“Bad news is a headline, and gradual improvement is not.”
Bill Gates
All too often, those of us in the legal tech writing community report on things that won’t happen but should, things that aren’t being adopted but should be, or things that are outright failures. This tendency is particularly true when it comes to access to justice issues. We often cite the failure of technology to make any dent in the problem.
Granted, we have a serious access to justice gap that may get worse before it gets better.
But as I have written before, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about the good things that are going on that do impact access to justice for the underprivileged and, for that matter, everyone. I recently wrote about New York City’s use of AI to help people in various small and doable ways. I recently came across another tool called descrybe.ai that is doing the same.
descrybe.AI
So here is the official description of descrybe.ai: descrybe.ai is a free, AI-powered legal research platform whose stated goal is to democratize access to legal information. It utilizes generative AI to summarize over 3.6 million judicial opinions and other materials from the Harvard Caselaw Access Project, making them searchable and understandable for users without requiring specialized legal knowledge.
descrybe.ai was launched in the summer of 2023. A new and improved version was launched in October of last year.
What descrybe.AI Is, Really
The above official version is nice. But to get a real sense of the company you need to hear from its founders Kara Peterson and Richard DiBona. Kara focuses on marketing and business development, while Richard handles the technical aspects of the platform.
Its advisors some of the biggest names in legal tech including Dazza Greenwood, Dr. Megan Ma, Rebecca Fordon, and Sean Harrington. descrypre.ai is entered in this year’s TechShow put on by the American Bar Association (ABA) where Kara will be giving multiple presentations. Kara was also named an ABA Woman of Legal Tech for 2024.
Together, they are gloriously passionate about their aim to make legal information more accessible to everyone through the use of AI-powered tools. I recently got to talk to Kara and Rich about descrybe.ai, what it does, their vision, and who it helps.
Kara and Rich emphasized to me that they are trying to open up legal research to more people. Kara and Rich are committed to making sure their product is used for good: “We actually really believe in the access to justice stuff. It’s not just a, it’s not just BS. So the thought was that we build trust around us, and l find this different space in the market that nobody’s really playing in”.
The goal is to make legal research more accessible, especially for individuals without formal legal training, by providing tools that simplify and clarify complex legal information.
What Descrybe.ai Can Do
As a result, descrybe.ai is a natural language search tool. In keeping with the goal of reaching as many people as possible, users can input queries in plain English or Spanish without needing exact legal terminology.
The tool not only provides detailed responses but also provides plain language interpretations of the detailed responses
The platform then retrieves relevant case law based on the input. Each judicial opinion is accompanied by an AI-generated summary, again available in both English and Spanish. It retrieves information from every court case in the country. But it allows users to select specific states for their legal research.
The tool not only provides detailed responses but also provides plain language interpretations of the detailed responses. From looking at the demo, the tool appears to be user-friendly.
Kara was careful to point out that descrybe.ai does not offer legal advice but is designed to get basic information to people who need it. “the idea is that this is the case law that’s out there in the world for us to get at. And as we all know, it’s really, really hard for average people or even just, you know, legal aid personnel or those who are incarcerated. It’s really hard to get at this.”
It’s Free, Yes Free
The first thing that struck me about the tool is that right now, it’s free. Yes, free. Anyone can go to the descrybe.ai site and start using it.
That’s not surprising, considering the mission of descrybe.ai. Kara told me, “We were just going to put it out to the world, make it free to show how good it is and how much we believe in this.”
If its free, how do you make any money to sustain the platform?
I asked Kara and Rich the obvious question: if its free, how do you make any money to sustain the platform? Kara and Rich plan to offer more sophisticated tools on top of the data, for which they may charge a nominal amount. But according to Kara, “We will always be affordable because that’s part of our ethos.” And as far as the basic platform, Kara says, “We’re committed to having this base search always be free.”
The Simple Language Option
Based on their discussions with people in legal aid, incarcerated individuals, and elsewhere, Kara and Rich discovered they needed to offer a simplified version of the responses at roughly a fifth-grade reading level. This option provides an explanation of legal concepts in simple, straight forward terms.
I put this tool to the test by asking it for Kentucky cases dealing with the definition of the rule against perpetuities (a rule I never really understood by the way).
Here is a portion of the not so simple response:
The Rule against Perpetuities is a common law principle used to regulate the timing of property interests. It is not merely a construction rule but a legal requirement that applies even if it prevents the testator’s express intentions from being realized. The focus of the rule is on the commencement of property limitations rather than their termination.
Here’s the simplified version:
The Rule against Perpetuities is a law that helps decide how long someone can control property after they die.
Voila! I get it. I like this option.
The Users
Another interesting point, according to Kara, is that the tool is being used not only by lay people but by lawyers as well. “when we first started, we kind of thought like this would be a direct consumer play, but it’s also attorneys who are really using it.”
Lawyers often use the tool to get basic information that enables them to provide advice. Kara described it this way, “if you’re a lawyer and somebody walks through your door and they ask who’s liable if an employee injures a customer in my store, you may not know that off the top of my head, but you could type that in instantly here and find relevant information instantly. What we’re finding is it’s actually really being adopted a lot by legal professionals more than just individual users”.
They have also found that the simple language option appeals to lawyers and legal professionals who use the tool. The simplified version helps lawyers explain legal concepts to their clients without the use of jargon and highfalutin language.
Who Can Use descrybe.ai?
Anyone can access and use descrybe.ai. There’s no sign in. You don’t have to provide your name or email. You just plug in an inquiry and away you go.
I call it access to law rather than access to justice. Access to law is a part of the access to justice continuum
Given that the company’s goal is to provide legal information to people who might not otherwise be able to get it, I wondered whether descrvby.ai considered qualifying the people who could use the tool. Kara’s response was interesting: “All our products are simple, straightforward, and user friendly. Figuring out the ones that are in and the ones that aren’t is complex. We’re going to make it affordable and we’re not going to make it complicated.
Access to Law: an Access to Justice Cornerstone
Descrybe.ai isn’t the be all and end all solution to the A2J problem. It’s not intended to be. But it’s a start and a good start.
Kara put it the best, “I call it access to law rather than access to justice. Access to law is a part of the access to justice continuum. So, we just keep finding ways to open up this information.”