The Law Office of Juan C. Restrepo-Rodriguez, LLC.

06/04/2026

Big firms have a ton of resources and for super complex fact laden cases with multiple sets of parties and discovery that requires serious amounts of man hours just to sift through the mountains of documents, only firms of a certain size are capable of responsibly prosecuting or defending those cases. HOWEVER for the other 99.9% of cases those same firms who are optimized up to their necks and have cultures where they are either focused on billing or volume of cases pushed to conclusion. ATTORNEYS IN BIG FIRMS CUT CORNERS TO PUMP UP THEIR NUMBERS and AI has been an all too seductive CORNER CUTTING TOOL, not time saving tool, not work efficiency tool but a tool to Cheat the traditional, time honored , wholistic, roll up your sleeve work that true masters of litigation do, to become familiar with every detail of the case and every contour of the legal landscape where that case exists.

When I am working on a motion, just a motion in a Trial Court (first level) I make sure to read every single case cited by the other side TO THE END. There is no way anyone can cite a case on me that is made up, because I would not only find it out but raise it to the Court early and often in my responsive papers. In appeals I will not only have read every case cited by either side, but I will also have read almost every case that cites every case cited to the point where I can talk about every case as if they are a player on the 86 Mets or 2007 Giants or the 2026 Knicks.

The fact of the matter is that the CRAFTSMANSHIP of motionwork and appellate advocacy has been slipping for at least 20yrs now. As our practice went from running through aisles of books and photocopying reams of caselaw to powerful "optimized" search engines that constantly promised the Attorney that they could spend less time reading and less time writing with all these tools that digested the writings of judges so the Attorney wouldn't have to, the Attorney then began getting further and further away from the actual stiches and seems that bind the law together, and started standing next to increasingly powerful machines simply holding a lever and only occasionally taking a few moments to tinker with the machine, but no longer putting their hands on the fabric of the law.

The average motion that gets filed today has little to no analysis of controlling caselaw, simply regurgitating it with trite and conclusory segways that amount to "Judge, THis, Then This, then This"; Never explaining why, never even attempting to sell the judge on the perfect fit, of the argument, the elegance and sleekness of the way the argument hugs the contours of the law. Frankly its clear to me that nearly 80% of attorneys NEVER READ ANY DECISION THEY CITE FROM BEGINING TO END, how do I know this? Because I do read the cases and many of the cases my adversaries cite actually stand for my client's position, and then I get to revel in using my adversaries own cases against them always throwing in a glib, "Interestingly enough Defendant cites to XYZ, which actually stands for ABC". AI and the Case Law search engines do a great job of finding the most cited cases on a topic, but as machines and not craftsmen, they don't understand the legal question presented by the particular cases; they don't understand which precedents will fit the unique shapes taken by the living breathing cases that walk in the door, cases that need the touch of a human master of legal argument.

If you have a cookie cutter case, or a monster case with thousands of pages of evidence, get a good big firm to work on your case, but keep your eye on them, like every optimized big business, they are thinking more about the bottom line, then your actual needs.

For everything else, get an attorney who is a craftsman, and who can explain to you what is going in in your case so that you understand the nuts and bolts, that person is not going to cut corners and end up using or ignoring AI hallucinations in Court filings.

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/18nRLHrERm/

04/22/2026

This is why AI and Chat GPT will not save you if you have a case. Get a lawyer, a real one, that talks to you and explains the law to you so you understand it. If they can do that, they can write motions and they won't rely on short cuts and you will win. Even big white shoe law firms are trying to get away with using AI and as someone who beats AI motions at least a few times a month, trust me it isn't working https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1DFH3HWU5e/

02/08/2025

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFdl9K9OfDj/?igsh=MXF1NTRmeXd1cTY0Mg==

05/28/2023

Though AI is the buzzword in this article, this situation sheds light on a much bigger problemin the practice of law which is that all of the advances in the technology of legal research are making generations of attorneys really lazy and really bad at writing motions. Most attorneys don't read whole decisions anymore, they frequently cite cases that quote seemingly useful law but then go on to undermine the very argument the attorney is putting forward. AI will help make mediocre attorneys look good, and good attorneys look better, but great attorneys will always out-craft and out work everyone, and bad attorneys will not only not be more competitive but there will be a lot more of them placing way too much reliance on tools and not enough on skill and effort.

Here’s What Happens When Your Lawyer Uses ChatGPT

A lawyer representing a man who sued an airline relied on artificial intelligence to help prepare a court filing. It did not go well.

12/24/2019

Short interview on new drug testing ban in applying for jobs in NYC.

12/24/2019

Short interview about the minimum wage (spanish)

Trabajadores de diferentes ciudades y condados del país verán reflejados en sus salarios los resultados de sus luchas para exigir una mejor remuneración. En ...

04/09/2019

Last week I had the great experience of giving a lecture on starting a solo practice. I have to thank my clients, mentors and my staff for giving me two and a half hours of stuff to say on the topic.

02/05/2018

WHEN ONE PERSON WHO LIVES HERE IS TOO AFRAID TO USE THE COURTS OF JUSTICE, WE ARE ALL LESS SAFE AND WE WILL ALL BE MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER AT THE HANDS CRIMINALS AND ABUSERS. I have been waiting to say something about this for a little while. As an attorney who serves a diverse clientele that includes immigrants, some undocumented; the fact that ICE is now targeting individuals when they appear at Court for hearings this is a disgusting revocation of justice and human dignity against a community that is disproportionately targeted for violence both physical and economic, its UNFORGIVABLE. One of my clients some years ago was r***d by her employer at a bakery. This fiend not only violated her physically but he also terminated her, failed to pay her overtime and minimum wage the entire time she was there. Part of the reason why someone like that thinks he can get away with it is, my client and her husband were undocumented, and therefore were far less likely to attempt to seek recourse. I am glad that when I helped her we could assure her that the Courts in New York were a kind of sanctuary where neither her and her husband would have to fear being arrested by ICE as they try to have their day in Court. As an attorney practicing today, I can’t tell them not to worry about that anymore, I know that means that people will keep their mouths shut about the abuses they face.
Even if you do not care about undocumented immigrants, and feel that since they are "illegal" they should not be able to avail themselves of the Courts of the United States (which is not true and this has already been decided by the Supreme Court), What about the victims of violence, what if a killer who targets children who’s parent’s are afraid to testify or talk to police to help put that monster away; what if that monster one day decides to grab a kid from your neighborhood? Wouldn't you have wanted those immigrants to put that monster away before he got to your neighborhood and grabbed one of your children? WHEN ONE PERSON WHO LIVES HERE IS TOO AFRAID TO USE THE COURTS OF JUSTICE, WE ARE ALL LESS SAFE AND WE WILL ALL MORE LIKELY TO SUFFER AT THE HANDS CRIMINALS AND ABUSERS.

New York State's Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said she's greatly concerned that federal immigration agents were in a human trafficking court in Queens.

02/02/2018

So we just got to 50 likes and now that it is clear that The Law Office of Juan C. Restrepo-Rodriguez, LLC. is an internet juggernaut I just wanted to take a second to thank everyone who has liked the rather content-less page we have. I have been asked a by bunch of people about why we don't have a web page and the truth is I am more interested in working hard for my clients than I am in getting new clients. I figure if we do good work the clients will come and it has worked for us in the 2+ years we have been in business, we have grown from 1 Lawyer, 1 Desk, and a retired lady who makes great coffee, to a thriving small business with 3 paralegals, Lida Rubenstein, Rodrigo Restrepo, and Elsa Tobon, manning 3 desks and that retired lady Rocio Rodriguez, is now a pretty damn good sassy office manager who still makes damn good coffee. Through all that we have been able to maintain the level of care and attention that our first clients Pete Bondoc and Leila Bondoc received back in 2016. People have also asked me, if you are so busy, then why are you on Facebook in the middle of the day? Well my client Jakub Tyszka was just asking me questions about his case on messenger. I have about a dozen client's who almost exclusively communicate with me on Messenger. Whether on messenger, via text, email, phone or fax, I don't always respond instantly, but I am always there for my clients. By carrier pigeon, smoke signal, whatever it takes, we're here for you. So if you see that green light in the corner next to Juan C. Restrepo-Rodriguez and you have a question don't hesitate to drop me a note or ask a question about something, we love hearing from you and if you need it, we will help.

I specialize in commercial litigation and labor/employment law with extensive experience in various

01/19/2017

Just welcomed aboard Lida Rubenstein as a part time paralegal. Getting more efficient, getting more productive!!!!