An AI that helps people solve legal problems has been sued for not having a license to practice. DoNotPay, which describes itself as “The world’s first robot lawyer» is facing a class action lawsuit brought by the Edelson Law Firm. According to Business Insiderthe complaint argues that artificial intelligence offers advice without having a law degree or be supervised by other lawyers.
According to the San Francisco Supreme Court legal document, the plaintiffs they want AI to stop offering its services. “DoNotPay is not really a robot, a lawyer or a law firm. DoNotPay does not have a law degree, is not prohibited in any jurisdiction and is not supervised by any law.
The startup, founded in 2015 by Joshua Browder, helps people deal with legal problems such as traffic violations, dissolution of marriages or resolving a dispute with banking institutions, to name a few. The interested party only has to enter some data using a chatbot and DoNotPay will take the necessary steps, such as filling out legal documents or acting on your behalf. Browder mentions that the service uses artificial intelligence to offer legal information for everyone.
The lawsuit accuses DoNotPay of practicing law without a license, an action that violates United States law. “Providing legal services to the public, without being a lawyer or without the supervision of a lawyer, is reckless and dangerous. And it has real-world consequences for the customers you hurt,” he says. Perhaps most importantly, the document mentions the attempt to develop an AI that can represent people in court.
The lawsuit would prevent an AI from offering legal services
Joshua Browder, founder of DoNotPay, reacted to the lawsuit with a direct accusation of the law firm. “Bad news! Jay Edelson, the richest class action lawyer in America, is suing my startup DoNotPay in California,” he said. “Edelson, who has made billions suing companies, is attacking us for unauthorized practice of law and seeks a court order ending any AI product,” he said.
According to Browder, Edelson used Facebook ads to attract people who used DoNotPay services and tried to convince them to sue the startup. Jonathan Faridian, a person who, according to Browder, would have had dozens of successful cases using the AI lawyer, accepted the offer. The legal document claims Faridian “was misled” into thinking he was using the services of a lawyer.
Although Jay Edelson is one of the most feared lawyers by technology, Browder says not to be afraid and is willing to go to trial against them. “We have the receipts, we have nothing to hide and we will defend ourselves. We can even use our robot lawyer on the case,” he said. This case could set a precedent for the development of AI-powered legal services.
Lawyers fear artificial intelligence will replace them
This isn’t the first legal issue Joshua Browder and DoNotPay have faced. Some months ago, the company announced that its AI would represent a citizen in court. In accordance with NewsScientista chatbot would support a person accused of speeding during his appearance before the judge.
The idea of an AI will dictate instructions in real time through a headset it sounded like the next big thing for this technology in the legal arena. Nevertheless, the practice was blocked by prosecutors from the State Bar of California, who threatened to send Browder to prison. Legal advice in court is not authorized and is considered a crime in some US states.
The explosion of ChatGPT and other generative AIs are changing the way we interact with the internet. At the same time, laws need to be updated to adopt and regulate this technology. Limiting or blocking its access will not be enough to prevent its imminent advance.