DoNotPay

DoNotPay is an online legal service and chatbot. The product provides a "robot lawyer" service that claims to make use of artificial intelligence to contest parking tickets and provide various other legal services, with a subscription cost of $36 bimonthly.[1]

Original author(s)Joshua Browder
Initial release2015 (2015)
Operating systemiOS, Android
Available inEnglish
TypeLegal technology, chatbot
Websitedonotpay.com

DoNotPay's effectiveness and marketing have been subject to criticisms.[2][3] A class-action lawsuit was even brought against the company in March 2023 alleging DoNotPay was engaged in the unauthorized practice of law.[4]

Services

DoNotPay started off as an app for contesting parking tickets. It sells services which generate documents on legal issues ranging from consumer protection to immigration rights; it states that these are generated via automation and AI.[5] The company claims its application is supported by the IBM Watson AI.[6] It is currently available in the United Kingdom and United States (in all 50 states).[7]

DoNotPay states that its services help customers seek refunds on flight tickets and hotel bookings,[8] cancel free trials,[9] sue people,[10][11] apply for asylum or homeless housing,[7] seek claims from Equifax during the aftermath of its security breach,[12] and obtain U.S. visas and green cards.[13] DoNotPay offers a Free Trial Card feature which gives users a virtual credit card number that can be used to sign up for free online trials (such as Netflix and Spotify).[8] As soon as the free trial period ends, the card automatically declines any charges.[14][15] DoNotPay also claims that its services allow users to automatically apply for refunds, cancel subscriptions, fight spam in people's inboxes, combat volatile airline prices, and file damage claims with city offices.[16][17]

In 2021, DoNotPay raised $10 million from investors, including Andreesen Horowitz, Lux Capital, Tribe Capital, and others, reaching a valuation of $210 million.[18]

Reception

In 2016, Joshua Browder, the company's founder, told The Guardian that the chatbot had contested more than 250,000 parking tickets in London and New York and won 160,000 of them, although the newspaper did not appear to verify the claim.[19]

Browder's technology has received mixed reviews. For example, a blog post from The Guardian noted that it "just drafted an impressive notice under the Data Protection Act 1998 not to use my personal information for direct marketing."[20] Similarly, a writer with The American Lawyer noted that, "one of DoNotPay's chatbots helped me draft a strong, well-cited and appropriately toned letter requesting extended maternity leave."[21]

However, Legal Cheek tested the service in 2016 with "fairly basic legal questions" and noted that it failed to answer most of them.[22] Above the Law noted that the service may "be too good to be true" due to errors in the legal advice provided, noting that when dealing with "things as important as securing immigration status, which is one of the services DoNotPay promotes, mistakes can ruin lives." Above the Law ultimately recommended the service for "clear-cut issues like parking tickets or non-critical matters," while cautioning against its use for legal issues with higher stakes.[2]

In January 2023, Browder claimed that the organization would attempt to use DoNotPay live in court, but was forced to halt after being warned about the unlicensed practice of law. NPR wrote that "some observers" have had "mixed to shoddy results attempting to use its basic features", and noted that Browder, the company's founder, is known for attention-seeking stunts.[3]

In March 2023, the company faced a class-action lawsuit alleging that it "misled customers and misrepresented its product"[4] and that the company is practicing law without a license.[23]

See also

References
  1. Kumparak, Greg (2021-09-09). "DoNotPay's 'robot lawyer' can now help report potholes or fallen trees to the city, file damage claims". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2021-09-09. Retrieved 2021-09-09.
  2. Wilkins, Steph (12 October 2018). "DoNotPay Is the Latest Legal Tech Darling, But Some Are Saying Do Not Click". Above The Law's Legal Tech Non-Event. Archived from the original on 2023-02-02. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  3. Allyn, Bobby (25 January 2023). "A robot was scheduled to argue in court, then came the jail threats". National Public Radio. Archived from the original on 30 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  4. Leffer, Lauren (2023-03-13). "DoNotPay, the 'Robot Lawyer,' Is Being Sued". Gizmodo. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  5. Kelley, Jaclyn (October 18, 2018). "Robot Lawyer: App allows you to sue anyone with press of a button". Fox 5. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  6. Kreiger, Lisa M. (March 28, 2019). "Stanford student's quest to clear parking tickets leads to "robot lawyers"". The Mercury News. Archived from the original on 2021-10-06. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  7. Johnson, Khari (July 12, 2017). "DoNotPay bot expands its free legal services across the U.S. and U.K." VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2020-06-24. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  8. Sharma, Ruchira (16 September 2019). "New app promises to automatically cancel subscriptions at end of a free trial period so you won't get charged". iNews.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  9. Dreyfuss, Emily (July 7, 2019). "This Clever New Service Auto-Cancels Your Free Trials". Wired. Archived from the original on 2019-10-22. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  10. Haskins, Caroline (Oct 10, 2018). "New App Lets You 'Sue Anyone By Pressing a Button'". Vice. Archived from the original on 2020-02-14. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  11. Quinn, Lindsey (October 17, 2018). "Josh Browder's DoNotPay lets users 'swipe right' on court settlements and sue for $25k". The Hustle. Archived from the original on 2019-10-16. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  12. "Chatbot offers legal help to Equifax data breach victims". BBC News. 2017-09-12. Archived from the original on 2021-04-22. Retrieved 2021-04-22.
  13. Ambrogi, Robert (October 10, 2018). "New Bots From DoNotPay Includes One That Lets You Sue In Any Small Claims Court At The Press Of A Button". LawSites. Archived from the original on 2019-12-01. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  14. Dreyfuss, Emily (July 7, 2019). "App that cancels subscriptions launches in UK". BBC. Archived from the original on 2019-12-06. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  15. "Virtual Credit Cards". DoNotPay. Archived from the original on 2019-12-30. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  16. Kumparak, Greg (2021-09-09). "DoNotPay's 'robot lawyer' can now help report potholes or fallen trees to the city, file damage claims". TechCrunch. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  17. Sawers, Paul (2020-10-07). "DoNotPay's 'robo lawyer' now scans your emails to fight spammers, cancel subs, and get refunds". VentureBeat. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  18. Simpson, Andrew G. (2021-08-02). "Robot Lawyer DoNotPay, Valued at $210 Million, Plans to Target Small Businesses". Insurance Journal. Archived from the original on 2022-09-20. Retrieved 2022-09-18.
  19. Gibbs, Samuel (28 Jun 2016). "Chatbot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York". Guardian. Archived from the original on 2020-02-08. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  20. "Come friendly robots and take our dullest jobs | John Naughton". the Guardian. 2017-07-16. Archived from the original on 2021-05-04. Retrieved 2021-04-11.
  21. "The DoNotPay Dilemma: Can Chatbots Provide Access to Justice Without a Lawyer?". ALM Law.com. 2017-07-17. Archived from the original on 2023-01-06. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  22. "Computer science student, 19, says legal profession should be 'very scared' of his new 'robot lawyer' - Legal Cheek". Legal Cheek. 2016-01-15. Archived from the original on 2017-08-31. Retrieved 2017-09-01.
  23. Merken, Sara (2023-03-09). "Lawsuit pits class action firm against 'robot lawyer' DoNotPay". Reuters. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
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