Architecture

Five layers. One codebase. Three deployment postures.

Every architectural choice is documented, testable, and reproducible.

The five layers

L5 · Verticals

Litigation · Contracts · Compliance

Each vertical is a profile + taxonomy + monitor + skin. New verticals do not require core-code changes.

L4 · Plugin surface

Ingest · Extract · Reason · Export

Every integration point is a plugin, not a fork. Standards-based (SAML/SCIM/LDAP) + legal-vendor-specific.

L3 · Combining Layer

The genuinely new IP

Ten sub-modules operating over a typed knowledge graph. Produces conclusions no single source could reach.

L2 · Core spine

Seven-stage pipeline

OBSERVE → NORMALIZE → DETECT_STATE → DETECT_TRANSITION → ESTIMATE_OUTCOME → RECOMMEND → VALIDATE. Lifted intact from siblings.

L1 · Legal data

Read-only adapters. One-way ingress.

Matters · Documents · Emails · Contracts · Court records · Dockets · Calendars · Billing · Depositions · Statutes · Regulation feeds · Precedent · Firm knowledge stores. Nothing modified.

Three deployment modes

Same codebase. Same behavior. Deployment posture is a config flag, not a build target.

Cloud tenant

Praesensus-hosted, per-firm namespace, customer-selected region. Continuous updates.

Best for: mid-market in-house, SaaS-native firms, PE portfolios.

On-prem connected

Signed appliance in your datacenter. Federation via mTLS. Customer-scheduled updates.

Best for: Am Law 50-100, F500 GC offices.

Air-gap

Zero automated outbound. Federation via signed daily pull + monthly push, mTLS + HSM authenticated.

Best for: Healthcare payer, defense contractor, F100 regulated finance.

Four appliance forms

Physical

Pre-provisioned 1U/2U server. TPM sealed. Regulated verticals.

Virtual

Signed OVA/OVF/VMDK. VMware/Hyper-V/KVM. Default for BigLaw + F500.

Container

Signed Helm chart + OCI images. Kubernetes.

Cloud SaaS

Multi-tenant SaaS with per-firm namespace.

Integration surface

Praesensus integrates with the standards-based half of firm IT via native protocols (no custom shim required), and with the legal-vendor-specific half via plugin adapters.

Standards-based (no custom code required)

Category	Common vendors	Protocol
Identity provider	Azure AD, Okta, Ping, ADFS	SAML 2.0, OIDC
Directory / roster	Same as above	SCIM 2.0, LDAP, CSV bulk
SIEM / monitoring	Splunk, QRadar, Sentinel, Datadog	syslog, Splunk HEC, webhook
PKI / certificates	Firm CA, DigiCert, Entrust	X.509, PKCS#12
Backup / snapshot	Veeam, Rubrik, Cohesity, Commvault	Standard VM snapshot APIs
Vulnerability scan	Rapid7, Qualys, Tenable	Standard VA agents inside appliance

Legal-vendor-specific plugin adapters

Category	Vendors
Email / Calendar	Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, on-prem Exchange
Document management	iManage, NetDocs, SharePoint, OpenText eDOCS
Matter / practice management	Aderant Elite, Elite 3E, Clio, Litify, MyCase
Contract lifecycle mgmt	Ironclad, Icertis, ContractPodAi, Agiloft, DocuSign CLM
eDiscovery	Relativity, Everlaw, DISCO, Reveal
Court + docket	PACER, state e-filing, docket-alert services, CourtListener
Legal research	Westlaw, Lexis, Bloomberg Law, Fastcase
Billing / time	Aderant Elite, Elite 3E, TimeSolv

Federation architecture

The Federation is the anonymized pattern-intelligence network that enables cross-firm benchmarks and standard-form defect detection. It operates without ever accessing your privileged content.

Federate patterns, not privileged content. The Federation processes only derived typed structure and outcome patterns — clause frequency signatures, deadline pattern statistics, judge outcome distributions, standard-form defect signals. It never processes and never accepts privileged text, client identifiers, matter identifiers, or attorney communications. Enforced architecturally.

Asymmetric flow

Downstream (Praesensus → customer): daily authenticated pull. Fresh federated intelligence in.
Upstream (customer → Praesensus): monthly signed push. Human-inspectable pattern digest out.

Authentication

Two-factor machine authentication for automated pull: mTLS client certificate (90-day rotation) + hardware-backed signed request token (HSM/YubiKey PIV). Optional weekly or monthly human Custodian Seal Renewal.

Composed foundations

Praesensus is the fifth vertical instance of the Atlas platform family. Every core module — the seven-stage spine, the governance gate, the transition detector, the deadline forecaster, the validation harness, the runtime, and the plugin surface — is lifted intact from production-tested siblings serving buildings, biopharma manufacturing, genetics, and critical facility infrastructure.

The Combining Layer + Knowledge Graph is the genuinely new IP for legal. Composition beats invention.

Read the origin story →

Deep-dive with your technical team

Request a deep-dive See the Trust Center