An AI law firm won a case in an English court, in what is believed to be the first time a trial has been won using an AI lawyer.

As reported by Casey Newton at Project Counsel Media (In what is believed to be a first, an artificial intelligence law firm has won a case in an English court, available here), A freelance HR consultant, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter and then issue court proceedings over an unpaid debt of £7,000.

Plus, all the lasagna it can eat. Kidding. 😉 Then again, it can’t “eat” anything (except maybe data).

The co-founder of Garfield, Philip Young, called it a “landmark moment” for access to justice and said many small businesses have had to write off debts because the cost of litigation outweighed the money they could hope to win.

Garfield – which was authorized by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in April last year and can be used to make claims from £30 to up to £10,000 – prepared the case and then hired a human barrister to advocate for the client in court.

So, there was a “human in the loop” for that part, at least.

But the AI conducted all the legal work preceding the trial, which involved disputing a counterclaim launched by the defendant, who instructed solicitors.

Garfield AI prepared four witness statements and a bundle of documents for the three-hour trial at Wandsworth county court on 14 May. The court found in favour of Taquidir and awarded her the money owed.

Taquidir said: “I was owed money for work I had done, but it felt like the process of recovering it could be too stressful, expensive and time-consuming. Garfield made it possible for me to pursue the claim and keep going… When the counterclaim was brought, it was intended to intimidate me, but I knew I had accessible, cost-effective and competent support. I’m delighted by the result.”

As Newton notes: “what a nice advert for Garfield AI.” Indeed.

And what a scary proposition for many lawyers out there. Though a win for “access to justice” advocates. 😊

Image created using DALL-E 3, using the term “orange robot cat in a courtroom”.

So, what do you think? Are you surprised that an AI law firm won a case in an English court? Please share any comments you might have or if you’d like to know more about a particular topic.

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