CASE STUDY: An AI Tool That Builds an Opening Statement Step by Step

We designed and built a tool for a litigation consulting firm that takes a trial attorney from the case file to an opening statement in stages: the facts first, then the story, then the outline.

→ The Challenge

An opening statement is the most important twenty minutes of a trial, and it is usually written last, under deadline, from a case file too big to hold in one read. Asking a general AI for one gives fluent, generic writing.

Pain Points

  • The Method Gets Skipped Under Deadline: Attorneys know the facts and the story should come before the writing, but time pressure squeezes the steps into one.
  • Case Files Too Big to Hold at Once: The material that should shape the statement is spread across documents nobody can read in one sitting.
  • Generic AI Writing: One prompt against a case file produces confident writing that no attorney would stand up and deliver.

→ Our Solution

We built a tool that follows the method attorneys already trust. The work moves through stages, each one built from the stage before it, so the AI always works from the organized case and never from the raw file.

We Provided

  • A Stage-by-Stage Process: A case moves through setup, materials, pulling out the facts, the story arc, and the outline. Each stage has to be done before the next one opens, so the tool never writes an outline from a story that was never built.
  • AI Tuned to Each Stage and Each Case: Every stage has its own instructions for the AI. They take in the kind of case, the court, which side the attorney is on, and the tone the courtroom calls for.
  • Versions That Are Never Lost: Every new attempt is saved as a new version, never over the old one. Going back to change an earlier stage clears only the work that depends on it.
  • A Private Workspace for Each Attorney: Each attorney signs in to their own cases, and finished work can be exported.

Testimonial

“It makes us do the work in the right order. By the time the outline is written, the story is already there.”

– Nate Bennett, CEO TrialShrink

Opening Statement Generator screenshot

Opening Statement Generator

Opening Statement Generator: Cases in progress

Cases in progress

Opening Statement Generator: Pasting in the case materials

Pasting in the case materials

Opening Statement Generator: AI extracts the case structure

AI extracts the case structure

Opening Statement Generator: Building the story arc

Building the story arc

Opening Statement Generator: Refining the outline

Refining the outline

Opening Statement Generator: Exporting the finished statement

Exporting the finished statement

5

Stages Before an Outline Is Written

→ The tool will not write an outline until the case has passed through each stage in order.

3

Steps the AI Works Through in Order

→ It pulls the facts from the case file, builds the story from the facts, and writes the outline from the story.

4

Case Details That Shape the Writing

→ The kind of case, the court, the side the attorney is on, and the tone the courtroom calls for.

0

Versions Overwritten

→ Every new attempt is saved beside the earlier ones, so nothing is lost.

Related: Staged Drafting Agent · AI Agents for Law Firms