Why Casetext’s CARA A.I. Was a Game Changer for One Summer Associate
Ashley Gomez-Rodon, a recent University of Miami School of Law graduate, first learned about Casetext as a Cozen O’Connor summer associate. Ashley enjoyed using Casetext so much during her time as a summer associate that when she went back to school, she joined Casetext’s Student Ambassador program because she wanted to spread the word about Casetext to her classmates.
Why Ashley loves Casetext
Ashley loved Casetext because Casetext’s CARA A.I. technology helped her with the research assignments from supervising attorneys. “My favorite thing about Casetext will always be CARA,” Ashley says. “CARA is a game changer. No person can review a draft and instantly inform you of the holes in your research with specific caselaw.”
“I used Casetext’s search engine and loved that I could find blog posts from law firms and legal briefs all in the same screen as cases and statutes. The blog posts came in handy when I had an assignment regarding a construction defect and the research sites I used in school could not find a case on point,” Ashley explains. “Without this feature, I would have struggled for days to finish that assignment, only to possibly come up empty-handed.”
For instance, when Ashley was assigned to write a letter to a client explaining how he could affordably breach his commercial lease, she turned to Casetext. Ashley was asked to review the lease and see what portions could be unenforceable. She says, “This was a difficult assignment because not all commercial leases use the same language and not all breaches of a commercial lease find their way to published opinions. I used CARA constantly as I worked on this assignment, uploading each draft of the letter to see if I could find additional caselaw for my newest argument.”
Ashley’s advice to summer associates
To this year’s class of summer associates, Ashley advises: “You will receive assignments that involve hours of research with possibly little return-do not be discouraged! Sometimes, the best answer is that there’s no answer because that’s when you (ok, really your supervising attorney) get to argue what the law should be. Do not consider those hours looking for any case on point as wasted time because you now know what arguments made it all the way to an appeals court.”
Ashley also found that Casetext’s CARA A.I. could help assure her that she hadn’t missed anything. She says, “I used Casetext at the beginning, middle and end of my research. I would use CARA after I completed what I called a ‘Notes’ page, which essentially consisted of mini-case briefs to see if there were cases I missed or briefs already written on my topic. Then, I would use CARA again after I finished my first draft of my assignment as a last check, ensuring that I did not miss a case. It was a great confidence booster when even CARA could not find a case I hadn’t seen.”
How Ashley stayed connected to Casetext
After her time as a summer associate, Ashley continued using Casetext in her schoolwork, as well as for the Federal Appellate Clinic she participated in. “I used CARA for my Federal Appellate Clinic in the same way as I did as a summer associate,” Ashley says. “I wrote an appellate brief, arguing a Fourth Amendment violation. CARA’s brief section really helped me organize and formulate arguments for my brief.”
She also took on the role of Casetext Student Ambassador. Ashley says that when she received an email about the program at the end of her summer associate position, “I had already spent all summer telling my mentor and other associates how great Casetext was as a research tool. The position seemed like a great opportunity to continue doing what I had already been doing all summer — explaining how great Casetext is to other legal minds!”
Interested in becoming a Casetext student ambassador? Visit casetext.com/students for more information.
