Fugees Member Argues Attorney's Use Of AI Should Give Him A New Trial
For the love of all that is holy, AI is not a replacement for good lawyering!
Left and right, there are AI zealots telling lawyers how AI can shave off the time and effort required to do their jobs. And while attorneys might show enthusiasm at the prospect, their clients aren’t always on board. Florida’s Bar is preparing to decide if lawyers should be required to disclose to their clients if any legal work was done using AI. As it turns out, one musician could have really used an answer on that question a few months ago — he’s less than appreciative of how his attorney arrived at his closing argument. From Reuters:
Prakazrel “Pras” Michel, a member of the hip-hop group Fugees, has said he is entitled to a new trial partly because his former lawyer used an experimental artificial intelligence program to draft an inadequate closing argument.
A new-trial motion filed by Michel’s new lawyers said the closing included “frivolous arguments,” misunderstood the required elements of the crimes, and “failed to highlight key weaknesses in the government’s case.”
…
“At bottom,” the new-trial motion said, “the AI program failed [Michel’s defense counsel, David] Kenner, and Kenner failed Michel.”
You can’t just go strumming people’s closing arguments with your AI. If Kenner were as avid an Above the Law reader as you, he would have seen our coverage of that time AI was faulty and made up caselaw or that other time it was faulty and made up caselaw. Once is an an accident, twice is notice — part of representing your clients is making sure that you’re the one doing the representing and not relying wholly on some snazzy tech. This time the culprit isn’t ChatGPT:
A press release issued after Michel’s trial said the AI program EyeLevel.AI was used in Michel’s trial, the first use of such a program in a federal trial.
The press release said EyeLevel.AI was launched with CaseFile Connect. Kenner said in the press release the AI program “turned hours or days of legal work into seconds.”
Wishing the best of luck to Pras and the ones who lost because a lawyer got lazy. That embedded song title was a bit of a stretch, but you get what I’m going for.
Hip-hop Star Seeks New Trial Over Lawyer’s Alleged Use Of Artificial Intelligence To Draft Closing Argument [ABA Journal]
Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord™ in the Facebook group Law School Memes for Edgy T14s. He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who cannot swim, a published author on critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at cwilliams@abovethelaw.com and by tweet at @WritesForRent.
