It may be scary news for attorneys to find out that an AI will argue the first legal case ever in a court of law in February. The hearing is a routine speeding ticket, which is probably why the court agreed to allow the unprecedented counsel request.

An iPhone equipped with an AI app and earpiece will provide the litigant with the appropriate responses to arguments during the hearing.

Consumer advocate organization DoNotPay developed the algorithm that is being used to help users get out of fines, fees, and subscriptions.

“The DoNotPay app is the home of the world’s first robot lawyer,” it boasts. “Fight corporations, beat bureaucracy, and sue anyone at the press of a button.”

The company has not disclosed the court’s location or the defendant’s name to ensure a controlled environment for the experiment. The defendant has been instructed only to say what the bot tells him. Should the judge rule against the defendant, DoNotPay has agreed to cover any fines and fees associated with the case.

DoNotPay’s “robot lawyer” started life as a chatbot in 2015, but In 2020, DoNotPay incorporated more sophisticated AI that it hopes is good enough to argue an actual legal case in real-time successfully.

DoNotPay’s founder and CEO, Josh Browder, said he wants to use the case to make his AI accurate and honest.

“We’re trying to minimize our legal liability,” Browder says. “And it’s not good if it actually twists facts and is too manipulative.”

Ultimately Browder would like to see his app become good enough to replace an attorney but at a substantially lower fee.

“It’s all about language, and that’s what lawyers charge hundreds or thousands of dollars an hour to do,” he said. “There’ll still be a lot of good lawyers out there who may be arguing in the European Court of Human Rights, but a lot of lawyers are just charging way too much money to copy and paste documents, and I think they will definitely be replaced, and they should be replaced.”

We can be certain that lots of lawyers will be watching the outcome of this case, hoping that the AI fails resoundingly and attorneys can avoid being replaced for at least a few decades longer.

You can read more about this unique experiment here.

And, for as long as human attorneys are still necessary, you will need to ensure you are in compliance with all of your current CLE requirements. Fortunately, we have bundles that will keep you compliant, are affordable, engaging and completely online for your convenience. Take a look at our CLE bundles here and just email us at info@marinolegal.com if you have any questions regarding your state’s CLE compliance rules.