The Challenge: Managing Complex Legal Work Without a Legal Team
, a mission-driven real estate development firm, revitalizes historically disinvested neighborhoods across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York. The company’s focus on affordable and attainable housing means navigating a maze of legal and regulatory requirements - from property acquisitions to local leasing laws.
For CEO and co-founder Jonathan Gibson, this meant wearing multiple hats. “Ninety-nine percent of the legal work falls on me,” he explains. “I handle compliance with state and federal regulators and make sure our contracts are solid.”
Without in-house counsel, every new agreement - from purchase contracts to leases - required expensive outside legal support. Drafting or reviewing a single document could cost thousands in legal fees and stretch over weeks. “The last time I had LLC documents prepared for an investment vehicle, it cost around $30,000,” Jonathan recalls. “I knew there had to be a better way.”
The Solution: Building Legal Confidence with Genie AI
After experimenting with general AI tools like ChatGPT, Jonathan was unimpressed: "As far as legal drafting goes, ChatGPT is garbage." He needed something more reliable, structured, and legally precise, and discovered Genie AI through a simple Google search.
“I tried Genie alongside a couple of competitors,” he says. “But Genie was the only one producing documents I would actually put in front of counsel.”
With Genie AI, Jonathan began drafting everything from scratch - from Pennsylvania-specific residential leases to operating agreements for subsidiary LLCs - using detailed prompts and iterative refinements. Genie’s interactive chat and clause-level editing allowed him to dig deeper into each section, clarify terms, and even update clauses to align with complex state and city laws.
“I started with a prompt and kept digging section by section,” Jonathan explains. “When I put the final lease in front of counsel, I paid for just one hour of review - and they didn’t have any edits. For me, that was the proof piece.”
He was particularly impressed by Genie’s ability to adapt legal language to hyperlocal contexts. “In Philadelphia, there are very specific rules about security deposits. Genie actually surfaced that. I learned something as a result of this - and changed our operations to stay compliant.”
The Impact: $50K Annual Savings and 1.5 Months of Work Reclaimed
Using Genie AI, Housing Us has transformed its legal workflow. What once took 40 hours of drafting time now takes just five hours, producing documents ready for counsel's review.
Jonathan estimates Genie has reduced their legal document creation costs by 80%, saving the company roughly $50,000 per year in legal fees and reclaiming 1.5 months of working time annually.
“I’m spending less on lawyers and producing documents faster,” he says. “Something that used to cost me $5,000 in legal fees now costs maybe $600. The value is undeniable.”
The quality of Genie’s output also built internal confidence. “When I compared Genie’s LLC documents to ones we’d paid $30,000 for, the differences were minimal. It handled complex profit waterfalls, all the key clauses - everything.”
Beyond cost savings, Genie has become an everyday part of Housing Us’s workflow. Jonathan now drafts and reviews 10 legal documents a month using Genie, from purchase agreements to vendor contracts.
“Genie has been a major value savings add for us.”
Getting Started with Genie AI
Jonathan’s advice is simple:
“Play with it. Don’t overthink it. Let it generate something and start asking questions. You'll find that it's a really seamless process.”
For Housing Us, that curiosity unlocked thousands in savings and faster legal turnaround times. You can do the same. and draft your first two legal documents for free.