{"id":5015,"date":"2025-03-31T22:25:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-31T22:25:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/can-solos-get-50-to-1-roi-from-ai-cj-grisham-says-yes\/"},"modified":"2025-03-31T22:25:10","modified_gmt":"2025-03-31T22:25:10","slug":"can-solos-get-50-to-1-roi-from-ai-cj-grisham-says-yes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatrustedlawyers.com\/blog\/can-solos-get-50-to-1-roi-from-ai-cj-grisham-says-yes\/","title":{"rendered":"Can Solos Get 50-to-1 ROI from AI? CJ Grisham Says \u2018Yes\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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For solo practitioners, time is money. And for CJ Grisham, a civil rights attorney in Temple, Texas, artificial intelligence has changed everything. Once skeptical, he now calls AI an essential tool for daily use in his practice \u2013 estimating a 50-to-1 return on investment.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cFor every dollar I\u2019m paying into [Lexis+ AI], I\u2019m probably getting $50 back in time and money,\u201d Grisham explains in a recent law.com podcast<\/a>. \u201c<\/b>I look at it now as if I\u2019m paying my water bill or my electric bill \u2013 because those are necessary to survive.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Cutting Research and Drafting Time 60%<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Before turning to AI, Grisham might have spent hours of legal research on a single issue. Drafting, too, was a time suck. Now, AI takes mere seconds to deliver case research and drafts to Grisham; he reports that he\u2019s realized a 60% time savings with Lexis+ AI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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As a result, Grisham can take on more clients than a solo practitioner would otherwise have any business taking.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIn one year, I\u2019m probably taking as many clients as another attorney would [take in] 10 years because I\u2019m resolving them quicker,\u201d says Grisham.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Grisham says AI has made him not just faster but also better.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cIt\u2019s really saved me in some cases where I\u2019m tapped out [and] I don\u2019t know where to go,\u201d says Grisham.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In the podcast, Grisham tells the story of an ongoing Texas case involving a client charged with felony assault for, allegedly, \u201cgoing limp\u201d during an arrest \u2013 allegedly causing injury to the arresting officer. Dubious that the alleged behavior meets the mens rea<\/i> element of the charge, Grisham reports spending 15 to 20 fruitless hours on legal research \u2013 despite broadening his research to the entire United States.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Stumped, he turned to Lexis+ AI \u2013 asking it if the public has a duty of care not to go limp while being arrested.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cBoom! It pulls up a civil case,\u201d says Grisham. \u201cNot just any civil case, but actually from the Texas Supreme Court.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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In that case, the court held that there is no such duty of care to law enforcement. Accordingly, Grisham filed a motion to quash arguing that if there is no duty to go limp in the civil context (where the standard of care is stricter), there is no duty to go limp in the criminal context.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI would never have thought to do that without Lexis+ AI,\u201d says Grisham.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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At a glance, AI could seem risky for a solo practitioner. Multiple<\/u><\/a> attorneys<\/u><\/a> have made headlines for submitting court filings citing nonexistent precedent \u2013 fabricated by ChatGPT.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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For Grisham, however, the problem is bad lawyering \u2013 not AI.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cYou always want to make sure that your argument is based in a valid legal argument,\u201d says Grisham. \u201cLexis+ AI helps provide that, but you\u2019ve got to fact-check it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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A former counterintelligence agent, Grisham is inherently distrustful of anything he hasn\u2019t verified himself. That\u2019s why he reviews, refines, and double-checks everything AI generates for him.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u201cI still don\u2019t trust AI,\u201d he says. \u201cBut I trust my ability to vet what it gives me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Joe Stanganelli is a writer and recovering attorney. He is managing director of content advisory Blackwood King LC.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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To read more insights, thought leadership and the next podcast episode from Lexis+ Ai, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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