a method for legal knowledge modeling and automated legal evaluation , such as for online , questionnaire - based legal analysis , is provided . information , such as facts and characteristics of a legal situation or legal scenario , as it relates to a legal conclusion or a legal result , in addition to the probabilities of such conclusions or results , are modeled in a bayesian network . the bayesian network may comprise instantiable nodes , fault nodes , intermediary nodes , a utility node and decision nodes . the bayesian network is automatically updated on a periodic basis to reflect new legislation or court decisions . using bayesian inference , the conditional probability of a legal conclusion based on a user &# 39 ; s answers to a questionnaire may be determined . these conditional probabilities are modified upon the input of evidence , which is typically in the form of answers to a dynamic set of questions designed to identify a legal conclusion or a legal result .