The Geek In Review

The Cytator Strikes Back: Kara Peterson & Rich DiBona On Descrybe’s Fresh Take on Legal Research

Aug 25, 2025
Kara Peterson, a legal education pro turned Descrybe advocate, and Rich DiBona, the brain behind their citator technology, share their insights on revolutionizing legal research. They discuss Descrybe's innovative citator that transforms traditional case analysis with issue-level and backward citation features. The duo highlights their mission to democratize legal research, making it more accessible and affordable. They also touch on the challenges of incorporating advanced AI and expanding offerings to legal professionals, ensuring they stay ahead in a rapidly evolving industry.
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ANECDOTE

How Descrybe Entered Academia

  • Kara describes meeting Doug Lusk at a tech show which opened a curriculum slot spanning 350 universities and 11 countries.
  • She frames the Descrybe inclusion as a full-circle moment from her prior law-school work and marketing role.
INSIGHT

Training On 30 Million Citations

  • Rich explains Descrybe analyzed nearly 30 million citations to train their citator and identify edge cases that confuse AI.
  • That heavy upfront analysis enabled better accuracy rather than calling LLMs live for each query.
INSIGHT

Precomputed Citations For Instant Results

  • Descrybe precomputes citator treatments so users see treatment flags inline in search results without waiting for an LLM call.
  • This design prioritizes speed and consistent results over on-demand model queries.
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