Essex: An artificial intelligence (AI)-powered law firm in the UK has secured a landmark victory by going toe-to-toe with human lawyers, in what is being considered a first in the world.
According to reports, Garfield AI, a chatbot capable of drafting legal documents, won a small claims court dispute worth £7,000 (Rs 8.79 lakh), representing Tamires Camal Taquidir, a freelance human resources (HR) executive.
Taquidir paid only £400 (Rs 50,252) to avail Garfield’s services and successfully sued a hospitality business over unpaid fees, as reported by NDTV.
Garfield, authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority SRA in April last year, prepared the case and then hired a human barrister to advocate for the client in court. The AI conducted all the legal work preceding the trial, which included four witness statements and a bundle of documents.
Dominic Li, a junior barrister of One Essex Court, was instructed by Garfield shortly before the trial began. Following a three-hour trial at Wandsworth County Court, in which both sides were represented by barristers, the court ruled in favour of Taquidir, awarding £7,000 and dismissing the counterclaim.
“I found the documents drafted by Garfield AI to be more than sufficient for the purposes of this trial,” Li said.
Garfield’s co-founder Philip Young called it a “landmark moment”, adding that it could usher in a new age of “access to justice”.
“I’m pleased to announce a huge landmark moment in law and for access to justice. Garfield AI has won its first trial, and against a firm of human solicitors who instructed Counsel,” Young said in a LinkedIn post.
“It wasn’t a simple small claim trial either – not a one-hour hearing followed by an ex tempore judgment, but rather a three-hour trial with numerous witnesses, extensive cross-examination and then a reserved judgment.
Garfield’s user not only won her claim but defeated the defendant’s counterclaim. This is the first trial ever won by an AI lawyer against human opposition, anywhere, ever. It’s the dawn of a new age of access to justice,” he added.
Garfield AI handles claims worth up to £10,000 (Rs 12.5 lakh), charging only a fraction of the money that would be ordinarily incurred by hiring a lawyer from a traditional firm.
