Joseph Emmerth

Attorney at Law,
Emmerth Divorce Law, PLLC

Joseph Emmerth is redefining the efficiency of his solo practice with a key integration with Eve. He uses Eve’s platform to save hours on routine tasks, delivering a superior work output for his clients.
Emmerth Divorce Law, PLLC
The Journey

Eve joins a solo practitioner

Meet Joseph

Meet Joseph Emmerth- he is a solo practitioner divorce attorney operating in the Chicago suburbs. He has a unique blend of legal expertise and a tech-savvy background. With 18 years of experience in law and a prior career in IT, Joseph stands out as an innovative figure in the legal industry. His firm, Emmerth Divorce Law, PLLC, is known for its forward-thinking approach and willingness to embrace new technologies to enhance legal services.

Solo practice vs inefficiency

Before integrating AI into his practice, Joseph described the situation as a constant battle against inefficiency, where valuable time was being wasted on routine, or “drone” work. He  frequently grappled with the time-intensive tasks of document analysis and drafting standard legal forms. On top of that, he had to manage a solo practice while striving to deliver high-quality legal work without the administrative burden.

Joseph describes the general process for smaller firms is to “hand a deposition or hundreds of pages of documents to a clerk, paralegal, or a first-year associate and ask them to analyze it, pick key information out, or use it to populate standard forms.”

This is where his technical background stepped entered the arena. Joseph’s philosophy is this: "Automate wherever you can automate.” That's been his mantra for the past 12 months. Joseph has been diving deep into the AI world, trying to learn as much as he can.

He went in search of a solution that could handle that busy work and allow him to focus on the core aspects of his legal practice.

Automation at the next level

“I was on the lookout to get ahead of the curve and be ahead of my peers.”

When Joseph incorporated Eve into his practice, he was able to get results in the first few hours. Eve's ability to process and summarize extensive legal documents transformed Joseph's workflow. "It's like having a super-efficient paralegal at my fingertips—one that doesn't get tired or take breaks," Joseph explained. With Eve, he could upload a batch of documents and quickly receive a well-organized draft, ready for his review.

“[Eve] allows us as attorneys to focus on the things that we are best suited to do: the counseling, the clients, the negotiation with opposing counsel - all while keeping our overhead down.”

One element Joseph was pleasantly surprised by was the impact of having a generative AI that was trained on legal databases. He noted that it beat his expectations and his prior experience with the ability to distill dense legalese into plain-language terms, and at the same time turn simple requests into well-written legal document drafts.

Embracing AI, Joseph has positioned himself at the forefront of legal technology, ensuring that his practice remains competitive and efficient in an industry that is increasingly looking towards innovation to solve its most pressing challenges.

Just as an example

The impact of Eve on Joseph's practice is best illustrated by a recent example he shared: "We uploaded almost 300 pages of documents and asked Eve to answer a standard set of marital interrogatories... and Eve turned it into a draft that was 90% complete. All of it took less than five minutes." This task would have typically taken a paralegal over three hours to complete.

By using Eve, Joseph's firm has consistently saved time on every case, translating to a significant increase in efficiency and caseload capacity. He has not only streamlined his practice but also positioned himself at the forefront of a technological revolution that is reshaping the legal landscape.

Joseph’s team is saving over 2.5 hours of work on virtually every case they take on. A 3-hour process now takes only 5 minutes with the help of Eve.

Future outlook and potential

Joseph is optimistic and excited about the future of AI in legal practice. He envisions a landscape where platforms like Eve become an indispensable tool for attorneys, continually evolving and improving. "Staying ahead of the curve is crucial," Joseph asserts.

He sees Eve as a game-changer for the legal industry; a tool that not only saves time, but also enhances the quality of legal services provided to clients.

And this technology will only get better. Joseph's forward-thinking approach means he sees a world where AI platforms evolve to include features that allow for the sequencing of tasks, akin to creating a to-do list of processes in a case and having an extra set of hands to help with each step.

We are soon to see a world where firms that are “AI-native,” i.e., that have incorporated AI into the core of their business, and are becoming orders of magnitude more efficient, not just saving hours on key tasks, but changing their caseload and reach.

Some Advice - How to find your match

For those looking to supercharge or transform their practice, Joseph offers a few pieces of advice. When evaluating possible solutions, Joseph emphasizes the importance of direct engagement with AI technology.

“To truly appreciate its capabilities...There's no substitute for just sitting down for an hour or two and playing around with it.” This hands-on experience is key to understanding how AI can fit into a firm's workflow. But for those who are less familiar with the technology, one should be on the lookout for a partner that will help them learn with the new tech.

If comparing multiple solutions, it’s best to set out a list of what you most want the platform to do, and then test each provider’s ability to deliver on the same request:

“You should have four or five things that you want to try and do. And you should try them exactly the same on all of these platforms you're comparing and see what answers you get.” Creating this impartial test will highlight the best solution for the firm.

Parting thoughts

Joseph's advice to the market is clear: embrace AI, explore its potential, and integrate it into your practice to stay competitive and efficient. By doing so, legal professionals can focus on the high-value work that truly benefits their clients, while AI, in his case, Eve, handles the rest.

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