First AI-Drafted Lawsuit Filed in Federal Court

Doucet Co., LPA has filed what it believes to be the first federal lawsuit entirely drafted by artificial intelligence (AI). The firm filed the AI lawsuit on behalf of a consumer against a debt collector and creditor, alleging violations of federal and state claims as a result of their attempts to collect on a paid debt.

Crafted by ai.law’s advanced AI complaint drafting software, this AI lawsuit represents a significant milestone in the use of AI in the law.  Inside the lawsuit, ai.law’s software recognized the need for jurisdictional allegations, the specific elements of each claim, and was able to assemble the complaint in a persuasive manner.  It even included an introductory statement designed to tell the client’s story persuasively and concisely.

Troy Doucet, Doucet Co., LPA’s principal attorney and co-founder of ai.law, is a top-rated litigation attorney whose firm has helped over 1,800 clients.  He decided to file the AI drafted lawsuit to remove some of the negative stigma surrounding AI in the law and because of the depth and quality of the draft. He said, “The AI-generated draft was equivalent of what I would expect from a multi-year associate.  After validating the allegations, I am confident in filing this lawsuit in court.”

Mr. Doucet credits ai.law’s software team for the strength of document, which go well beyond any GPT chat.  The advanced AI software stack is honed so that AI provides remarkable depth and accuracy of litigation documents. 

Using AI in the law is rapidly developing in part because the legal industry is based on words.  Since AI is ultimately about the relationship of words to other words, bringing together the law and AI makes sense.  As ai.law shows, the right combination of the law and AI produces excellent legal work.  Ai.law can also draft Answers, discovery responses, contracts, and do records analysis.

Attorney Justin Solze of Doucet Co., LPA initially assembled the client’s factual scenario in about a half hour.  He wrote a brief chronology and added the text of several letters into ai.law.  This informed ai.law of the facts and the background.  Ai.law’s AI software then autonomously drafted the entire ten-page complaint with all allegations in about four minutes.

The resulting AI lawsuit was well-structured and comprehensive. While minor tweaks were needed within a handful of paragraphs, those were minimal and resolved easily.  Mr. Doucet points out that reading documents produced by any AI is the best practice before using them, just like a partner would review an associate’s work product before submitting it.  Nevertheless, the time savings in using AI in the law is obvious.

Attorney Tyler Houston of Doucet Co., LPA, who also reviewed the drafted complaint, estimates that this quality of document would take a new lawyer at least 15 to 20 hours to draft.  An experienced lawyer could take five to eight hours or more.  Because ai.law drafted this AI lawsuit in under five minutes, it opens an entirely new way of thinking about the law and AI.  Even if the review and validation of the AI document takes an extra 10 to 25 minutes, the time saved is enormous.

Highlighting the benefits to a plaintiff’s law firm, Mr. Doucet expressed that efficiency is important, “The more efficient we can be with cases, the more cases we can handle.”  He said that was the motivating factor in starting ai.law.  At this point, he said, continuing to use ai.law is a “no-brainer.”  “Since it makes our lives easier and saves our clients’ money, we are certainly going to continue to use it in our practice.”

At attorney billing rates from $200 to $600 per hour, the cost savings to a client are also considerable.  Comparable attorney-billed cost of drafting this lawsuit would be $1,500 to $4,800.  Bigger firms that assign multiple attorneys to each case might be multiples of that cost.  In comparison, ai.law is available at $249 per month for access to most drafting modules.

Mr. Doucet notes that AI does not replace the judgment of a good lawyer.  “AI does not make a lawyer good or bad at their job – it is merely a tool to help a lawyer do their job more efficiently.”   With ai.law, attorneys retain full control over the AI-generated work product, ensuring that the final AI legal document reflects the firm’s standards and legal expertise.  Whether ai.law is used in the drafting does not change the lawyer using it.

With the filing of this first AI-generated lawsuit, Doucet Co. LPA and ai.law are showing the legal profession that AI in the law can have a positive impact that lawyers can embrace.  Ai.law promises substantial time and cost savings for legal service consumers, while enabling lawyers to assist more clients and increase earnings while working fewer hours.

Helping more clients is one benefit of using AI in the law, but the benefits are broader than the billable hour.  Using AI in the law appropriately means greater access to justice by society.  As more lawyers can help more people at a lower cost, more people will gain access to the legal system.  Independently, that is a great reason to build upon the use of AI in the law.

View the complaint at https://www.ai.law/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Stamped-Complaint-First-AI-Lawsuit-1.pdf