piece fits before you go deep on any single stage.

The matter is the thread that ties it all together. Everything you produce — outlines, drafts, letters, translations, uploaded evidence — saves back to the matter and shows on one screen. Learn the spine once and the rest of the platform follows.

The one path every filing follows

The six stages below always run in the same order. Stages 1 and 2 set up the work; stages 3 through 6 are the matter pipeline you'll repeat on every filing.

1. Create — and charge for — a client

A client is a person or entity you represent: a one-time biographical record reused across all of that client's matters. Add a client from the left rail under Clients, or from the Dashboard's Add client button. When you save, the client opens on its Matters tab so you can add the first matter immediately.

2. Open a matter for that client

A matter is one specific legal engagement — a petition, a waiver, a brief, an RFE response — and it always belongs to a client. One client can have many matters. Pick the case type (e.g., "I-601A Unlawful Presence Waiver") and the jurisdiction; that becomes the container for everything that follows. Opening a matter is free. No allowance is consumed when you create it.

3. Build the case outline

Run a risk-first strategy pass before you draft. The outline maps your evidence to the legal framework, flags deadlines and bars, builds an evidence matrix, detects the forum (USCIS, immigration court, or appellate), and surfaces "landmines" — each one cited. You can mark one outline as the matter's primary outline, and a finalized outline hands straight into generation.

4. Draft the document

Assemble the petition, brief, cover letter, or response. The matter's primary outline is seeded in, so a finalized outline skips the question-and-answer step and goes straight to generation. You take a single Draft action; DraftyAI routes it to the right flow behind the scenes based on the matter's case type.

5. Review and edit, with citation checks

The draft returns as sections you read, edit, rewrite, and verify. When a draft cites case law or a statute, the citation is flagged for you to confirm or correct — a review aid, not a guarantee. You move at your own pace, section by section, until the draft is ready.

6. Export the .docx

Once the draft is finalized, it produces a downloadable Word document (.docx). Finalized artifacts carry a Doc / Download badge on the matter. RFE responses export both a Response Letter and an Exhibit List; translations export a .docx with a translator-certification block to complete.

How the stages map to the matter progress strip

The matter page carries a Matter Progress strip that tracks exactly where the filing stands: Outline → Draft → Review → Drafts ready. The strip is your at-a-glance status for the whole pipeline.

• Outline — stage 3. Lights up as you build and finalize the case outline.
• Draft — stage 4. Reflects the draft generated from the matter.
• Review — stage 5. Drafts that still need your section-by-section review show a Review badge on the matter.
• Drafts ready — stage 6. Finalized drafts that have produced a Word document.

Outline and Draft are stages you actively work; Review and Drafts ready are derived from the state of your drafts. Together they reinforce one idea: the studios are stages of a single matter pipeline, not separate destinations.

Creating a matter is free — the case charge fires once

Opening a matter never costs you anything. Billing is per matter, not per draft or per tool, and the single case charge is deferred until your first chargeable AI generation on that matter.

• The first chargeable generation on a matter consumes one case from your firm's monthly allowance.
• Every later generation on that same matter is free — you are charged once per matter, ever.
• Drafting as many documents as the matter needs — declarations, briefs, RFE responses, exhibits — adds no further charge.

For the full picture — the Drafty Flex plan, your shared firm-wide case pool, the trial, and overage — see Plans & Billing.

The matter workspace is the screen you live on

The matter page is where the whole pipeline happens. It holds the status control, the Matter Progress strip, the primary outline card, the quick-action clusters for producing and transforming documents, a panel for uploading and linking client files, and the running list of documents created for the matter.

You rarely leave it. Each stage launches from here, does its work, and saves the result back here as an artifact. For the full tour of the hub — every panel, badge, and quick action — see The Matter Workspace. For depth on any single stage, follow the per-stage docs:

• Step 1 — Build the Case Outline — the risk-first strategy pass.
• Step 2 — Draft the Document — how one Draft action routes and assembles the document.
• Specialized Matter Types — what changes for specialized case types.
• Step 3 — Review, Edit & Citation Checks — section-by-section review and confirming every authority.
• Step 4 — Export Your Filing — producing the finished Word document.
• Answering Fewer Questions — how the matter and a finalized outline carry context forward.

One Draft action, routed automatically

You never pick a "tool" from a menu. You take one Draft action, and DraftyAI reads the desired output and the matter's case type, then routes to the right flow for you. Generic matters go to the Drafting Studio interview; specialized case types open their dedicated flow. The attorney perceives one Draft action, not a tool choice.

These specialized matter types are reached by that same routing:

• RFE / NOID / NOIR — a notice-response flow with its own Issues → Evidence → Arguments → Draft → Verification → Export steps.
• Asylum / Withholding / CAT — a dedicated brief flow with country-conditions research.
• I-601A — extreme-hardship waiver drafting for provisional unlawful-presence cases.
• Naturalization (N-400) — a client-specific filing checklist / cover page, not a drafted brief.
• Translate — produces a translated .docx with a translator-certification block.
• Expert letter — assembles a supporting expert letter from the matter's facts. It is reached only by its own explicit button, not auto-routed.
• Affidavit / Declaration — assembles a declaration from the matter's facts.

Specialized Matter Types covers what changes inside each one.

The outline is recommended first, not required

Building the case outline first is the recommended path, and it pays off: a finalized outline hands straight into generation, skipping the question-and-answer step, so the draft follows your strategy instead of a generic template.

It is not mandatory. You can go straight to drafting without an outline, and a matter with no outline carries no "skipped" badge — nothing is held against the matter. For high-stakes filings or evidence-heavy cases, though, the outline-first path is worth the time.

Importing existing clients

If your firm uses Clio, you may be able to import existing clients directly into DraftyAI rather than re-creating them (availability may vary). Once imported, they behave like any client you added by hand: open matters for them, link files, and start the workflow above.

Important: you review and own every filing

DraftyAI accelerates drafting — it doesn't replace your review. Across every stage, you read the generated draft, confirm or correct every flagged citation, check the facts, and read the full document before filing. The platform is a drafting assistant, not a law firm, and the judgment that makes the work yours is yours alone.

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.