FidesBeacon Where evidence comes to light

Free First Matter

One Foundation-tier analysis at no cost, for firms that have never used FidesBeacon before.

The offer in one paragraph

If your firm has never used FidesBeacon before, we will produce one Foundation-tier analysis on an active matter at no cost. The free first matter runs at Standard quality (Claude Haiku 4.5) on up to 300 documents, with 72-hour turnaround. You pick one category from Documentary Evidence Analysis, Quick-Turn Triage, or AI Quality Control — the three categories available at Standard quality. You provide the documents and a short case description; we return the deliverables in that category within 72 hours of receiving documents in usable form. If the work is useful, we discuss continuing on a per-matter or monthly basis. If not, there is no obligation. The free-first-matter offer is limited to one matter per firm.

What you provide

  • A short matter description. A single paragraph is enough. Claim type, party count, approximate document volume, any pending deadlines, and the specific question or questions you want the analysis to answer.
  • The document set. Any production format we accept (PDF, DOCX, XLSX, TXT, RTF, EML, MSG, image formats with OCR). Bates-numbered productions are honored. The free-first-matter offer is capped at 300 documents at Standard quality. Larger volumes are quoted as a paid Foundation, Strategic, Trial, or Bespoke engagement at Pro or Premium quality.
  • A signed confidentiality agreement. We send the standard FidesBeacon confidentiality agreement on the same business day you confirm interest. Most firms return the signed copy within 24 hours.
  • A secure delivery channel. Dropbox Business, OneDrive Business, Box, Sync.com, Tresorit, or encrypted physical media. Email attachments are fine for smaller matters — including emails sent from Gmail, Outlook, or any other provider. The one practical limit: if your documents currently live in Google Drive, please download or export them and send through one of the channels above. We cannot click through Google Drive share links because that would require us to sign in to a Google account on our side.

What you receive

The Foundation-tier deliverables in the category you pick. Each is a Microsoft Word document, each citation-verified, each personally reviewed by the founder before release. Plus an RFC 3161 timestamped QC log row recording exactly how each deliverable was produced.

Pick one of these three categories

These are the three categories available at Standard quality and therefore eligible for the free first matter:

Category 2 — Documentary Evidence Analysis

You receive the three core Foundation-tier deliverables:

Expert Contradiction Report

Every place an expert witness or party representative said one thing in one document and something different in another, with full citations to both sources. Useful for cross-examination preparation and for impeachment moments in depositions.

Master Case Timeline

A chronological reconstruction of every dated event in the production, with source citations and conflict flags where dates disagree across documents. Useful for case-theory development and for spotting discovery gaps.

Key Fact Matrix

The facts that drive the legal theory of the case, isolated from the surrounding noise, with pinpoint citations. Useful for focusing junior associates' attention on the documents that actually matter.

Category 7 — Quick-Turn Triage

You receive the Foundation-tier triage pair:

Same-Day Document Triage

Rapid review of a small document set with hot-document flagging in under eight hours. Useful when you have just received production and need to know what matters before your first strategy meeting.

Quick Issue Map

Single-page summary of issues and parties from an intake document set. Useful for fit-confirmation calls and case-acceptance decisions.

Category 8 — AI Quality Control

You receive the Foundation-tier internal QC deliverable, which can also be applied as a stand-alone audit of another vendor's AI-generated work product you already have in hand:

QC / Exceptions Report

Anomalies in an AI-generated production: low-confidence findings, missing citations, ambiguity flags. Useful when your firm wants an independent check on AI work product produced elsewhere before relying on it in a filing.

How it works in practice

  1. You email us. Send a short note to david@fidesbeacon.com with "Free first matter" in the subject. Include the brief matter description.
  2. We confirm fit within one business day. If the matter is a good fit for Foundation tier, we send the confidentiality agreement and document-delivery instructions the same business day. If the matter is better suited to a paid Strategic or Trial-tier engagement, we say so and quote a price range; the free-first-matter offer is reserved for Foundation-scoped work.
  3. You send documents. Over an approved secure channel. We acknowledge receipt within two hours of arrival during business hours.
  4. We process within 72 hours. Citation verification on every fact statement. Founder review of the executive summaries. Delivery as Microsoft Word documents plus an RFC 3161 timestamped QC log row per deliverable.
  5. You decide what comes next. If the work is useful, we discuss a continuing engagement (Foundation, Strategic, Trial, or Bespoke) or a monthly retainer for ongoing matters. If the work was not useful, the engagement ends. Either way, your documents are returned and the analytical workspace is destroyed per the default 90-day policy. There is no further obligation.

The fine print

  • One per firm. The free-first-matter offer is limited to one matter per firm. If your firm has multiple offices, the offer is at the firm level, not the office level.
  • Foundation tier, Standard quality only. The offer covers a Foundation-tier deliverable at Standard quality (Claude Haiku 4.5). Pro and Premium quality, and Strategic / Trial / Bespoke tiers, are paid from the first matter.
  • One of three categories. The free first matter covers one category from Category 2 (Documentary Evidence Analysis), Category 7 (Quick-Turn Triage), or Category 8 (AI Quality Control). The other eight categories require Pro or Premium quality and are not available under this offer.
  • Active matters only. The offer covers active litigation matters — matters with a docketed case number, a production in process, or a pre-suit investigation with identified parties. We do not offer the free first matter for purely hypothetical or training-exercise scenarios.
  • 300-document cap. The free-first-matter offer is capped at 300 documents at Standard quality. Larger matters are quoted as paid engagements at Pro or Premium quality.
  • Internal cap of 2–3 per month. We deliver no more than two or three free first matters per month to preserve quality. Demand above that capacity goes on a waitlist with transparent timing.
  • Conflict-clearance applies. We will conflict-check the named parties against the firm's adverse-engagement list before accepting the matter. See the Confidentiality page for the procedure.
  • No publicity without consent. If we work on your matter under the free-first-matter offer, we will not publicize the engagement, name your firm, or use the matter as a case study without your express written consent. The engagement is as confidential as any paid engagement.

Ready to take the offer?

Send a short note describing the matter. We will confirm fit and send the confidentiality agreement within one business day.

Email: david@fidesbeacon.com
Subject line: Free first matter — [your firm name]