AI Legal Research Tools: Transforming Case Law for In-House Counsel

Is your legal team spending too much time digging through outdated databases to find relevant case law? As legal departments face mounting pressure to do more with fewer resources, artificial intelligence is offering a timely solution. AI legal research tools are streamlining workflows, surfacing critical case insights faster, and reshaping how in-house counsel accesses legal information.

One innovator leading this transformation is Richard DiBona, co-founder of describe.ai. With a background in software engineering and a passion for access to justice, Richard is building an AI-powered legal search engine designed to make federal and state court opinions searchable. It also summarizes and makes them accessible through natural language. His work is helping bridge the gap between modern technology and traditional legal research practices.

Watch the full conversation with Richard DiBona here:

The scope of describe.ai’s mission is massive: to create a searchable, AI-enhanced database of every U.S. federal and state court opinion. To support this, Richard and his team have partnered with the Harvard Case Law Project and Court Listener to collect and organize millions of decisions. It’s a resource-intensive undertaking—requiring 24/7 servers and machine learning pipelines. It also demands constant refinement, but it’s already making legal research dramatically faster and more intuitive.

By focusing on usability, Richard’s team is creating a platform that empowers in-house counsel to answer legal questions quickly. They can do this without relying on expensive, legacy systems that require advanced query-building or legalese.

At the heart of describe.ai are two powerful features that define the next generation of AI legal research tools: automated summarization and semantic search. The AI distills long, complex court opinions into concise summaries. This makes it easier to grasp case holdings at a glance. This saves time and reduces cognitive overload—especially valuable when managing high caseloads.

Semantic search replaces rigid keyword matching with meaning-based retrieval. Instead of needing precise legal terms, users can enter plain-language queries and still receive highly relevant case results. For in-house legal professionals used to juggling multiple areas of law, this is a major advantage.

Richard emphasizes accessibility as a core goal of describe.ai. Currently available to the public for free, the platform helps level the playing field. Not only for in-house legal teams on limited budgets, but also for law students, pro se litigants, and journalists. This commitment to democratizing legal information supports broader access to justice, without sacrificing quality or reliability.

In-house teams benefit significantly from this model. Rather than relying on costly legal research software, lawyers can access a streamlined, intuitive platform. This helps them move faster and stay informed.

Looking ahead, Richard plans to expand describe.ai’s capabilities beyond judicial opinions. Future versions will include statutes, administrative decisions, and regulations. This will offer a more complete legal research experience. Long-term, the platform will integrate analytics that track legal trends, flag conflicts, and even suggest arguments based on emerging case patterns.

For in-house legal teams, this means better visibility into litigation risk and clearer guidance on regulatory shifts. This supports stronger strategic planning—powered by accessible, AI-driven insights.

The work being done by Richard DiBona and his team is a clear signal: AI legal research tools are here to stay. By replacing outdated methods with natural language search, real-time summarization, and open access, tools like describe.ai are empowering in-house lawyers. They can move faster, think smarter, and deliver more value to the business.

The future of legal research isn’t just efficient—it’s intelligent, intuitive, and increasingly accessible to all.

Watch the full conversation here:  Notes to My (Legal) Self: Season 6, Episode 10 (ft.Richard DiBona)

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