Build Harvey
NOT REALLYback to the verdict
Before step 1
you will need
- An LLM API key, or a local model via Ollama if you would rather nothing leaves the machine
- Your own documents: no licensed case law, no statute databases, no primary sources
- Python 3.11 and a willingness to read the cited passage rather than trust the summary
Delivery order
Scaffold the smallest runnable application and document its commands.
done whenThe project starts from a documented command in a clean checkout.
Implement the primary data model and core workflow.
done whenThe main object can be created, read and changed end to end.
Add validation, safe failure states, and persistence.
done whenBad input is refused with a readable message and nothing is left corrupted.
Cover the critical path with automated tests.
done whenThe highest-risk behavior fails the suite when it breaks.
Exercise a clean install from the README and fix every missing step.
done whenA fresh clone reaches the first successful workflow using only the README.
That is the whole plan for Harvey. What it deliberately does not cover is below · check the gaps before you call it a replacement.
- Licensed primary law: case law, statutes, filings and regulatory corpora you cannot legally scrape together
- Workflow products that have been evaluated by actual lawyers: diligence checklists, redline review, deposition prep
- Firm-grade deployment: SSO, data residency, retention controls, audit logs, security questionnaires answered
- Anyone to blame. Your hallucination is your malpractice exposure
- Integration into the systems legal work actually lives in: DMS, iManage, Word, the review platform
Need the files? The project pack on the verdict page hands your agent the whole brief · more legal.