switching from Best Authority

same job. new tools.

If you've been using Best Authority for years, you already know how to mark a brief. Veraciting won't ask you to relearn that. This page is the honest version of what changes — and what doesn't — when you switch.

three reasons people switch

none of them are "Best Authority is bad."

Best Authority is a serious tool that has served the profession well since the 90s. Most people who switch to Veraciting do it for a structural reason — not because they had a fight with the marking engine.

01

they moved to a Mac.

Best Authority is Windows-only — VSTO-based, so a Mac port isn't simple. Mac-first practices have spent years running it through Parallels or Crossover, or gone without. Veraciting is Mac-native.

02

their billing changed.

Per-document credits work well at high volume; less so for a solo who files four briefs a quarter and pays $260 in document fees. An annual subscription is easier to budget when you'd rather predict than meter.

03

they wanted verification.

Best Authority marks; it doesn't verify. v1.5 of Veraciting cross-checks every cite against the source. For lawyers who've been burned by a transposed digit (or are nervous about associate-drafted briefs), this is the reason.

what changes

a feature-by-feature read.

The honest version. Best Authority has been at this longer; some features are theirs. We've optimized for different things; some features are ours.

capabilityBest AuthorityVeraciting (v1.5)
marks every authority typeyesyes
idempotent re-markingyesyesnamespaced bookmarks
native Word TOA insertionyesyes
Use Passim thresholdyesyesconfigurable
category headers + custom rulesyesdeep customizationyesv1.5 has sensible defaults
TOC + cross-reference toolsyesv3+ roadmap
TOA hyperlinkingsince 2017v2 — court-aware
runs on MacnoWindows-onlyyesnative task pane
cite verification (hallucination flag)noyesv1.5
privacy posturelocal installlocal install + local verification index
pricing~$65/doc · bulk credits$79/year · unlimited
firm seats & admin consoleyesv2

Best Authority pricing reflects publicly-reported individual-purchase pricing as of 2024. Firm pricing is separate.

don't pick now

they coexist.

You don't have to decide on day one. Best Authority's marks and Veraciting's marks live in different namespaces inside the same .docx file — they don't fight, they don't overwrite, they don't get confused.

When Veraciting scans a brief that already has Best Authority marks, you'll see this in the pane: "6 cite marks aren't ours. Keep both, side-by-side?" The default is yes. You decide if and when to consolidate.

scan output · mixed marks
Best Authority marks
6 fields
Veraciting marks
21 fields
Ambiguous
0 fields
honest gaps

what you'll miss, briefly.

If you switch today and you're a power user, here's the short list of things Best Authority does that Veraciting doesn't (yet) — and what we plan to do about them.

v2 — coming

TOA hyperlinking.

Best Authority has had hyperlinked TOAs since 2017. Veraciting plans this for v2, with court-aware defaults built in from day one (Federal Circuit says no on appendix cites; we'll respect that automatically).

v2 — coming

firm seats & admin console.

v1 is individual-lawyer focused. Firms can deploy via M365 Admin Center today — but per-user pricing, billing, and seat management arrive with v2.

v3 — roadmap

TOC + cross-reference tools.

Best Authority's TOC tool is mature and feature-rich. We chose to lead with TOA + verification because that's where the leverage is for our audience; broader doc-management tools follow.

deliberate

deep custom-rule editor.

Best Authority lets advanced users author custom rules for unusual cite forms. v1.5's defaults cover ~98% of cite forms we see; the long-tail editor is on the roadmap. Email us your specific format if it's not covered.

try without committing

three ways to kick the tires.

~30 seconds

try the in-browser demo.

A sample petition, real cite patterns, real verification flags. Doesn't touch your machine.

~2 minutes

install the 14-day trial.

Full functionality, no card. Run it on a brief you already filed and compare to Best Authority's output.

~20 minutes

ask the founder.

If you're a firm or have a specific concern, schedule a call. We'll show you a scan on a brief you bring.

your next brief, marked and verified.

Install Veraciting. Keep Best Authority installed. Decide after a week.

Install — 14-day trial Try the demo first