His company, Jnana, provides the software platform to create online advice systems. Users go to a web site, where the expert system prompts them to explain their question. The questions vary according to the answers and facts that the users give in response. The system operates on an Intranet to provide expertise and answer routine legal questions among a firm's employees. General Electric has a system for its engineers called the Virtual Patent Advisor, which is designed to help GE avoid costly patent infringements.
Clients pay a fee and get a username and password to log on to the system.
For example, the U.S. Department of Labor operates its Elaws Advisors site, which emulates a counseling session with a live expert on the Fair Labor Standards Act and the Family And Medical Leave Act. Bay Area Legal Aid in San Francisco uses an expert system as an intake form. When a pro bono client calls, a Legal Aid interviewer uses the system to fill in the caller's name, a brief summary of their claim and their contact information. This can be emailed to a lawyer who will be asked to handle the case. The profits, however, are found in the private client expert systems.