Rethinking Legal Ops Skills: Generalists Versus Specialists — from abovethelaw.com by Silvie Tucker and Brandi Pack
This ongoing conversation highlights the changing demands on legal ops practitioners.

A thought-provoking discussion is unfolding in the legal operations community regarding one intriguing question: Should legal operations professionals strive to be generalists or specialists?

The conversation is timely as the marketplace consolidates and companies grapple with the best way to fill valuable and limited headcount allotments. It also highlights the evolving landscape of legal operations and the changing demands on its practitioners.

The Evolution of Legal Ops
Over the past decade, the field of legal operations has undergone significant transformation. Initially strictly focused on streamlining processes and reducing costs, the role has expanded to include various responsibilities driven by technological advancements and heightened industry expectations. Key areas of expansion include:


He added: “I have for long been of the view – for decades – that AI will be a vital tool in overcoming the access to justice challenge. Existing and emerging technologies are now very promising.”

Richard Susskind


In A First for Law Practice Management Platforms, Clio Rolls Out An Integrated E-Filing Service in Texas — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

Last October, during its annual Clio Cloud Conference, the law practice management company Clio announced its plan to roll out an e-filing service, called Clio File, during 2024, starting with Texas, which would make it the first law practice management platform with built-in e-filing. Today, it delivered on that promise, launching Clio File for e-filing in Texas courts.

“Lawyers can now seamlessly submit court documents directly from our flagship practice management product, Clio Manage, streamlining their workflows and simplifying the filing process,” said Chris Stock, vice president of legal content and migrations at Clio. “This is an exciting step in expanding the capabilities of our platform, providing a comprehensive solution for legal documents, from drafting to court filing.”


Just-Launched Quench Uses Gen AI to Bring Greater Speed and Accuracy to Medico-Legal Records Review — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

A cardiologist with a background in medical technology, computer science and artificial intelligence has launched a product for legal professionals and physician expert witnesses that targets the tedious task of reviewing and analyzing thousands of pages of medical records.

The product, Quench SmartChart, uses generative AI to streamline the medico-legal review process, enabling users to quickly extract, summarize and create chronologies from large, disorganized PDFs of medical records.

The product also includes a natural language chat feature, AskQuench, that lets users interact with and interrogate records to surface essential insights.

 

Emerging Trends in Legal Tech — from legaltalknetwork.com by Rob Joyner & Jared D. Correia

Remote Work Continues to Thrive
In recent years, many firms have adopted a “just make it happen” attitude toward virtual meetings, mobility, and remote work. This has enabled law firms to reevaluate the tools and training necessary for legal professionals to utilize technology effectively, improving upon the traditional in-office setup. When executed correctly, this approach can yield long-lasting benefits for the firm. Implementing a remote work policy can help firms access a global talent pool, reduce operational costs, and create a better work-life balance for their staff.

In a recent episode of Legal Toolkit, Rob Joyner, Senior Vice President of Business Development at Centerbase, and Jared D. Correia, Esq., CEO of Red Cave Law Firm Consulting, discuss the debate between remote and in-office work, as well as the latest advancements in AI and other essential legal technology.

 

From DSC:
I realize I lose a lot of readers on this Learning Ecosystems blog because I choose to talk about my faith and integrate scripture into these postings. So I have stayed silent on matters of politics — as I’ve been hesitant to lose even more people. But I can no longer stay silent re: Donald Trump.

I, too, fear for our democracy if Donald Trump becomes our next President. He is dangerous to our democracy.

Also, I can see now how Hitler came to power.

And look out other countries that Trump doesn’t like. He is dangerous to you as well.

He doesn’t care about the people of the United States (nor any other nation). He cares only about himself and gaining power. Look out if he becomes our next president. 


From Stefan Bauschard:

Unlimited Presidential power. According to Trump vs the US, the “President may not be prosecuted for exercising his core constitutional powers, and he is entitled to at least presumptive immunity from prosecution for his official acts.” Justice Sotomayor says this makes the President a “king.” This power + surveillance + AGI/autonomous weapons mean the President is now the most powerful king in the history of the world.

Democracy is only 200 years old.

 


Is Gen AI Creating A Divide Among Law Firms Of Haves and Have Nots? — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

It further seems to me that there is increasingly a divide in the use of generative AI between larger firms and smaller firms. Some will jump on me for saying that, because there are clearly smaller firms that are leading the pack in their development and use of generative AI. (I’m looking at you, Siskind Susser.) By the same token, there are larger firms that have locked their doors to generative AI.

But of the firms that are most openly incorporating generative AI into their workflows, they seem mostly to be larger firms. There is good reason for this. Larger firms have innovation officers and KM professionals and others on staff who are leading the charge on generative AI. Thanks to them, those firms are better equipped to survey the AI landscape and test products under controlled and secure conditions.


On LawNext: Cofounder Jason Tashea on the First Year and Uncertain Future of Georgetown’s First-of-Its-Kind Judicial Innovation Fellowship — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

Eighteen months ago, the first-of-its-kind Judicial Innovation Fellowship launched with the mission of embedding experienced technologists and designers within state, local, and tribal courts to develop technology-based solutions to improve the public’s access to justice. Housed within the Institute for Technology Law & Policy at Georgetown University Law Center, the program was designed to be a catalyst for innovation to enable courts to better serve the legal needs of the public.


Addendum on 6/24/24:

Legal AI Careers Prospects and Opportunities: Navigating the Future of Law — from lawfuel.com

The advances with generative AI tools open new career opportunities for lawyers, from legal tech consultants to junior lawyers supervising AI systems.

Institutions like Harvard Law School and Yale Law School are introducing courses that focus on AI’s implications in the legal field and such career oppotunities continue to arise.

Pursuing a career in Legal AI requires a unique blend of legal knowledge and technical skills. There are various educational pathways can equip aspiring professionals with these competencies.

 

Brazil hires OpenAI to cut costs of court battles — from reuters.com by Marcela Ayres and Bernardo Caram

BRASILIA, June 10 (Reuters) – Brazil’s government is hiring OpenAI to expedite the screening and analysis of thousands of lawsuits using artificial intelligence (AI), trying to avoid costly court losses that have weighed on the federal budget.

The AI service will flag to government the need to act on lawsuits before final decisions, mapping trends and potential action areas for the solicitor general’s office (AGU).


Gen AI Cut Lawyers’ Drafting Time in Half, UK’s Ashurst Says — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Isabel Gottlieb

The firm’s findings included:

  • Using generative AI tools, lawyers saved 45% of the time they said it would otherwise have taken them to write a first draft of a legal brief—about 2.5 hours saved per briefing draft, the firm said in a release. They also saved 80% of the time it would have taken them to draft UK corporate filings “requiring review and extraction of information from articles of association”; and 59% of the time it would have taken them to draft reports about industries and sectors using company filings.
  • Output produced by generative AI was at least as accurate, or legally correct, as a human lawyer’s first draft in 67% of cases. Human output had higher average scores for accuracy, and the AI content had greater variations than human-created content in how accurate it was.
  • The panel was unable to identify half of the AI-created output as coming from AI, but it made no mistakes on identifying human-created content.

 

 

AI candidate running for Parliament in the U.K. says AI can humanize politics — from nbcnews.com by Angela Yang and Daniele Hamamdjian; via The Rundown AI
Voters can talk to AI Steve, whose name will be on the ballot for the U.K.’s general election next month, to ask policy questions or raise concerns.

Commentary from The Rundown AI:

The Rundown: An AI-powered candidate named ‘AI Steve’ is running for U.K. Parliament in next month’s general election — creating polarizing questions around AI’s use in government affairs.

The details:

  • AI Steve is represented by businessman Steve Endacott and will appear as an independent candidate in the upcoming election.
  • Voters can interact with AI Steve online to ask policy questions and raise concerns or suggestions, which the AI will incorporate based on feedback.
  • If elected, Endacott will serve as AI Steve’s human proxy in Parliament, attending meetings and casting votes based on the AI’s constituent-driven platform.

Why it matters: The idea of an AI running for office might sound like a joke, but the tech behind it could actually help make our politicians more independent and (ironically) autonomous. AI-assisted governance is likely coming someday, but it’s probably still a bit too early to be taken seriously.

Also related, see:


From The Deep View:

The details: Hearing aids have employed machine learning algorithms for decades. But these algorithms historically have not been powerful enough to tackle the ‘cocktail party’ problem; they weren’t able to isolate a single voice in a loud, crowded room.

Dr. DeLiang Wang has been working on the problem for decades and has published numerous studies in recent years that explore the application of deep learning within hearing aids.

Last year, Google partnered up with a number of organizations to design personalized, AI-powered hearing aids.

Why it matters: Wang’s work has found that deep learning algorithms, running in real-time, could separate speech from background noises, “significantly” improving intelligibility in hearing-impaired people.
The tech is beginning to become publicly available, with brands like Phonak and Starkey leveraging deep learning and AI to enhance their hearing aids.



 

6 Ways State Policymakers Can Build More Future-Focused Education Systems — from gettingsmart.com by Jennifer Kabaker

Key Points

  • Guided by a vision – often captured as a Portrait of a Graduate – co-constructed with local leaders, community members, students, and families, state policymakers can develop policies that equitably and effectively support students and educators in transforming learning experiences.
  • The Aurora Institute highlights the importance of collaborative efforts in creating education systems that truly meet the diverse needs of every student.

The Aurora Institute has spent years working with states looking to advance competency-based systems, and has identified a set of key state policy levers that policymakers can put into action to build more personalized and competency-based systems. These shifts should be guided by a vision–co-constructed with local leaders, community members, students, and families–for what students need to know and be able to do upon graduating.


Career Pathways In A Rapidly Changing World: US Career Pathways Story — from gettingsmart.com by Paul Herdman

Key Points

  • There has been a move away from the traditional “Bachelor’s or Bust” mentality towards recognizing the value of diverse career pathways that may not necessarily require a four-year degree.
  • Local entities such as states, school districts, and private organizations have played a crucial role in implementing and scaling up career pathways programs.

While much has been written on this topic (see resources below), this post, in the context of our OECD study of five Anglophone countries, will attempt to provide a backdrop on what was happening at the federal level in the U.S. over the last several decades to help catalyze this shift in career pathways and offer a snapshot of how this work is evolving in two very different statesDelaware and Texas.


U.S. public, private and charter schools in 5 charts — from pewresearch.org by Katherine Schaeffer
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The Impact of Technology on Modern Legal Services — from smdailyjournal.com

In an ever-evolving digital landscape, the fusion of technology and legal services has ushered in a new era of efficiency, accessibility, and innovation. The traditional image of legal professionals buried in stacks of paperwork and endless research has been transformed by cutting-edge technologies that promise to revolutionize how legal services are delivered, accessed, and executed. From artificial intelligence to blockchain, cloud computing to automation, the impact of technology on modern legal services is palpable and profound.

Technology Trends Shaping Legal Services
The legal industry is experiencing a seismic shift driven by technology, with key trends reshaping legal services. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing legal research, document analysis, and predictive analytics, enabling legal professionals to streamline their workflow and deliver more accurate and timely insights to clients. Blockchain technology improves the safety and transparency of legal transactions, while cloud computing optimizes data storage and accessibility in the legal sector.


Clients Care About Legal Tech: Dig Into Legal Tech and Tech Related Careers. — from legaltalknetwork.com by Dan Lear and Adriana Linares
A new survey proves clients care about a lawyer’s tech skills. Hear about adding the latest tech and about emerging jobs in the legal tech field.

A new survey finds that clients care deeply about their attorney’s tech tools and tech skills. The numbers don’t lie: Legal tech matters. An efficient, integrated system is no longer “nice to have.” It’s table stakes, from case management to client communications to online filing and billing. 

 

 

Why children with disabilities are missing school and losing skills — from npr.org by Cory Turner

The fact that a district could struggle so mightily with special education staffing that students are missing school – that’s not just a Del Norte problem. A recent federal survey of school districts across the U.S. found special education jobs were among the hardest to staff – and vacancies were widespread. But what’s happening in Del Norte is extreme. Which is why the Lenovers and five other families are suing the school district, as well as state education leadership, with help from the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund.

The district sits hidden away like a secret between Oregon, the frigid Pacific and some of the largest redwood trees in the world. It’s too isolated and the pay is not competitive enough, Harris says, to attract workers from outside Del Norte. Locally, these aides – like the one Emma requires – earn about as much as they would working at McDonald’s.

 

Voice Banks (preserving our voices for AI) — from thebrainyacts.beehiiv.com by Josh Kubicki

The Ethical and Emotional Implications of AI Voice Preservation

Legal Considerations and Voice Rights
From a legal perspective, the burgeoning use of AI in voice cloning also introduces a complex web of rights and permissions. The recent passage of Tennessee’s ELVIS Act, which allows legal action against unauthorized recreations of an artist’s voice, underscores the necessity for robust legal frameworks to manage these technologies. For non-celebrities, the idea of a personal voice bank brings about its own set of legal challenges. How do we regulate the use of an individual’s voice after their death? Who holds the rights to control and consent to the usage of these digital artifacts?

To safeguard against misuse, any system of voice banking would need stringent controls over who can access and utilize these voices. The creation of such banks would necessitate clear guidelines and perhaps even contractual agreements stipulating the terms under which these voices may be used posthumously.

Should we all consider creating voice banks to preserve our voices, allowing future generations the chance to interact with us even after we are gone?

 

The Digital Transformation Journey: Lessons For Lawyers Embracing AI — from abovethelaw.com by Olga V. Mack
The journey from the days of leather-bound law books to the digital age — and now toward an AI-driven future — offers valuable lessons for embracing change.

No One Will Miss The ‘Good Old Days’
I have yet to meet a lawyer nostalgic for the days of manually updating law reports or sifting through stacks of books for a single precedent. The convenience, speed, and breadth of digital research tools have made the practice of law more efficient and effective. As we move further into the AI era, the enhancements in predictive analytics, document automation, and legal research will make the “good old days” of even the early digital age seem quaint. The efficiencies and capabilities AI brings to the table are likely to become just as indispensable as online databases are today.

The Way We ‘Law’ Will Change For The Better
The ultimate goal of integrating AI into legal practice isn’t just to replace old methods with new ones; it’s to enhance our ability to serve justice, increase access to legal services, and improve the quality of our work. AI promises to automate mundane tasks, predict legal outcomes with greater accuracy, and unearth insights from vast data. These advancements will free us to focus more on the nuanced, human aspects of law — strategy, empathy, and ethical judgment.


AI to Help Double Legal Tech Market Over Five Years, Gartner Says — from news.bloomberglaw.com by Isabel Gottlieb (behind a paywall)

  • Tech to take up a bigger share of in-house legal spend
  • Generative AI boom has much longer to run

The legal tech market will expand to $50 billion by 2027, driven by the generative artificial intelligence boom, according to an analysis by market research firm Gartner Inc.

That growth, up from about $23 billion in 2022, will be driven by continued law firm spending on AI legal tech, as well as in-house departments allocating more of their overall budgets to technology, said Chris Audet, chief of research in Gartner’s legal, risk and compliance leaders practice. The market size prediction, released publicly on Thursday, comes from a late-2023 analysis for Gartner clients, and the 2022 market size comes from …


Legal Tech Market To See Huge Lift Off Thanks to GenAI — from digit.fyi by Elizabeth Greenberg

The global legal technology market has grown significantly in recent years and generative AI (GenAI) will accelerate this growth, meaning the market will reach $50 billion in value by 2027, according to Gartner.

“GenAI has huge potential for bringing more automation to the legal space,” said Chris Audet, chief of research in the Gartner for legal, risk & compliance leaders practice.

“Rapid GenAI developments, and the widespread availability of consumer tools such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT and Google’s Bard, will quickly increase the number of established legal technology use cases, in turn creating growing market conditions for an increasing number of legal-focused tools.”

“New technologies can fundamentally change the way legal organizations do business, and GenAI has enormous potential to do this,” an analyst at Gartner said.


Revolutionizing Legal Tech in 48 Hours — from law.stanford.edu by Monica Schreiber
At CodeX Hackathon, SLS Students Help Create Award-Winning AI Tools to Help Veterans and Streamline M&A

Disabled veterans seeking to file claims with the Veterans Administration are faced with multiple hurdles and reams of paperwork. Many vets resort to paying third-party companies thousands of dollars to help them with the process.

What if there were a way to streamline the claims process—to condense burdensome information gathering and data inputting into a linear, simplified set of tasks guided by a chatbot? How long would it take to roll out a tool that could accomplish that?

The answer: about 48 hours—at least for an interdisciplinary team of students from Stanford University’s schools of Law, Business, and Computer Science collaborating feverishly during Codex’s Large Language Model (LLM) Hackathon held recently on campus.


What If Your Law Firm Had A Blank Page For Legal Tech? — from artificiallawyer.com

f law firms had a blank page for legal technology and innovation, what would they do?

While organisations across all sectors are getting to grips with the opportunities and risks posed by genAI, forward-thinking law firm leaders are considering what it means for their businesses – today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow.

But some firms remain constrained by yesterday, due to legacy processes, ways of working and mindsets. To create the conditions for change, firms need to adopt a ‘blank page’ approach and review all areas of their businesses by asking: if we were starting afresh, how would we design the organisation to future-proof it to achieve transformative growth with genAI at the core?

From DSC:
This sentence reminds me of the power of culture:

But some firms remain constrained by yesterday, due to legacy processes, ways of working and mindsets.


Fresh Voices on Legal Tech with Sarah Glassmeyer — from legaltalknetwork.com by Dennis Kennedy, Tom Mighell, and Sarah Glassmeyer

What if, instead of tech competence being this scary, overwhelming thing, we showed lawyers how to engage with technology in a more lighthearted, even playful, way? The reality is—tech competency doesn’t have an endpoint, but the process of continuous learning shouldn’t be dull and confusing. Sarah Glassmeyer joins Dennis and Tom to talk about her perspectives on technology education for attorneys, the latest trends in the legal tech world and new AI developments, and growing your knowledge of technology by building on small skills, one at a time.
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How Legal Technology Can Add Value to an M&A Practice — from lexology.com

Following is a primer on some of the A.I.-driven legal technologies, from contract review and automated due-diligence solutions to deal collaboration and closing-management tools, that can drive productivity and efficiency during the four phases of an M&A transaction, as well as enhance market insight and client service.

 

Addressing equity and ethics in artificial intelligence — from apa.org by Zara Abrams
Algorithms and humans both contribute to bias in AI, but AI may also hold the power to correct or reverse inequities among humans

“The conversation about AI bias is broadening,” said psychologist Tara Behrend, PhD, a professor at Michigan State University’s School of Human Resources and Labor Relations who studies human-technology interaction and spoke at CES about AI and privacy. “Agencies and various academic stakeholders are really taking the role of psychology seriously.”


NY State Bar Association Joins Florida and California on AI Ethics Guidance – Suggests Some Surprising Implications — from natlawreview.com by James G. Gatto

The NY State Bar Association (NYSBA) Task Force on Artificial Intelligence has issued a nearly 80 page report (Report) and recommendations on the legal, social and ethical impact of artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI on the legal profession. This detailed Report also reviews AI-based software, generative AI technology and other machine learning tools that may enhance the profession, but which also pose risks for individual attorneys’ understanding of new, unfamiliar technology, as well as courts’ concerns about the integrity of the judicial process. It also makes recommendations for NYSBA adoption, including proposed guidelines for responsible AI use. This Report is perhaps the most comprehensive report to date by a state bar association. It is likely this Report will stimulate much discussion.

For those of you who want the “Cliff Notes” version of this report, here is a table that summarizes by topic the various rules mentioned and a concise summary of the associated guidance.

The Report includes four primary recommendations:


 

 

 

Colin Levy Discusses His New Book The Legal Tech Ecosystem & the Skills Needed to Succeed in Legal Tech — from tlpodcast.com by Chad Main

In the latest episode, legal tech guru and Head of Legal at contract lifecycle management company Malbek, Colin Levy, discusses his journey into legal tech and insights from his new book “The Legal Tech Ecosystem“. His book is a plainly written look into the legal tech field, emphasizing practical tools over AI hype and underscoring the importance of adaptability, risk-taking, and continuous learning in this evolving industry.

Also see:


Virtual Legal Advising: Mastering Business and Property Matters Online — from ventsmagazine.com by Abdus Subhan

Digital transformation has dominated every industry, the legal industry has not been left behind. Virtual law, or providing legal services through online platforms, has emerged as a vital resource for individuals and businesses alike. This article explores the idea of online professional legal advice, focusing on business and property matters. It serves as a thorough guide to navigating legal issues in these domains with the aid of virtual law.


 

 

Dr Abigail Rekas, Lawyer & Lecturer at the School of Law, University of Galway

Abigail is a lecturer on two of the Law micro-credentials at University of Galway – Lawyering Technology & Innovation and Law & Analytics. Micro-credentials are short, flexible courses designed to fit around your busy life! They are designed in collaboration with industry to meet specific skills needs and are accredited by leading Irish universities.

Visit: universityofgalway.ie/courses/micro-credentials/


The Implications of Generative AI: From the Delivery of Legal Services to the Delivery of Justice — from iaals.du.edu by

The potential for AI’s impact is broad, as it has the ability to impact every aspect of human life, from home to work. It will impact our relationships to everything and everyone in our world. The implications for generative AI on the legal system, from how we deliver legal services to how we deliver justice, will be just as far reaching.

[N]ow we face the latest technological frontier: artificial intelligence (AI).… Law professors report with both awe and angst that AI apparently can earn Bs on law school assignments and even pass the bar exam. Legal research may soon be unimaginable without it. AI obviously has great potential to dramatically increase access to key information for lawyers and non-lawyers alike. But just as obviously it risks invading privacy interests and dehumanizing the law.

When you can no longer sell the time it takes to achieve a client’s outcome, then you must sell the outcome itself and the client’s experience of getting there. That completely changes the dynamics of what law firms are all about.


Preparing the Next Generation of Tech-Ready Lawyers — from news.gsu.edu
Legal Analytics and Innovation Initiative Gives Students a Competitive Advantage

Georgia State University College of Law faculty understand this need and designed the Legal Analytics & Innovation Initiative (LAII) to equip students with the competitive skills desired by law firms and other companies that align with the emerging technological environment.

“As faculty, we realized we need to be forward-thinking about incorporating technology into our curriculum. Students must understand new areas of law that arise from or are significantly altered by technological advances, like cybersecurity, privacy and AI. They also must understand how these advances change the practice of law,” said Kris Niedringhaus, associate dean for Law Library, Information Services, Legal Technology & Innovation.


The Imperative Of Identifying Use Cases In Legal Tech: A Guiding Light For Innovation In The Age Of AI — from abovethelaw.com by Olga V. Mack
In the quest to integrate AI and legal technology into legal practice, use cases are not just important but indispensable.

As the legal profession continues to navigate the waters of digital transformation, the importance of use cases stands as a beacon guiding the journey. They are the litmus test for the practical value of technology, ensuring that innovations not only dazzle with potential but also deliver tangible benefits. In the quest to integrate AI and legal technology into legal practice, use cases are not just important but indispensable.

The future of legal tech is not about technology for technology’s sake. It’s about thoughtful, purpose-driven innovation that enhances the practice of law, improves client outcomes, and upholds the principles of justice. Use cases are the roadmap for this future, charting a course for technology that is meaningful, impactful, and aligned with the noble pursuit of law.

 

The 2024 Lawdragon 100 Leading AI & Legal Tech Advisors — from lawdragon.com by Katrina Dewey

These librarians, entrepreneurs, lawyers and technologists built the world where artificial intelligence threatens to upend life and law as we know it – and are now at the forefront of the battles raging within.

To create this first-of-its-kind guide, we cast a wide net with dozens of leaders in this area, took submissions, consulted with some of the most esteemed gurus in legal tech. We also researched the cases most likely to have the biggest impact on AI, unearthing the dozen or so top trial lawyers tapped to lead the battles. Many of them bring copyright or IP backgrounds and more than a few are Bay Area based. Those denoted with an asterisk are members of our Hall of Fame.
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Free Legal Research Startup descrybe.ai Now Has AI Summaries of All State Supreme and Appellate Opinions — from lawnext.com by Bob Ambrogi

descrybe.ai, a year-old legal research startup focused on using artificial intelligence to provide free and easy access to court opinions, has completed its goal of creating AI-generated summaries of all available state supreme and appellate court opinions from throughout the United States.

descrybe.ai describes its mission as democratizing access to legal information and leveling the playing field in legal research, particularly for smaller-firm lawyers, journalists, and members of the public.


 
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