HR consultant wins English court case using AI lawyer in apparent legal first

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, Tamires Camal Taquidir, paid the firm, Garfield AI, about £400 to send a legal letter. 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. said many small businesses have had to write off debts because the cost of litigation outweighed the money they could hope to win.

Garfield – which was authorised by the Solicitors Regulation Authority in April last year. can be used to make claims from £30 to up to £10,000 – 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 involved disputing a counterclaim launched by the defendant, who instructed solicitors.

It prepared four witness statements. a bundle of documents for the three-hour trial at Wandsworth county court on 14 May. The court found in favour of Taquidir and awarded her the money owed.

Taquidir said: “I was owed money for work I had done, but it felt like the process of recovering it could be too stressful, expensive. time-consuming. Garfield made it possible for me to pursue the claim and keep going.

“When the counterclaim was brought, it was intended to intimidate me, but I knew I had accessible, cost-effective. competent support. I’m delighted by the result.”

Dominic Li, the barrister who represented Taquidir in court, said Garfield presented the client’s case “clearly. efficiently”, but added: “The advocacy at trial remained essential and a fundamentally human exercise.”

The British legal profession has been shaken by a number of high-profile AI blunders. Last month. an international law firm, Pinsent Masons, referred itself to the Solicitors Regulation Authority after twice misleading a court based on search results from an internal AI system.