> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.writerzroom.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Practice Areas

> Narrow the legal vertical to one practice area's authorities, terminology, and advertising rules.

Legal templates have a **Practice Area** field. When it names an area with an overlay, WriterzRoom adds that area's rules to the legal vertical for that generation.

| Practice area | What the overlay adds |
| - | - |
| Personal injury | Prior-results notice; bans valuation promises; contingency fees described with case costs; state limitation periods and fault rules |
| Estate planning | Tax-year and source on every exemption or threshold; revocable versus irrevocable trusts |
| Immigration | Form numbers with edition dates; fees cited to USCIS; USCIS, EOIR, State and CBP kept distinct |
| Family law | Equitable distribution versus community property; best-interests framing for custody |
| Employment and labor | Employer- or employee-side perspective; charge-filing windows with their conditions |
| Criminal defense | Jurisdiction for every offense or penalty; no predicted charging, plea, or sentencing outcomes |
| Intellectual property | Patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets kept distinct; "patent pending" only for a filed application |

## 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.

| Table | Checked rows | Source |
| - | - | - |
| USCIS filing fees | 29 of 33 | Form G-1055, edition 10/16/26 |
| Personal injury limitation periods | 30 of 51 | Official state statute text |

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.

> [!NOTE]
>
> 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.


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