© 2026 Bonne Foi & Pree Walia. All rights reserved.
Partner with us. We are looking for anchor firms eager to incubate* Bonne Foi. Learn more → * Think of it as an Entrepreneur in Residence or an A2J Founder in Residence program.
Les Planches

The Plates

Every patent-inspired figure, and what each number means.

Fig. 0 · to · Fig. 9

These figures are patent-inspired, drawn in the manner of a patent, though none was ever filed. That language is not decoration. Bonne Foi’s founder is an inventor, lead inventor on more than ten utility patents across hardware, computer vision, and software. When she hit a legal system she could not navigate, calling firm after firm to scout a single lawyer, and getting no calls back, she did what an inventor does. She reverse-engineered it: read the statutes, drafted her own documents, became her own infrastructure, and concluded there had to be a better way. These plates are that instinct turned on the law itself.

A patent’s drawings carry numbered reference numerals, and a legend tells you what each one is. These are ours. In the ordinary way, the numbering restarts with each figure, the same numeral may mean a different part in a different plate.

Fig. 0La rose des vents de la bonne foi · The compass rose of good faith

A compass rose crowned by a fleur-de-lis, pirate navigation under the flag of France and of New Orleans. The mark the Declaration sails under.

23.83 mi FIG. 1
Fig. 1Le pont de la bonne foi · The bridge of good faith

The Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, twenty-three and eighty-three hundredths of a mile, the longest bridge over water, drawn as a blueprint. The figure for the bridge Bonne Foi builds: from “do I even need a lawyer?” to a contacted one. Its only annotation is the span itself.

1012141618 FIG. 2
Fig. 2La balance de la bonne foi · The scales of good faith

The scales the founder consults when she asks whether a matter belongs on the civil side, and whether Bonne Foi can honestly route it. Balance held by good faith; base grounded in Louisiana law.

10
the base, the ground the law stands on
12
the standard, the upright that holds everything true
14
the beam, the law itself: level, or it is nothing
16
the pans, the two parties, weighed as equals
18
the plummet at the crown, good faith, the needle that reads true
30323436 FIG. 3
Fig. 3Le navire de la bonne foi · The ship of good faith

The ship Bonne Foi sails under. Justice on the mainsail. Numerals 30 to 36 rather than the usual 10 to 16 because she flies her own colors.

30
the mainsail, justice, carried by the wind (it bears the scales)
32
the masthead, the standard she sails under
34
the foresail, the crew who move her
36
the hull, what keeps her afloat in open water
Art. 1759. Good faith shall govern the conduct of the obligor and the obligee in whatever pertains to the obligation. [Acts 1984, No. 331, §1, eff. Jan. 1, 1985] Art. 1759. La bonne foi doit régir le comportement du débiteur et du créancier dans tout ce qui a trait à l'obligation. [Loi de 1984, n° 331, §1, en vigueur le 1er janv. 1985] Société de législation comparée Paris · 2017 10 12 14 16 FIG. 4
Fig. 4Le Code · The Code

The bilingual Louisiana Civil Code, the 1808 tradition reunited in the 2017 edition of the Société de législation comparée.

10
the spine, the bridge between two languages
12
the English page, the official text
14
the French page, the tradition
16
Article 1759, bonne foi
18 Shreveport Ruston Monroe Alexandria Lake Charles Lafayette Baton Rouge La Nouvelle-Orléans 10121416 FIG. 5
Fig. 5Le dix-huitième état · The eighteenth state

Louisiana, traced from survey data. The eighteenth state entered the Union in 1812 and refused the common law; it kept the civil code.

10
La Nouvelle-Orléans
12
Baton Rouge
14
le fleuve Mississippi, the river
16
le delta, dissolving into the Gulf
IN COMMERCE susceptible of private ownership HORS COMMERCE not for sale The land taken before it was sold* The retainer between her and safety The billable hour consumed by intake The infrastructure built to stay within reach The passage the port was open Bonne foi a birthright Bon secours a birth responsibility Bonne grâce both The law itself written for the people Standing the right to be heard A story offered freely A soul, a person, a mind, a body l'âme est hors commerce 10121416 FIG. 6
Fig. 6Hors commerce · Outside of commerce

A survey line between what may be owned and what may not. Left, the things in commerce; right, the things that are hors commerce, insusceptible of private ownership.

10
Bonne foi, a birthright
12
Bon secours, a birth responsibility
14
Bonne grâce, both
16
a soul, a person, a mind, a body, l’âme est hors commerce
Baton Rouge Jackson Mobile Biloxi La Nouvelle-Orléans LOUISIANA MISS. ALA. FLA. TEXAS 1012 FIG. 7
Fig. 7Le Golfe Sud · The Gulf South

The region, with Louisiana in full detail and her neighbors drawn lighter. The dashed line runs the coast across every border: the storms do not honor any of them.

10
La Nouvelle-Orléans
12
Baton Rouge
FIG. 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 PELECANUS OCCIDENTALIS Le Pélican dans sa piété L'âme est hors commerce. Not for sale. Louisiana C.C. Art. 449
Fig. 8Le Pélican dans sa piété · The pelican in her piety

Pelecanus occidentalis, the brown pelican, Louisiana’s emblem, tearing her own breast to feed her young. The figure for bon secours, the duty to aid.

10
the head, bowed to her young
12
the throat, what she tears open
14
the breast, pierced to feed them (the duty to aid)
16
the left wing, spread wide
18
the right wing, spread wide
20
the nest she defends
22
the blood, falling to the young
24
the left talon, gripping the nest
26
the right talon, gripping the nest
BEFORE FIRM AID CLINIC COURT DATA PERSON 10 bespoke wiring AFTER FIRM AID CLINIC COURT DATA PERSON 12 the outlet 14 the field La prise universelle FIG. 9
Fig. 9La prise universelle · The universal outlet

Before, and after. The old world of point-to-point integrations, each pair wired separately, and the new one, where the person, the firm, the aid organization, the clinic, the court, and the public data all plug into a single outlet. The MCP layer for access to justice infrastructure. What a nonprofit builds, so no one has to build it again.

10
the bespoke wiring, one integration at a time
12
the outlet, the standard plug, the protocol
14
the field, plugged in, on equal terms
FIG. 10. Two named storms, one coastline. A schematic of the Gulf Coast. The present coast (10) runs from Texas across Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Gulf (12) lies below it and the ca. 1930s shoreline (14) is drawn seaward of the present one, showing how much land has been lost. Two storm tracks (16) rise out of the Gulf. Arthur comes ashore on the Texas coast on June 17 (18). Bertha comes ashore in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana on July 22 (20), then tracks west to a second landfall near the Texas line on July 23 (22). TXLAMSAL 10141216182022 FIG. 10
Fig. 10La côte et les tempêtes · The coast and the storms

The Gulf South coastline from Texas to Alabama with the tracks of the two named storms that hit before August 2026. Arthur made landfall near Matagorda County, Texas, in June. Bertha made first landfall in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana, on July 22nd, then tracked west to the Texas-Louisiana border. The dashed line marks the approximate 1930s shoreline. The shaded area represents land lost to the Gulf.

10
the coast, as it runs today
12
the Gulf
14
the shoreline, ca. 1930s
16
storm track
18
Arthur, landfall, June 17
20
Bertha, first landfall, July 22
22
Bertha, second landfall, July 23
CielMerTerre The storms do not pick one domain. FIG. 11
Fig. 11Terre, Mer, et Ciel · Land, Sea, and Sky

The three domains of the Gulf South. Ciel: the air above the refineries and chemical plants, carbon markets, climate attribution, the electrical grid. Mer: the fisheries, the oyster beds, the shrimp boats, maritime rights, the Deepwater Horizon legacy. Terre: the marsh grasses, the houses, the pipelines, the facilities, the hors commerce commons. The storms cross all three, and so do the legal questions.

10
Ciel: air permits, carbon markets, attribution, the grid
12
Mer: fisheries and maritime, restoration permitting
14
Terre: property going under, coastal retreat, hors commerce

Every mark is drawn in good faith.

Read the mission  ·  The declaration  ·  The Gulf South  ·  bonnefoi.org

Back to home