Manifest OS
Manifest OS
Manifest OS
The operating system behind an AI-native law firm. I designed the client portal, the operations dashboard, and the AI drafting tool as three views of one case, so clients, attorneys, and ops stopped working from different versions of it.
Impact:
3,000+ client engagements
150+ corporate immigration programs supported
3× faster client responses than traditional firms
40% less attorney time assembling a first petition draft
The operating system behind an AI-native law firm. I designed the client portal, the operations dashboard, and the AI drafting tool as three views of one case, so clients, attorneys, and ops stopped working from different versions of it.
Impact:
3,000+ client engagements
150+ corporate immigration programs supported
3× faster client responses than traditional firms
40% less attorney time assembling a first petition draft
Overview: Manifest set out to run an immigration practice on software instead of email. I joined as the fourth employee and designed the product the firm runs on. In April 2026 Manifest raised a $60M Series A at a $750M valuation, backed by Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and First Round.
The problem: An immigration case lived in inboxes and shared drives. The client didn't know what was still needed or why. The attorney dug through attachments to find evidence. Ops couldn't see which of hundreds of cases were stuck. Everyone had their own version of the same case.
Overview: Manifest set out to run an immigration practice on software instead of email. I joined as the fourth employee and designed the product the firm runs on. In April 2026 Manifest raised a $60M Series A at a $750M valuation, backed by Menlo Ventures, Kleiner Perkins, and First Round.
The problem: An immigration case lived in inboxes and shared drives. The client didn't know what was still needed or why. The attorney dug through attachments to find evidence. Ops couldn't see which of hundreds of cases were stuck. Everyone had their own version of the same case.
Key decisions:
1. Design the case, not the screens. Before any UI, I mapped a single case model: requirements, evidence, tasks, messages, drafts. The client portal, ops dashboard, and drafting tool are lenses on that one object. A document a client uploads shows up as satisfied evidence for ops and as a citation in the attorney's draft, with no re-entry.
2. Organize evidence by petition criteria, not by upload date. Clients see each requirement, why it matters, and what satisfies it. "Upload your documents" became "Here's what proves you qualify, and here's what's still missing."
3. Sort ops by what's blocking, not by what's newest. The operations view ranks cases by readiness and blocker type, so a case manager starts the day on the cases that can't move without them.
4. Keep AI drafts attached to their evidence. Every generated section sits next to the documents it draws from, and nothing leaves without attorney edit and sign-off. Speed from the model, judgment from the lawyer.
Key decisions:
1. Design the case, not the screens. Before any UI, I mapped a single case model: requirements, evidence, tasks, messages, drafts. The client portal, ops dashboard, and drafting tool are lenses on that one object. A document a client uploads shows up as satisfied evidence for ops and as a citation in the attorney's draft, with no re-entry.
2. Organize evidence by petition criteria, not by upload date. Clients see each requirement, why it matters, and what satisfies it. "Upload your documents" became "Here's what proves you qualify, and here's what's still missing."
3. Sort ops by what's blocking, not by what's newest. The operations view ranks cases by readiness and blocker type, so a case manager starts the day on the cases that can't move without them.
4. Keep AI drafts attached to their evidence. Every generated section sits next to the documents it draws from, and nothing leaves without attorney edit and sign-off. Speed from the model, judgment from the lawyer.
Results: Manifest scaled to 3,000+ client engagements and 150+ corporate programs on this platform, with client response times reported at 3× faster than traditional firms.
Results: Manifest scaled to 3,000+ client engagements and 150+ corporate programs on this platform, with client response times reported at 3× faster than traditional firms.
@ 2026 Kirill Pikalov