noslegal v4 —
taxonomy & guide

An open source classification scheme, designed for legal services providers, legal departments and software companies. Use it to describe the purpose and key characteristics of legal work, its participants and artifacts. Simple, practical, international and flexible.

8 facets Apache 2.0 licence May 2026

Taxonomy facets

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Facet 1
Work types
Classify by purpose irrespective of area of law, sector or place. Eight categories each with types and topics.
Core · 1 extension pack→
Facet 2
Areas of law
33 categories of law both general and sectoral, each with types and topics. Use in conjunction with work types and such other facets as are relevant.
General · Sectoral · 2 extensions→
Facet 3
Participants
The persons, property and obligations typically involved in legal work. Concepts for who and what is at stake.
Core · 2 extension packs→
Claimant Defendant Buyer Seller
Facet 4
Roles
The position of a party in a matter, template or artifact. Linked with particular work types and areas of law for practical usefulness.
Core→
Facet 5
Sectors
Areas of economic activity. A two-level scheme based around and expressly mapped to the European Union NACE scheme which in turn is based on the United Nations ISIC scheme.
Core · 2 extension packs→
Facet 6
Places
Geographic and jurisdictional dimensions of a matter. Built on ISO 3166 with legal enhancements: legal system types, 55 international organisation memberships, and super-regions (EMEA, AMER, APAC). The largest facet by concept count.
Core · 10 extension packs→
Facet 7
Process elements
Core vocabulary for describing and managing legal work, plus process maps for particular work types. Foundational for legal project management and pricing.
Glossary · Process maps→
Facet 8
Information types
Types of information plus concepts for describing its use, status and audience. A simple but powerful way to classify what you have along multiple practical dimensions.
Core · 3 extension packs→