{
  "question": "q09",
  "model_1": "DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731-UD-IQ4_XS",
  "model_2": "Qwen3.5-27B-UD-Q6_K_XL",
  "answer_a_was": "DeepSeek-V4-Flash-0731-UD-IQ4_XS",
  "answer_b_was": "Qwen3.5-27B-UD-Q6_K_XL",
  "verdict_code": "TIE",
  "winner": "TIE",
  "judge_model": "openai/gpt-5.6-sol",
  "server_model": "openai/gpt-5.6-sol",
  "provider": "OpenAI",
  "finish_reason": "stop",
  "usage": {
    "prompt_tokens": 9045,
    "completion_tokens": 3590,
    "total_tokens": 12635,
    "cost": 0.1642275,
    "is_byok": false,
    "prompt_tokens_details": {
      "cached_tokens": 0,
      "cache_write_tokens": 9042,
      "audio_tokens": 0,
      "video_tokens": 0
    },
    "cost_details": {
      "upstream_inference_cost": 0.1642275,
      "upstream_inference_prompt_cost": 0.0565275,
      "upstream_inference_completions_cost": 0.1077
    },
    "completion_tokens_details": {
      "reasoning_tokens": 3106,
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  "eval_prompt_sha256": "7e58b951cb86e4deba3b60fd01e9b9bd247ebe9883e1c9e43b24acffb1fd4667",
  "provenance_date": "2026-08-05",
  "report": "TIE, FUNCTIONALLY EQUIVALENT.\n\nBasis. Both answers place Northstar on the same material path: acknowledge the January 5 preservation duty and subsequent failures, pursue replacement evidence, oppose severe sanctions and blanket imaging absent the required findings, use targeted discovery, and enforce the clawback order. Answer B contains overstatements, but ordinary verification against the supplied record and governing rules neutralizes them without changing those actions or the client’s demonstrated outcome.\n\n[B] rejected: “Plaintiff has suffered no material prejudice” because the critical substance was preserved — record lacks evidence that two text screenshots and partial Slack exports replace the missing message sets.\n[B] rejected: the vice president’s conduct “is attributed to Northstar” — governing law makes attribution dependent on authority, purpose, and the company’s response.\n[B] rejected: plaintiff questioned a witness about the memorandum after the clawback notice — record contradicts this timing; the questioning preceded notice.\n[B] rejected: Northstar failed to identify nontraditional-channel risks until too late — record contradicts this with IT’s January 9 Slack warning.\n[B] rejected: the vice president preserved some records — record identifies the whistleblower, not the vice president, as preserving the screenshots.\n[B] rejected: memorandum date of October 26, 2023 — record lacks any date for the memorandum.\n\nFailed candidates. Breadth of immediate preservation steps — different conduct failed because B identifies the continuing duty, omitted sources, and need for targeted preservation, leaving no demonstrated divergence under ordinary professional judgment.\nFailed candidates. Prejudice characterization — no safe neutralization failed because B’s categorical position is directly rejected from the supplied record.\nFailed candidates. Monetary-sanctions posture — concrete consequence failed because the record does not establish that conceding or opposing reasonable fees produces a better financial or legal result.\nFailed candidates. Vice-president attribution — no safe neutralization failed because the governing rule directly supplies the omitted qualification.\nFailed candidates. General-counsel deposition strategy — different conduct failed because both permit only preservation-related factual discovery while protecting privileged legal advice.\nFailed candidates. Disclosure of additional failures — concrete consequence failed because no different disclosure-related sanction or loss is demonstrated.\nFailed candidates. Pre-notice use of the memorandum — different conduct failed because both answers seek return, exclusion, and cessation of use.\n\nHard stop. It cannot be completed with a concrete, record-supported consequence.",
  "judge_reasoning": "",
  "_public_record": {
    "type": "published record",
    "policy": "../../PUBLIC_RECORD_POLICY.md",
    "transformations": [
      "non-substantive machine metadata normalized",
      "published-record annotation added"
    ],
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      "verdict code",
      "winner mapping",
      "A/B assignment",
      "model and judge identifiers",
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}