World’s first robot LAWYER is being sued by a law firm – because it ‘does not have a law degree’

By William On Mar 14, 2023

A ‘robot’ that would go on to make history for advising the first defendant in court with artificial intelligence (AI) is now accused of operating without a law degree.

AI-powered app DoNotPay is facing allegations that it is ‘masquerading as a licensed practitioner’ in a class action lawsuit brought by US law firm Edelson.

The chatbot-style tool aims to make legal information accessible and “self-help” to support consumers battling big business.

But Chicago-based law firm Edelson has claimed the service is “illegitimate” and so is the company itself ‘substandard’ legal documents.

In a file published by the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco, the plaintiff said, “Unfortunately for its customers, DoNotPay is not actually a robot, an attorney, or a law firm. DoNotPay has no law degree, is not barred in any jurisdiction, and is not supervised by an attorney.”

AI-powered DoNotPay has been accused of ‘disguising’ as a licensed lawyer in a lawsuit

Joshua Browder (pictured), the founder of DoNotPay, says the claims made are “baseless.”

Former Stanford University student, Joshua Browder, founded DoNotPay in 2015 and originally planned to appeal parking fines in the UK.

HOW THE WORLD’S FIRST ROBOT LAWYER WORKS

The technology is designed in a chat format where the bot asks questions to learn more about the details of the case.

With regard to a parking ticket claim, questions may be asked such as ‘were you or someone you know driving?’ or “was it difficult to understand the parking signs?”

After analyzing these answers, the robot decides whether you are eligible for appeal. If so, he generates a notice of appeal that can be taken to court.

Since then, the firm has expanded into the US and can now provide advice on a number of other topics, including flight delays, workplace rights and misleading advertising claims.

While DoNotPay would make history for advising the first defendant with a robot lawyer in court, it fell through due to prison sentences.

China is the first to apply artificial intelligence in court.

In January, Mr Browder tweeted: ‘Bad news: after receiving threats from prosecutors, it seems likely they will put me in jail for six months if I continue to bring a robot lawyer into a physical courtroom.’

Jonathan Faridian, who filed the Edelson lawsuit against DoNotPay, added that he had personally used DoNotPay’s services to prepare a discrimination complaint, file a small claim and draft a number of other legal documents. set.

Mr Faridian said he ‘thought he was buying legal documents and services that would be suitable for use by a lawyer competent to provide them’ but did not receive them.

The March 3 file continued: “Unfortunately, DoNotPay misses the mark. Providing legal services to the public, without being a lawyer or even under the supervision of a lawyer, is reckless and dangerous. And it has real consequences for the customers it hurts.

“A customer, who posted an online review, used DoNotPay’s legal services to dispute two parking fines. According to his account, his fines were even increased because DoNotPay did not respond to the summons. The customer then canceled his account, but DoNotPay continued to charge subscription fees.

DoNotPay’s service then turned another customer’s arguments into its dispute over a parking ticket. Where she had wanted to claim she was not at fault, DoNotPay’s services instead admitted they were at fault, and the customer had to pay a resulting fine of $114.

At the time of writing, DoNotPay’s website still refers to itself as “the world’s first robot lawyer” and continues to offer legal products to the public, casting doubt on its intent to stop posing as a certified practitioner.’

DoNotPay’s founder tweeted that he wouldn’t be “bullied by America’s richest class action lawyer,” referring to Jay Edelson who founded the company

The Edelson lawsuit also stated that the founder of DoNotPay is not a lawyer.

In response, Mr Browder tweeted that the ‘claims were unfounded’, adding that DoNotPay would not be ‘bullied by America’s richest class action lawyer’, referring to Jay Edelson who founded the company.

He said, “Time and time again, the only people who win are the lawyers. So I wanted to do something about it, build the DoNotPay robot attorney to empower consumers to take on companies on their own. This put my target on my back and Edelson started a campaign to stop us.

“Usually the best response is to keep quiet. Edelson successfully sued Google, Amazon and Apple for billions. The NYT calls him the “most feared lawyer in Silicon Valley.” But DoNotPay won’t be intimidated by America’s richest class action lawyer.

So we fight back! We have the receipts, have nothing to hide and will defend ourselves. We may even involve our robot lawyer in the case.’

Jay Edelson said the company “understood” that DoNotPay would try to “distract” from its wrongdoing once a lawsuit was filed.

He told Insider“When we filed a lawsuit, we understood that Josh and DoNotPay would try any way they could to distract from their misconduct. They attacked our client and are now attacking me.’

MailOnline has reached out to Edelson and DoNotPay for comment.