AI : When you Don't Know Jack?
Trump Time: Instant Timelines Bring Fast Documents Insight
When doing the work of an attorney, especially in large deals or litigation like I do, digesting large amounts of document/s content into distilled “key facts” and overall meaning is critical and time sensitive.
Whole days time can be expended. With a large (or a large stack) of documents brand new, you really don’t “know jack” and often don’t know where to begin.
In early years of practice, “document review” is how young attorneys get trained to identify, parse, and distill information.
Even as I have said before, “Lawyers are the original LLMs,” (Large Language Modelers) this skill gets refined over time and the longer you have been at it, the faster your eyes and apprehension of document structure tempo and contents will be.
With AI, the process gets vastly accelerated. This leaves time for other higher value tasks. It also frees associates to do dozens in the time it used to do one.
There are various ways to view contents of a document: key facts, amounts, people involved…
Time.
In my experience, often creating a timeline is a most key deliverable and tool in legal representations. In fact any litigator will tell you that their timeline is a key reference tool, document, and more likely than not — an exhibit at trial.
Sequential understanding of events helps us to understand better and to be able to “hang” an event in a time-space, making it more meaningful than standing alone.
This week Prosecutor Jack Smith filed [n.b. the court unsealed] an updated Motion to the court in the Trump “insurrection” case. All media remarked at its length at 165 pages (!!!).
At least two reporters I heard referenced, “we are still reading through this lengthy filing.”
But with a little help from AI Magic, it becomes clear quickly. And also gives one an instant “tool” (were this an ongoing project) to keep and hang/append items documents statements and events into; creating a “living document” of event/s time and meaning.
Using my new MagicTool (which, unlike GPT/Gemini/etal is PRIVATE), I uploaded the 165-pages document and received an instant timeline!
Here appended the Smith filing and below the simplified/abbreviated timeline.
You can probably see clearly the whole document just from pulling and sequencing key dates. [Also provides intra-document references to easily refer back]
Instant Document Timelines.
This is just one way AI is revolutionizing the practice of law.
List of documents and events
Date
Summary
Sources
19-07-2020
In an interview, when asked repeatedly if he would accept the results of the election, Trump said he would 'have to see' and 'it depends'. This statement was part of a series of pre-election comments by Trump questioning the integrity of the upcoming election, particularly regarding mail-in voting.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 6)
30-07-2020
Trump suggested that widespread mail-in voting provided cause for delaying the election. He tweeted, 'With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???'. This tweet was part of Trump's ongoing narrative questioning the legitimacy of mail-in voting.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 6)
02-08-2020
In an interview, Trump claimed, without any basis, that '[t]here is no way you can go through a mail-in vote without massive cheating'. This statement continued his pattern of making unfounded claims about the potential for fraud in mail-in voting.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 6)
17-08-2020
At a campaign event in Wisconsin, Trump told his supporters, '[t]he only way we're going to lose this election is if the election is rigged, remember that. It's the only way we're going to lose this election, so we have to be very careful'. This statement further reinforced Trump's narrative of potential election fraud.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 6)
24-08-2020
In his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, Trump said that '[t]he only way they can take this election away from us is if this is a rigged election'. This continued his pattern of suggesting that any loss would be due to fraud rather than legitimate voting.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 6)
27-10-2020
During remarks regarding his campaign, Trump said, '[i]t would be very, very proper and very nice if a winner were declared on November 3rd, instead of counting ballots for two weeks, which is totally inappropriate, and I don't believe that that's by our laws. I don't believe that'. This statement was made despite Trump's private advisors informing him that it was unlikely the winner of the election would be declared on November 3.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 6)
06-01-2021
Trump gave a speech at the Ellipse rally in Washington, D.C. In this speech, he made numerous false claims about election fraud in various states, including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. He used these false claims to inflame and motivate his supporters to march to the Capitol and disrupt the certification proceeding. At 2:24 p.m., Trump tweeted an attack on Vice President Mike Pence, fueling the ongoing riot at the Capitol: 'Mike Pence didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify. USA demands the truth!' This tweet was read aloud to the crowd at the Capitol, further inciting the rioters. At 2:38 p.m. and 3:13 p.m., Trump issued tweets after being pressured by his staff, arguably addressing public safety concerns as President, though he had initially refused to take any action. At 4:17 p.m., Trump tweeted a video message asking those at the Capitol to leave, while still claiming that the election was stolen. He described the rioters as 'very special' people that he loved, despite the ongoing violence. At 6:01 p.m., Trump sent another tweet conveying a similar sentiment to his earlier video message. He referred to the events as things that happen when a 'sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots'. He asked the rioters to go home with love and in peace, but also told them to remember the day forever.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 123, 124, 126, 141, 143)
13-03-2023
In an interview, Trump refused to take responsibility for putting Pence in danger during the January 6 events, instead blaming Pence. He stated, 'Had Mike Pence sent the votes back to the legislatures, they wouldn't have had a problem with Jan. 6, so in many ways you can blame him for Jan. 6. Had he sent them back to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Arizona, the states, I believe, number one, you would have had a different outcome. But I also believe you wouldn't have had 'Jan. 6' as we call it'.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 129)
02-07-2023
The United States Government filed a motion for immunity determinations in the criminal case against Donald J. Trump (Criminal No. 23-cr-257) in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The motion addresses the defendant's claim of immunity from prosecution for his alleged criminal scheme to overturn the 2020 presidential election. The Government argues that although Trump was the incumbent President during the charged conspiracies, his scheme was fundamentally private, working with private co-conspirators to disrupt the government function of vote collection and counting.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 1)
2024
The Supreme Court ruled in Trump v. United States, 144 S. Ct. 2312 (2024), that presidents are immune from prosecution for certain official conduct. This includes Trump's use of the Justice Department in furtherance of his scheme, as alleged in the original indictment. The Court remanded the case to determine whether the remaining allegations against Trump are immunized.
smith 165 page.pdf (Page 1)
*** Imagine this same tool for the non-political; your mortgage package, contract, settlement proposal and documents, and more…