AI law firm wins first case which could help landlords?

Hello, In the Grauniad (Guardian newspaper) today (don’t worry, I’m not a reader!). Not ‘property’ associated, but where landlords and especially leaseholders are faced with bullying freeholders, councils, suppliers, but cannot afford to fight the lawfare, this could be game-changing.

An artificial intelligence law firm has 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.

A freelance HR consultant paid the firm, Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter and then issue court proceedings over an unpaid debt of £7,000.

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. He said the case was a ‘landmark’.

Garfield – which was authorised 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. It handled all the paperwork and even a litigious counter-claim.

Could this technology eventually give landlords and leaseholders an affordable way to challenge unreasonable freeholders, councils, managing agents or suppliers without risking thousands of pounds in legal fees?

It will not replace specialist legal advice or human advocacy in more complex cases, but could regulated AI legal services help level the playing field where the cost of pursuing a legitimate claim currently makes justice unaffordable?

Thank you,

Lou