How Litmas AI Solves the MSJ Drafting Problem

MSJs Hinge on Facts

Motions for Summary Judgment hinge on the undisputed statement of facts. MSJs are granted only when the movant shows that there is no genuine dispute of material fact and that they are entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The Statement of Facts must be clear, undisputed, and meticulously supported by the record. MSJs generally don’t fail on the legal arguments; they fail when those undisputed facts are not what the record reflects, leaving them open to dispute. It doesn’t matter whether you’re the plaintiff or defendant, a new litigator or one with years of experience: you must tailor your MSJ Statement of Undisputed Facts to the record of your case, to your client, and to the elements of your claims.

Why MSJs Are Hard to Draft

To draft a solid and supported statement of undisputed facts to accompany the MSJ, an attorney has both procedural and substantive considerations:

• Adhere to FRCP 56’s, or a specific state’s, procedural guidelines and any court-or judge-specific procedures and documents. This might mean creating a separate, numbered statement of facts which is formatted per the court’s guidelines.
• Include a citation for each fact to the specific location within the record that supports each undisputed fact. This means cross-referencing facts against deposition transcripts, emails, discovery responses, and exhibits. It also means precisely citing each one, down to the page and line numbers. Records can be thousands of pages, and you need to identify the precise needles in the haystack that support the MSJ.
• Determine which facts are undisputed, material, and support the claim for an MSJ. Before even citing facts, attorneys must comb through the records, ensure they have a deep understanding of the case, the facts, and the law required to make a strong MSJ statement. MSJs are frequently denied because facts that are actually in dispute are presented as undisputed.
• Anticipate how a judge might view each fact. Since courts must view the record in the light most favorable to the non-moving party, attorneys must review facts in that light when drafting the statement of facts. A single fact that’s presented as undisputed that’s actually in dispute can sink an otherwise strong motion.
• Attorneys must marry facts and case law in a heavily cited document that usually has to be drafted on a compressed timeline. When it comes to billing, attorneys are often left having to reduce the hours it took to draft when billing the client, despite its importance to the case and the time and effort that it took to create. There are times when attorneys won’t even file them due to the cost to themselves and their clients. Even if attorneys want to, there is a recognition of the undertaking and the lack of feasibility in preparing them.

Where Generic AI Falls Short

Trying to create a statement of facts that supports an MSJ using an AI tool that isn’t designed for litigation is often challenging and frustrating. Even ignoring the difficulty and potential confidentiality breach of loading an entire record into a generic AI tool, general AI tools are designed to produce plausible answers and to provide you with what you want, regardless of the evidence in the underlying documents. This is the opposite of what is needed in an MSJ. The document should surface the undisputed facts that support the claim for an MSJ and that are fully supported by the evidence.

Additionally, a strong statement of facts for an MSJ is undermined by an incorrect citation. Rule 56 and other state specific rules, turn on completeness, so even a single wrong fact out of one hundred can bring into question the reliability of the entire motion. General AI tools can struggle with the nuance and sheer volume of content produced during litigation, requiring attorneys to fact check every statement produced by these tools. Double-checking AI-generated content from an unreliable AI can take more time than drafting the statement of facts itself.

How Litmas AI Solves the MSJ Problem

Litmas AI was designed by litigators, for litigators, who understand the pain points around drafting motions. They wanted a system that would produce documents with the same care and precision they would do manually, but in 20% of the time. With Litmas AI, you get a document that’s 90% ready to be filed and that is explicitly grounded in your case record. You get a system that has completed the SOC 2® Type I examination and maintains HIPAA-compliant processes, all while allowing you to align with the filing guidelines of your jurisdiction. Here is how it works:

1) Litmas AI maps every fact to an element, not just a document. Evidence Mapper extracts the causes of action from the complaint and finds every legal element that makes up those counts. It then connects and organizes the uploaded case record (depositions, discovery responses, medical records, exhibits, etc.) to those elements automatically. For an MSJ, that means an attorney can see, element by element, which facts support their case.

2) Automatically search the record to find the facts that support or defeat an element rather than re-reading the record. Use Drafting Agent to prepare an MSJ by asking it to review the full case record and locate precise, pinpointed citations that are undisputed. Rather than a manual review, Drafting Agent will search the record for any facts that support the MSJ for your client and connect the undisputed facts to both the MSJ standard in your jurisdiction, and the elements making up the claims.

3) Legal and factual citations are checked and verified before they’re added. Statute and case law citations are validated against verified legal databases before they are added to your draft. That means no hallucinations and easy-to-confirm links directly to valid legal authorities. Litmas AI covers all 50 states and federal authorities. Any factual statement is checked against the record and pincited to the specific line before inclusion in the statement of facts. Your draft is 90% ready to be filed.

4) Drafts can be easily formatted according to your jurisdiction’s rules. A motion can be formatted according to the local rules of your jurisdiction, allowing you to spend more time on content and less time on captions.

FAQ

1) Can Litmas AI draft an opposition to an MSJ, not just the movant’s brief?

Yes. The same workflow can be used, regardless of who you represent in the case or whether you are drafint an MSJ or an Opposition. Litmas AI will instead locate facts that dispute the MSJ you’re opposing.

2) Can Litmas AI handle local Rule 56.1-style separate statements?

Yes. Litmas AI identifies the jurisdiction that you’re in and can format your draft according to any local rules.

3) Does this replace an attorney’s judgment on which facts to fight over?

Drafting Agent searches and surfaces the facts that could be used to support or counter the causes of action in a complaint. The attorney can still decide whether those facts are part of your overall strategy, or direct Drafting Agent in another way if they decide to.  The attorney always makes the final call and is empowered to do so within the system.

4) How is this different from asking ChatGPT or Claude to draft a motion?

Litmas AI was designed to draft motions and handle cases in the litigation context, so it was created based on litigation and litigators’ workflows. Neither ChatGPT nor Claude provide the context, verification, and workflows of Litmas AI, as this comparison shows. Litmas AI also offers the robust security protections needed to maintain confidentiality of client information with its SOC2 certification and HIPAA compliance.