Bench & Bar January/February 2026

LAW PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

AT LAST: AN AFFORDABLE AI TOOL FOR SMALL LAW* BY STEPHEN EMBRY

I often hear from lawyers and legal profes sionals from small or solo firms about cost concerns when it comes to the use of AI, particularly for legal research. They worry about being left behind and being placed at a competitive disadvantage compared to large firms with sophisticated tools. They are literally begging for low-cost alterna tives. And it’s a fair concern: I have heard more than one high priced vendor scoff at any notion that their tools are too expen sive for many legal professionals suggesting either they are tone deaf or not very con cerned with this market. Enter Descrybe. Descrybe provides an AI-powered legal research platform with the stated goal is to democratize access to legal information. Many of its features are free. Descrybe’s tools utilize generative AI to summarize over 3.6 million judicial opinions and other materials from sources including the Harvard Caselaw Access Proj ect. It makes these sources searchable and understandable for users. It recently began offering a more robust version described as “not free but close.” Descrybe was launched in 2023 by Kara Peterson and Richard DiBona. The tools have had several updates since then. (Kara was also named an ABA Woman of Legal Tech for 2024). Descrybe serves law firms of all sizes but primarily focuses on smaller firms. Descrybe recently won the Anthem Award for Responsible Technology: Best Use of AI, for its innovative application of

AI to make the law more accessible and for its support of solutions that drive awareness, engagement and impact. Descrybe made its debut as an exhibitor at TechShow. I had a chance to talk with Kara and Richard shortly before ABA’s TechShow in April and caught up with them again recently. Both are passionate about making legal informa tion more accessible to everyone through the use of AI-powered tools. Everyone includes, they say, lawyers in firms with out the resources of the large law firms and individuals. Indeed, Kara and Rich believe they now offer a serious legal research tool for professionals. DOES IT DELIVER? Descrybe 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 necessarily needing exact legal terminol ogy. The platform can retrieve millions of U.S. judicial opinions from its sizeable database and analyze queries and retrieve relevant case precedents. Coverage includes state supreme courts, appellate courts, federal district and appellate courts, the U.S. Supreme Court, and U.S. bankruptcy courts. Each judicial opinion referenced is accom panied by an AI-generated summary, again available in both English and Spanish.

The tool not only provides detailed responses but also provides plain language interpretations of the detailed responses. This option provides an explanation of legal concepts in simple, straightforward terms. While originally tailored to those who are not lawyers or legal professionals, Kara and Richard discovered that that this tool is also valuable to lawyers who may themselves need a simplified version of a legal concept themselves or use it to better explain the concept to clients. (I put the latter tool to the test by asking it for Kentucky cases dealing with the Rule Against Perpetuities, a rule I never really understood. 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 prop erty after they die. I get it.) The tool also has advanced features like deeper case analysis, AI powered discovery tools and enhanced legal insights.

26 january/february 2026