How we deliver
Straight answers to the questions you ask before you buy.
Research you can check. Confidentiality you control. A hosting choice that stays yours. This page sets out how we build the IQ platform, host it, secure it and look after it, for law firms, barristers and in-house counsel.
- Built, in alpha testing Running on our test server with fictitious firms
- In development Being built now
- Planned On the plan, not built
No product is generally available and the beta has not opened. Pricing, service terms and the customer agreement are not published yet, and wording marked Indicative is not yet confirmed. Updated 25 October 2026.
1. Problem definition and scope
Four problems, solved in one platform.
Australian legal work asks a lot of its software. The IQ platform is built around the four things that cannot go wrong.
Research you can stand behind
Nobody can rely on authority they cannot check. Every answer needs footnotes that lead to the page, paragraph or section it came from, in AGLC4, the Australian citation standard.
Practice administration in one place
Matters, deadlines, calendar, mail and research live in separate tools, so the same matter is re-keyed and the links between them live in people's heads.
Confidentiality you can prove
Legal practitioners owe clients a duty of confidentiality. You need to decide where client information may go, including whether it may reach a hosted AI model, and to show the decision held.
Client data kept safe
Client files are a target. They need to be kept apart from every other organisation's, encrypted, monitored and recoverable.
Who it is for
Built for organisations that carry the risk.
We sell to organisations, not to individuals. An organisation is the customer and its people are the users.
How people use it
Daily: research and drafting
Ask a question, open the sources, draft, have a reviewer sign off, export.
By matter
Work is organised around the matter, with its code, team, deadlines and documents. Research and drafts stay with the matter they belong to.
Monthly: administration
Review who has access, what usage costs, retention settings and, once it is live, the monthly security report.
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Law firms, small to mid-size
Control your costs and your confidentiality in the same place. Every AI call is metered (a per-matter cost view is planned), you set where client information may go, and your administrators run the firm's settings without a developer.
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Barristers and chambers
Research you can check and cite: every proposition is footnoted in AGLC4 and traceable to its source. A mode where nothing leaves your own server is built, with locally written answers in development.
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In-house counsel
One application, PracticeIQ, for matters, research and drafts (those screens run on our test server), and a security story you can take to your board: a monthly security report written for your organisation's own risk is built on our test server and not yet live for firms.
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Government
Government agencies are not a current target. We have not been independently assessed against any government security framework.
First release and later phases
What you get first, and what comes after.
The first release is what our roadmap marks built or in development today. Later phases are what it marks planned. The beta has not opened, and no date is set for the beta or for general availability. The roadmap shows dated planning targets, which can move.
On the roadmap today: 44 items built, 14 in progress, 41 planned.
Built today
Running on our test server with fictitious firms. Not yet available to firms.
- Cited answers. AGLC4 footnotes in four formats: short answer, research memo, essay and problem-question analysis.
- Matters linked to research. Matters with permanent codes, team access and archive, linked to research under the same code.
- Drafting with sign-off. Drafts stored against the matter, shared with a reviewer and signed off by a practitioner before export.
- Confidentiality levels. A level chosen by the firm, rules for confidential matters, and a mode where nothing leaves your server.
- Deadlines a person confirms. Deadlines and their history live on the matter; a suggested deadline is only a suggestion until someone confirms it.
- Import from your current system. Matter import runs as a dry run first and never widens who can see a matter.
- A separate database for each firm. Requests that cannot be tied to the right firm are refused.
- Hardened front door. TLS 1.3 only, services that verify each other, and ready for post-quantum encryption.
- A curated corpus workflow. Every source is reviewed by a person, carries its provenance and ships in a numbered release.
- Second-step sign-in. Sign-in to PracticeIQ with a security key or an authenticator app as the second step, always for firm administrators and operators.
- Encrypted backups. LexIQ's backups are encrypted and restore-tested; the other services follow.
- Users, roles and firm settings. Members, roles and settings for the firm, in PracticeIQ, with a second sign-in step for every change.
In development now
Being built. Not yet working end to end.
- Attack detection (rules built, not yet running live). Detection rules for brute force, scans, floods and token abuse are built and measured against replayed attacks. They are not yet running on our test server: they start once the rule set is signed off for live use.
- File scanning. Uploaded files are checked for malware before anyone can open them. The scan service runs on our test server; connecting it to every upload path is in progress.
- Per-firm encryption of client text. Client names, questions and answers are already sealed with a key for each firm; drafts and some working data are still to be converted.
- Fully local answers. Answers written on your own server. Until they are released, the local mode returns cited passages.
- Security alerts. Alerts on the security events AegisIQ detects.
- Two-site operation. A firm running across its own servers and the cloud at once, proven so far in a fault-injecting simulator.
- Bulk import. Import service plus folder, ZIP and manifest import with staging and rollback.
- Calendar and mail. Microsoft 365 calendar and mail linked to matters. The month and week calendar views are built; the Microsoft 365 connection is being built and tested, and no firm's account is connected yet.
- Research, drafting and AI cost on the matter. One matter page where research, drafts, AI costs and disclosure meet. Research and drafts on the matter are built; AI costs and disclosure are planned.
- PracticeIQ's web screens. The one web application for practitioners and administrators. Its screens for matters, research, drafts, documents, members and firm settings are built and run on our test server; the rest are planned. LexIQ's own pages now point to them.
Later phases
On the plan. Not started, or not far enough along.
- Corpus discovery and firm deep research. Find new sources; nothing joins your corpus until someone at the firm consents.
- Reversible containment and exposure tracking. Block and contain on your own systems, with every action expiring, and track public vulnerabilities against what you run.
- Hosting packages and signed releases. An installer for Linux servers, signed releases, and release gates in every hosting profile.
LexIQ is a research aid and does not give legal advice. Practitioners remain responsible for checking authority and for the advice they give.
2. Technical architecture and stack
A layered platform you can host where you choose.
Each layer can run on its own host. A layer knows the others only through versioned, tested contracts, so you can move one without rebuilding the rest. This is the approved design; the roadmap shows how much of it is built. We describe the shape here and keep the implementation private.
- People and toolsPracticeIQ is the one web application. A command line and an interface for software serve operators, scripts and automation.
- GatewayThe front door. TLS 1.3 only, with rate and size limits, and the point where every request is identified.
- ProductsLexIQ research and drafting, PracticeIQ practice management, CodexIQ corpus and AegisIQ security. They talk to each other only through versioned, tested contracts.
- Agents and servicesSearch, ingestion, metering, synchronisation and the model gateway that applies the firm's data policy to every call that leaves the platform.
- DataA database for each firm, a shared read-only legal library, and document storage on your own disks or in cloud storage.
- FoundationsKeys and secrets, certificates, monitoring, backups and, planned, signed releases.
One application, four products.
PracticeIQ is the one application: the place practitioners, reviewers and administrators work, with one sign-in and one matter context. LexIQ, CodexIQ and AegisIQ sit behind it and are complete through a command line and an interface for software.
Built so far, all on our test server: PracticeIQ's web screens for matters, research, drafts, documents, members and firm settings, with sign-in and its second step; the rest are planned. LexIQ's earlier pages stay in place with a notice that each screen has moved to PracticeIQ.
Models, residency and keys.
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Local or hosted models, chosen per firm
At the highest confidentiality level, search and answers run on your own server and nothing leaves it. At the other levels you see, before you accept, which outside providers receive what, where and for how long; the platform refuses any provider whose terms are not on record. Locally written answers are in development.
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Your choice of models
The firm owner or administrator chooses which models, local or hosted, the firm may use, according to the firm's own risk profile and within the platform's limits.
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Australian data residency
Our hosted profile is designed to keep firm data in Sydney. Our test server is there and holds only fictitious data. A hosted AI model, if you choose one, may process the question and passages it needs overseas, and we show you where before you accept. At the highest level nothing leaves your server.
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A database and keys for each firm
One database per firm, a request not tied to its firm is refused, and an encryption key for each firm. Per-firm encryption of client text is still being extended across the platform.
Where it runs: three editions at Release Candidate 1.
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Linux package
A complete package for Linux servers, with its own provisioning application. The natural choice for a firm that wants the platform on infrastructure it controls.
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Microsoft edition
Planned to run on a .NET host and be ready for Azure, with its own provisioning application, for organisations that standardise on Microsoft.
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Windows self-hosted edition
For a firm that wants everything on its own Windows machines, with its own provisioning application.
Each provisioning application installs and configures everything, including the domain name and DNS records. All three editions are planned for Release Candidate 1. None is built and no date is set. Hosting profiles: we host for you in Sydney, you host on your own servers, or both at once (two-site operation is in development).
Integrations.
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Microsoft 365 calendar and mail
Only items linked to a matter are ever made available to research. The connection is being built and tested; no firm's Microsoft 365 account is connected yet.
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Imports from existing practice systems
Matter import is built and runs as a dry run first. Which systems get a ready-made connector is not yet chosen.
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A payment gateway for subscriptions
Billing code exists in test form. No gateway is switched on and nothing is charged.
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Exports for accounting software
Planned. The formats are not chosen.
3. User experience and workflows
Designed around the matter, with the controls in your hands.
These are the design commitments in our UI and UX plan. PracticeIQ's screens for matters, research, drafts, documents, members and firm settings are built and run on our test server; the rest are planned.
One application
Every screen a person uses is a PracticeIQ screen, so there is one sign-in, one matter context and one place for the firm's settings.
Accessible by design
We design to WCAG 2.2 AA and will audit before release. No audit has been done yet.
No third parties on the page
No third-party scripts, fonts, trackers or advertising. This website works the same way.
Confidentiality always visible
The firm's level, the current matter and any hold or confidential flag stay on screen. Before a question leaves your servers, the screen says where it goes.
A research aid, not legal advice
Answers are labelled as generated research aids. Our checks on citations do not replace a practitioner verifying authority, and drafts need sign-off before export.
Status you can trust
A badge says only what a check proved. Unknowns are shown as unknown.
Australian practice conventions
Australian English, AGLC4 citations produced by code rather than typed by a model, and the matter as the unit of work.
Everything has a command-line twin
Every screen action is also available to scripts and the command line, so it can be tested and automated.
Four roles.
Practitioner
Researches, drafts and works on the matters they are given. Does not see firm administration or other matters.
Reviewer
A practitioner who reviews and signs off a draft before it is exported, where the firm requires sign-off.
Firm administrator
Manages members, roles, confidentiality, retention and consent. Has no access to matters unless given a matter role.
System operator
Our own role. Provisions firms, sees usage and platform health, and runs security monitoring. Sees no firm content unless the firm grants time-limited access. A web console and phone apps for the security operator are planned.
We have drawn and approved wireframes of the PracticeIQ screens and mapped the user journeys; the built screens follow them. We do not publish them. They are shared with beta firms under the beta programme, which has not opened yet.
Self-management, without a developer.
A firm administrator can change
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Members and roles
Add people and set firm and matter roles in PracticeIQ, with a second sign-in step for each change. Running on our test server.
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Confidentiality level and the confidential-matter rule
Choose a level from those the platform offers. Decide whether a confidential matter warns, allows or blocks outside AI. Changes are recorded.
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Retention and legal hold
Set how long each kind of data is kept, never below seven years for firm records. Records are never changed automatically: a firm administrator reviews and authorises each step, and a legal hold pauses review. Copies such as cached answers expire on their own. The authorisation service is built; it is not yet running with the research service.
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The access audit
See who accessed what over the last 30 days. The audit never shows client content.
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Learning consent
Decide whether the firm's local model may learn from the firm's own work, and separately whether anything it learns may help other firms. Both are off until the firm owner or administrator agrees. The consent screens, with versioned texts and a switch that keeps a matter out of learning, are built on our test server; learning itself is planned.
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Which models are available
Choose which models, local or hosted, your people may use.
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Support access
Grant us time-limited access to help with a problem, and see it recorded.
The firm cannot change
The platform's limits
Which confidentiality levels are offered and which outside providers are allowed. Cogent Systems sets those.
A matter looser than its firm
A matter can be stricter than the firm's level, never looser.
The audit trail
It is append-only. No one edits or deletes it.
Encryption, isolation and security monitoring
These are part of the platform, not firm settings.
What an AI agent can reach
By design, an agent acting for someone gets no more access than that person has; enforcement is in development.
4. Security, compliance and legal
Security you can ask hard questions about.
What is built, what is not, and where the line is.
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TLS 1.3 only, post-quantum ready
The gateway refuses older protocols, services prove who they are to each other, and the gateway is ready for post-quantum encryption. Running on our test server.
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Client text encrypted per firm
A database copy or a backup does not reveal what is sealed. Client names, questions and answers are sealed now; the rest of the client text follows.
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Encrypted backups
Each backup is encrypted to two recipients and restore-tested. Built for LexIQ; the other services follow.
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Confidentiality enforced in code
At the highest level the platform refuses every call to an outside provider, and a safety test proves it. A firm that needs sovereignty gets it by construction, not by setting.
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Firms kept apart
One database per firm, with safety tests that prove one firm cannot reach another's data.
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Security monitoring that defends only
AegisIQ detects attacks and misuse on the platform and reports them; blocking is planned, and it never counter-attacks. Detection rules are built and start running live once the rule set is signed off; alerts are in development.
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Threat notifications and a monthly report for your organisation
Notifications when a threat concerns you, and a monthly report covering only the risk and impact to your organisation. A report you can take to a board. Both are built and on our test server; they are not yet live for firms, because the detection rules are not yet running there.
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Multi-factor authentication
Second-step sign-in (security key or authenticator app) is built in the identity service and runs on our test server; it is required for firm administrators and operators. Sign-in through a firm's own identity provider is planned.
Alignment, not certification.
We track our controls against the Australian Government's Information Security Manual and the Australian Privacy Principles, in a register that marks each requirement met, partly met or a gap. We have not been independently assessed.
These are engineering commitments, not certifications. We hold no certification and no independent security assessment has been done. Open items include that independent assessment and sign-in through a firm's own identity provider.
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Notifiable data breaches
A written runbook follows the Notifiable Data Breaches scheme: find what was accessed, assess within 30 days, and notify the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and affected people when the law requires. Our working position is that the firm, as the holder of its clients' information, assesses and notifies, and we tell the firm. The notice period and named roles are not settled and will be in the customer agreement. Whether a breach is notifiable stays a person's decision.
Source code, intellectual property and your data. Indicative wording
Our platform stays ours
Cogent Systems retains the intellectual property and source code of the platform.
Your data stays yours
Each firm owns its data and everything it uploads or produces on the platform.
Leave with it, or have it deleted
A firm can export its data in open formats and have it deleted. Built today: export and erasure for a person, erasure only after the firm administrator types a confirmation. Retention review is in development, and every deletion is the firm administrator's confirmed decision. A firm-wide export is planned.
Learning only with consent
Learning from a firm's own data, planned, happens only with the firm owner's or administrator's consent. What is learnt stays inside that firm's tenant, and reaches other firms only with a second, explicit consent.
All of this is subject to the customer agreement. The customer agreement and the beta terms are not yet published, so until they are, this page states our intent and is not a contract. Indicative
5. Budget, timeline and maintenance
Know the cost model, the path to release and who looks after it.
How you pay.
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Subscription per firm and seat
A subscription for the organisation, with a charge for each person who uses the platform. Predictable, and sized to your headcount.
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Metered AI usage, shown openly
Every AI call is metered and shown to you, and charged at the published rate with no hidden markup beyond it. The per-matter cost view is planned.
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Fixed-scope implementation and provisioning
Setting up your organisation, importing its matters and configuring hosting, quoted as a fixed scope so you know the cost first.
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Optional retainer support
Ongoing help from us beyond standard support, for organisations that want it.
There are no prices on this page. Pricing is published with the beta programme, and the models above are indicative until confirmed.
The path to release.
Alpha
Now. Running on our test server with fictitious firms. Not available to firms.
Beta
Invited firms try the platform. Pricing, support terms and the wireframes are shared with them. Date not set.
Release Candidate 1
The three hosting editions and their provisioning applications are planned for this release. Date not set.
Version 1.0
General availability, after the release gates pass in every hosting profile. Date not set.
How we check our own work.
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Automated evaluation of answers
Answers are scored automatically for citation accuracy, including whether an authority was invented. Changes to how answers are produced are checked against the same scoring before they ship.
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Safety tests for isolation and privacy
Properties such as one firm not seeing another's data, and nothing leaving the server at the highest level, are automated tests. Each is paired with a deliberately broken case that proves the test can fail.
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End-to-end checks across every product
One set of end-to-end checks runs on our test server across research, practice and the corpus together. Making it the release gate in every hosting set-up is planned.
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User acceptance testing with beta firms
Beta firms test each release against their real workflows before it is released.
After launch.
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A service level for security patches and hosting maintenance
A service level agreement, published with the beta programme. The terms are not set and are indicative until confirmed.
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Release notes
Every release says what changed, what was fixed and what you need to do.
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Handover documentation and runbooks
Self-hosted editions ship with handover documentation and runbooks for installing, upgrading, backing up and restoring. We already keep runbooks for our own test server.
See the detail behind this page.
Register for the beta and we will share the wireframes, pricing and support terms when invited trials open.