The 'Robot Lawyer' myth - DoNotPay
The FTC recently fined DoNotPay $193,000 for making misleading claims about its 'Robot Lawyer' service, so I thought it was necessary to alert the public about legaltech businesses that are not only careless in their marketing but also exaggerate what their software can achieve. You'll encounter legaltech companies claiming to have software that may be used as an alternative to hiring an attorney, but you should proceed cautiously.
Sometimes it is not stated openly; for example, I had someone (non-lawyer) email me about hiring a well-known company's legal assistant to draft legal paperwork for him, which resulted in his getting into a lot of legal trouble. Non-lawyers are now employing this software with the assumption that if lawyers save time with this software and it's doing their work for them, then why pay them? I'll use the software myself. The legaltech companies know they aren't ever going to replace lawyers entirely, but that won't stop them from taking advantage of desperate people. Fortunately, the FTC also required DoNotPay to provide a notice to consumers who used its service between 2021 and 2023 warning about the limitations of its legal products and prohibited it from making false claims about its service going forward. Hopefully DoNotPay's case serves as a warning to other legaltech companies.
DoNotPay, a do-it-yourself legal and consumer services company that until recently advertised itself as a "Robot Lawyer," has agreed to a Federal Trade Commission order fining it $193,000 and requiring it to warn consumers who used its service between 2021 and 2023 about the limitations of its legal products. The issue is in marketing itself as a 'Robot Lawyer' when it isn't claiming to be your lawyer and do legal work. Lawyers not only provide you with accurate legal information, but they also take accountability when things go wrong. DoNotPay does neither of those things. It is however great for fighting parking tickets, canceling subscriptions, help in disputes with airlines, etc. All tasks that a lawyer just won't do but a consumer may need assistance with.
In addition, the order forbids DoNotPay from "making claims about its ability to substitute for any professional service without evidence to back it up," according to the FTC.
The FTC had filed a complaint, and the ruling said that DoNotPay had misled customers about its legal services. However, the judgment also stated that DoNotPay "neither admits nor denies any of the allegations" made by the federal agency. The FTC action is the most recent development in DoNotPay's continuing legal battle about its promotion of its "Robot Lawyer" persona.
The FTC contended in the complaint that DoNotPay had committed violations of Section 5 of the FTC Act, citing instances of "False or Unsubstantiated Performance Claims" and "False Claims." The government claimed that the corporation had made "false or misleading or were not substantiated" claims that the Service's artificial intelligence and other technologies "operates like a human lawyer," either directly or indirectly, explicitly or by implication. DoNotPay by the way has removed a lot of its services that are 'legal services' in nature. They seem to have directed their focus to consumer rights and the FTC case has to do with services which have been discontinued.
DoNotPay declared in late January 2023 that it would stop providing its non-consumer legal rights products—such as those that assist users in creating agreements and demand letters—and concentrate on non-legal services like assisting customers with managing payments and canceling subscriptions.
But the company's problems didn't stop there. DoNotPay was served with a class action lawsuit in March 2023, claiming that it had engaged in the unlicensed practice of law in violation of California's Unfair Competition Law. A few months later, the corporation reached a settlement.
The State Bar of California also sent DoNotPay a cease-and-desist letter in June 2023, claiming that its service constituted an unlicensed profession of law, according to the FTC complaint. In retaliation, the business deleted any references to "Robot Lawyers" and the expression "sue anyone" from its social media pages and websites, as well as any goods that produced legal paperwork.
However, according to the FTC complaint, "Notwithstanding these representations to the California Bar, the DoNotPay website and social media account continued to promote the Service as the 'World's First Robot Lawyer' and advertise 'sue anyone' claims." Anyways, all legal services have been removed from the company's business offerings and I just want consumers to be very careful with software companies that claim to be offering legal services and also take no accountability for the output produced by their software. Even though lawyers use software in their work, they in no way avoid accountability for their work product and where lawyers lack the competence to assist you they refer you to someone who can assist. AI will just generate information even if it's unsure of answers to your legal questions.