Definition
A Case File is the single structured JSON representation of a case that Merito's ingestion pipeline extracts once, from the documents a petitioner uploads. Every downstream tool — Merito Score, Officer Simulator, RFE Studio, Merito Audit, and the rest — reads only this structured Case File, never the raw uploaded documents themselves.
Context
Reading raw documents on every tool run would be slow, expensive, and inconsistent — two tools could reach different conclusions about the same evidence simply because they parsed the PDF differently. Building one Case File up front, then having every tool read that same structured summary, keeps every tool's view of the case consistent and lets the extraction step be cached and reused instead of repeated.
This also keeps uploaded content firmly in the 'data, not instructions' category: a tool never executes anything found inside an uploaded document, because it never touches the document directly.
Key points
- Built once per case by the ingestion pipeline, then reused (prompt-cached) by every tool.
- Tools never read raw uploaded files directly — only the structured Case File.
- Keeps every tool's understanding of a case consistent with every other tool's.
Common misconception
A Case File is not a copy of the uploaded documents themselves — it's a structured extraction (claims, evidence items, dates, entities) derived from them.
Related terms
Go further
Merito is not a law firm and does not offer legal advice or predict approval odds. This is a readiness review to help you and your attorney strengthen your case.