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by clbrmbr 1226 days ago
Could be interesting to use embeddings so you could get proper legal citations. This could be a great leveler, making it easier to self-represent…
1 comments

Here's a video from Legal Eagle on the topic from yesterday:

https://youtu.be/Tpq3hRt0pmw

Tl;Dw it's a cold shower on this idea as it's implemented by the startup DoNotPay. There are a myriad of issues but the biggest one is that it isn't possible to foist the liability onto the customer and thus skirt the regulations around the unlicensed practice of law - if you run this service, you are either a law firm or you are a criminal enterprise.

Maybe it could be made to work though, this particular startup doesn't seem to have the deep understanding of the law that would be necessary for the project to succeed. If one started from the assumption they were an AI-assisted budget law firm, rather than an Uber or AirBNB style "we're just gunnuh break the law and get away with it, until we can eventually lobby to change the law," perhaps it could work.

Not all countries comprehensively forbid the unlicensed practice of law - one prominent exception is England, where only a specific set of reserved legal activities require authorization:

https://legalservicesboard.org.uk/enquiries/frequently-asked...

So a service like this would probably be legal there if they avoid the reserved activities.