What an overlay can and cannot do
An overlay only adds rules: forbidden claims, required notices, preferred research sources and queries, terminology, and writing guidance. It cannot remove or loosen anything the legal vertical applies, including its verifiers and disclaimers. An area without an overlay, or a free-text value, runs against the legal vertical unchanged. The generation record shows which overlay and version shaped a draft.Reference figures
Some overlays draw on rule tables: personal injury on limitation periods by state, immigration on USCIS filing fees. Each row in a rule table carries its value, the citation that sets it, the period it is in force, and the source and date it was checked against. When a generation names a jurisdiction, the writer receives that jurisdiction’s checked rows. The generation record lists each row it used. Only rows checked against their source are used, and an unchecked row is never shown to the writer.
The four unchecked fee rows are H.R. 1 amounts that applied before October 16, 2026. An immigration generation receives the checked fees whether or not it names a jurisdiction, because federal fees do not vary by state. A personal injury generation receives no limitation period until its state’s row is checked.
Legal generations also run an advisory USCIS fee check. A fee stated beside a USCIS form number is compared with the checked fee rows, and a fee that matches none of them is flagged for review. Past and proposed fees are not checked. Neither are fees the table does not hold, such as biometrics or attorney’s fees.
Overlays shape what a draft says and how it is checked. They do not make a draft legal advice. Every output still needs review by a licensed attorney in the relevant jurisdiction before use.