Guerra doesn’t describe herself as a technologist, but her decisions influence how lawyers research cases, prepare for court and manage overwhelming volumes of information. For her, the mission is straightforward: “to improve everybody’s processes and make life easier for everyone that works here.” That emphasis on practicality has defined her approach to technology adoption. While Public Defender Carlos Martinez sets the vision, Guerra is responsible for translating it into tools and workflows that actually function in practice. When vendors pitch solutions, she starts with a simple test: “Is it going to solve an issue we have, or is it going to improve a process we have?”
That mindset led the office to become an early adopter — and tester — of AI-powered legal tools like CoCounsel, which Guerra helped implement while it was still in beta. The office routinely volunteers to pilot emerging technology before making long-term commitments, motivated by a desire to “try to be ahead of the game and not be afraid of technology,” she said.
The impact has been most apparent in areas where manual work once consumed large amounts of time. Guerra pointed to mitigation specialists — social workers who assist attorneys in sentencing advocacy — who now use AI to process massive case files. They “often have thousands of clinical records, medical records, educational records to analyze and do a timeline and summarize,” she said, work that previously required weeks or months of review.
Attorneys have also integrated AI into daily routines, using it for deposition preparation, issue spotting, document review and research. Still, Guerra cautioned that adoption isn’t automatic. Technology is rarely the hardest part; earning buy-in and managing change take time.
