Dr. Paula Arenzo, lawyer specializing in new technologies and crypto assets
The popular robot lawyer “DoNotPay” has been sued for unauthorized exercise of the right by not having a law degree, nor a license to practice and, likewise, for misleading advertising in the United States. The lawsuit was filed in March this year in California under the name of Jonathan Faridian, who subscribed to the platform to draft various legal documents. According to the user, the result qualifies it as “deficient”, alleging that DoNotPay has been offering legal services online without having the proper authorization to do so.
In California, as in almost all states in the United States, the practice of law is prohibited without a license granted by the State Bar Act, Cal. Bus. and Prof. Code § § 6125), which means that it is illegal for people to present themselves as lawyers or practice until they are admitted to the Bar (of California) or otherwise authorized to do so.
As expressed by the demand1 DoNotPay is not actually a robot, nor is it a lawyer or a law firm. In addition, he does not have a law degree, is not registered or licensed in any jurisdiction, and is not supervised by a lawyer.
are a chatbot2 An artificial intelligence-powered company that uses natural language processing and machine learning algorithms to provide legal advice and assistance to users through its website or app, DoNotPay.com.
Founded by Joshua Browder, it is a platform that uses artificial intelligence in the form of a chatbot to help users. Initially it was devised against parking tickets, currently expanding to other legal disputes in more than one hundred areas. He even introduces himself as “The World’s First Robot Lawyer” in his web3
Also, through its website, it offers users the possibility of hiring a lawyer or “lawyer robot” with just one click. Let’s see the following example: “Sue a person in a court of claims menores4”, being able to choose, among others, Sue the company Uber.
But, as I mentioned before, DoNotPay is not a lawyer, nor is it a law firm, nor does it have legal advice, nor are they lawyers or their fundadores5.
In the lawsuit, they present it as a website with a repository of poor legal documents that, at best, complete a legal improvisation based on information entered by clients, all using artificial intelligence. Is it enough for legal practice?
Currently, artificial intelligence cannot replace the figure of the lawyer, nor does it come to destroy it or present itself as a threat, even implementing it in our daily lives can help us improve and be more efficient.
For those of us who work actively, we know that there is a part of the practice of law that is more related to the professional’s ability to find a way to solve it. Understanding the law as an algorithm is the first of the errors.
From the formal side, even less is it allowed to replace such a figure under the parameters of “robot lawyer” and make use of the latest advances in technology without the legal precautions required for natural persons. Precisely for this reason, professional practice is regulated, not only in the United States, but in the rest of the world.
On this point I agree with the plaintiffs, who allege that people who seek legal services often do not understand the regulations or the implications of the documents or legal processes with which they seek help on the platform, which can generate consequences for users by not being duly advised or leading them to the confusion of believing that such advice comes from a lawyer, since the “Robot Lawyer” service is advertised. Providing legal services to the public, without being a lawyer or even being supervised by a lawyer, is reckless, dangerous and constitutes an illegal exercise of law, having real-world consequences for user-clients.
- Is the “Robot Lawyer” false advertising?
On the other hand, the lawsuit alleges that the platform is misleading users into believing that they are receiving professional legal services, when in fact they are artificial intelligence services that do not have the same ability to represent clients effectively as they do. licensed attorneys.
Through its website, DoNotPay would have carried out illegal and/or fraudulent commercial practices, due to:
(a) Present yourself as an attorney when you are not, nor are you a law firm or attorney licensed to practice in such jurisdiction;
(b) Attract users through the offer of legal services, when you do not have a license to practice.
The acts carried out, together with the advertising used on its website, turn out to be misleading for the consuming public, who could have come to believe, at the time of contracting the service, that they were really being advised by a lawyer or legal team.
The lawsuit against DoNotPay raises important questions about the regulation of online legal services and competition in the legal marketplace. As technology continues to transform the way people access information and services, it is relevant that these issues are addressed fairly and equitably to protect consumer rights, exercise of law and the integrity of the system. legal.
The founder of DoNoPay assures that they will “vigorously defend themselves”, leaving the question of whether they will use their robot lawyer in this case. Will they trust their own artificial intelligence tools to be defended in the present lawsuit filed against them?
- Link a la demanda: https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.
com/gfx/legaldocs/dwvkdzbjxpm/ Faridian%20v.%20DoNotPay% 20Complaint.pdf - Chatbots, also known as chatterbots, are exactly what the name suggests: chatting robots. In other words, chatbots are developed with the objective of communicating with users, often using artificial intelligence to obtain an experience closer to reality. There is a wide variety of chatbots, from the simple ones that only answer general frequently asked questions to more sophisticated ones that learn as people interact with them. That is, they can be created by means of a series of rules (in the same way as a decision tree) or with artificial intelligence (AI).
- Screenshot of the DoNotPay.com website
- Assimilated in Argentina to a Misdemeanor Court
- In the image you can read “DoNotPay will give you a perfect demand letter to send to Uber”. UBER is an American technology company that provides mobility as a service. Using its application, users who need transportation can easily find driver partners who offer this service.
- to residents of the state of California