I do not typically write about new feature releases. I am interested in legal technology only in so far as it can improve the lives of lawyers, and tech companies will hate me for saying this, but new features rarely, if ever, make your lives better. But today, I am going to make an exception, because Casetext’s new feature CARA would have really come in handy when I was a Biglaw associate. It would have made my life better. In fact, had CARA existed I might still be in Biglaw, and that is saying something because I wasn’t even a litigator.
Now, if you’re not into war stories, you can skip to the conversation below with Casetext’s CEO Jake Heller. Jake is a former Biglaw litigator who had the idea to make legal research open source. What does that mean? Well, instead of having one single company like Lexis or Westlaw pay people to tell you what cases are up to date or good law, Jake had the idea to open up “shepardizing” to lawyers who would do it free of charge. If you now want to know more about the story behind Casetext, I highly recommend checking out this short but sweet interview he did with one of my favorite lawyer-turned-programmers, Will Ha, and this interview he did back in 2013 with Bob Ambrogi.
Now back to my story.
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There is a crazy partner who works at my old firm. Trust me, based on that description alone, everyone at my old firm knows who I am referencing. By some luck, I actually got along with this partner quite well (fear of insane reprisal was a great motivator), and I got pulled into several of this partner’s deals early in my career. Another partner at my firm even told me that “crazy partner” had sang my praises at a partner meeting. Again, shocking, I know.
But, then one evening, I was given a research assignment about something involving activist shareholders and board members (excuse me if I have blocked out some of the details), and “crazy partner” was sure there was a ton of case law on the topic.
There wasn’t.
I stayed up the entire night, got on the phone with reps at both Lexis and Westlaw, but all we could find was one measly case: Red Zone LLC v. Six Flags Inc. (don’t ask me how I remember that). After “crazy partner” threw me off the deal (and never wanted to work with me again), the next associate came up with the same exact results. No apology from “crazy partner” just a(nother) chink in the armor of my reputation at the firm.
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You see, what I needed, and what so many associates doing research really need, is a simple way to confirm that you haven’t missed any cases. Legal research is still a very human process, prone to both human error and human anxiety. Enter Casetext’s new feature CARA. Using CARA, you can submit your brief with a simple drag-and-drop, and using machine learning, CARA will tell you whether opinions, articles or other briefs that cite those cases also cite other important cases. The thought of doing hours of legal research, only to find out that you missed an important case is the kind of thing that keeps lawyers up at night. CARA is the first tool I know of (and please email me if there are other tools I should know about that do this) that can double check your legal research. Had CARA existed back in my day, I would have been able to show with some certainty that there were no other cases addressing this issue.
Want to know the story behind CARA and how you can use it at your firm? Follow along as I discuss with Casetext’s founder Jake Heller. As always, these aren’t live chats that take place over a set time, they are real-life conversations, so for the best consuming experience, drop your email in below, follow along and stay up to date.
Zach Abramowitz is a former Biglaw associate and currently CEO and co-founder of ReplyAll. You can follow Zach on Twitter (@zachabramowitz) or reach him by email at [email protected].