FOLIO Ontology

A person who has a role in a legal matter (e.g., Buyer, Provider, Lawyer, Law Firm, Expert, Employer, Employee, Buyer, Seller, Lessor, Lessee, Debtor, Creditor, Payor, Payee, Landlord, Tenant).

The practice area into which a legal matter or legal area of study falls (e.g., Criminal Law, Real Property Law, Mergers and Acquisitions Law, Personal and Family Law, Tax and Revenue Law).

Type of resource that is owned or controlled by a person, business, or economic entity

Entities' chosen communication method (e.g., written, email, telephone, portal), as well as time (e.g., synchronous, asynchronous).

A standardization of money that is used, circulated, or exchanged (e.g., banknotes, coins).

The data structure that gives the file its meaning; in the context of legal data, the format of the legal-data file (e.g., Microsoft Word Document, Adobe Acrobat PDF, Microsoft Excel file).

A written, drawn, presented, or memorialized representation of thought or expression, including evidence such as recordings and other artifacts.

Engagement Attributes are specific aspects that define the scope, nature, and terms of a legal service engagement, including both internally facing provisions for the legal services provider and externally facing terms for the legal services buyer. These attributes encompass the specifics of the legal services to be provided, the responsibilities of each party, and the financial arrangements.

A matter's events, as well as collections of those events (often noted as "phases").

Financial and operational indicators designed to evaluate the performance of engagements or transactions.

Forums and Venues refer to organizational or governmental entities where proceedings occur, either as disputes or as transactions. For disputes, the term "Forum" describes the jurisdiction or court type, while "Venue" refers to the actual location, such as the courthouse, jurisdiction, or judicial district. For equities and securities, this category also includes Stock Exchanges.

Administrative entities of government or state agency or appointed commission, as a permanent or semi-permanent governmental organization that oversees or administers specific governmental functions.

Industry and markets refer to the collective sectors and segments within an economy that produce, distribute, and sell goods and services. This encompasses various industries such as agriculture, technology, and finance, as well as different market segments like luxury goods, budget services, and regional businesses

Written or spoken structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary; in the context of legal matters, the language of a document, artifact, evidence, testimony, proceeding, or any other legal aspect (e.g., English, Spanish, German, French, Russian, Chinese).

Documents or publications that guide legal rights and obligations (e.g., caselaw, statutes, regulations, rules) or that can be cited as providing guidance on the law (e.g., secondary legal authorities).

A person, company, organization, or other entity that has legal rights and obligations.

Legal Use Cases refers to a set of various categories of tasks within the legal industry, which can be completed by humans, machines, or both. Examples include legal research, contract management, intellectual property management, compliance management, and other organizational' use cases for legal work.

The name of a position on the Earth, usually in the context of continents, countries, and their political subdivisions (e.g., regions, states or provinces, cities, towns, villages).

A textual narrative of a matter's factual and legal details.

Specific aims, goals, arguments, plans, intentions, designs, purposes, schemes, etc. that are constructed by a party in a legal matter, and the legal or other professional frameworks that support their execution.

The legal work performed, usually by a Legal Services Provider, in the course of a legal matter.

Existing standards (e.g., UTBMS, LEDES, PACER) and their components' mappings (relationships) to their FOLIO counterparts.

The state or condition of a proceeding, legal element, or legal matter (e.g., open, closed, canceled, expired).

Unique identifiers (e.g., IRIs, UUIDs, GUIDs) within the systems of stakeholders (e.g., vendors, sellers, buyers, courts).