DescrybeLM, Claude with Legal Engine, or Concept Search?

Choose the right workflow for the legal research task in front of you

This guide helps you choose between DescrybeLM, Claude with Descrybe Legal Engine, and Concept Search when you already have a legal issue or proposition in mind.

Tool choice

Quick decision guide

When you already have a legal issue in mind, the best Descrybe workflow depends on what you want the system to do with it.

Use DescrybeLM when you want an answer

This is usually the best starting point for a legal question that needs reasoning, issue framing, authority, and a written response.

Use Claude with Descrybe Legal Engine when you want a conversation

This is usually the best fit when you want to refine the issue, ask follow-up questions, compare authorities, or turn retrieved authority into drafting.

Use Concept Search when you want cases to inspect

This is usually the best fit when you want a case list by topic, issue, doctrine, or fact pattern, rather than a synthesized legal answer.

Example question

For example, a researcher might start with this question: under New York law, can a party waive a contractual deadline by continuing to accept late performance without promptly objecting?

That is a full legal research question. It asks the system to understand the issue, evaluate the rule, and help find supporting authority. The right starting point depends on whether you want an answer, a conversation, or a case-finding search.

Use DescrybeLM when you want an answer

DescrybeLM is usually the best starting point for full-sentence legal research prompts, especially when you want the system to reason through the issue, identify relevant cases, explain the rule, and point you toward supporting authority.

Is this proposition right under New York law?
Find cases supporting this argument.
What is the rule on this issue?
How should I think about this doctrine?

Example DescrybeLM prompt

Under New York law, can accepting late performance without objection waive a contractual deadline?

DescrybeLM is built to handle legal questions in natural language. It can ask clarifying questions, break the issue apart, look for authority, and explain the result in context.

Use Claude with Legal Engine when you want a conversational workflow

Claude with Descrybe Legal Engine is also a strong choice for full legal questions, especially if you want to keep refining the issue, ask follow-up questions, compare cases, or turn the research into writing.

Explore a legal issue interactively.
Ask follow-up questions.
Compare cases.
Draft or revise legal analysis using retrieved authority.

Example Claude prompt

I am researching New York contract law. Please use Descrybe Legal Engine to find cases on whether continued acceptance of late performance can waive a contractual deadline, then show me the authorities I should read first.

Claude is helpful when the research task is iterative. Descrybe Legal Engine gives Claude access to focused legal research tools, while Claude gives you a conversational way to work through the issue.

Use Concept Search when you want cases by topic or fact pattern

Concept Search is not the best first stop for a full legal proposition that asks for legal analysis. It works better when the query is shorter and describes the issue you want cases about, rather than asking the system to decide whether a complete legal statement is correct.

Better Concept Search queries

Set the jurisdiction filter to New York, then search: waiver contractual deadline late performance acceptance

Or try: course of performance waiver contract deadline

Find cases about a legal concept.
Search by issue or fact pattern.
Build a first case list before asking for deeper analysis.
Discover related authorities when you do not need a direct answer yet.

Concept Search is a retrieval tool. It looks for cases that are conceptually related to your terms. Use the jurisdiction selector when you want to narrow where Descrybe searches, rather than adding the jurisdiction name into the query itself.

A simple rule of thumb

Answer, conversation, or case list

If you need a reasoned answer, start with DescrybeLM.
If you want to work conversationally and keep refining the task, use Claude with Descrybe Legal Engine.
If you want to find cases directly, use Concept Search and set jurisdiction separately with the filter.

These workflows can also work together. You might use Concept Search to find a few promising cases, DescrybeLM to reason through the issue, and Claude with Descrybe Legal Engine to compare authorities or draft from the source material.