A'robot' that was set to make history for advising the first defendant in court with artificial intelligence (AI) has now been accused of operating without a law degree. The AI-powered app DoNotPay faces allegations that it is'masquerading as a licensed practitioner' in a class action case filed by US law firm Edelson. The chatbot-style tool is centred around making legal information and'self-help' accessible to support consumers fighting against large corporations. But Chicago-based law firm Edelson has claimed the service is'unlawful' and the company itself has'substandard' legal documents. In a file published by the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco, the complainant said: 'Unfortunately for its customers, DoNotPay is not actually a robot, a lawyer, nor a law firm.

DoNotPay, which describes itself as "the world's first robot lawyer," has been accused of practicing law without a license. It's facing a proposed class action lawsuit filed by Chicago-based law firm Edelson on March 3 and published Thursday on the website of the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of San Francisco. The complaint argues: "Unfortunately for its customers, DoNotPay is not actually a robot, a lawyer, nor a law firm. DoNotPay does not have a law degree, is not barred in any jurisdiction, and is not supervised by any lawyer." The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Jonathan Faridian, who said he'd used DoNotPay to draft various legal documents including demand letters, a small claims court filing, and a job discrimination complaint.