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AI tools can help Americans meet their civil legal needs
AI tools can help Americans meet their civil legal needs. Originally published by The Conversation.
By Ellen Murphy, Professor of Practice, Wake Forest University · 2026-09-24T13:06:29.950Z
Civil defendants in the U.S. have no constitutional right to an attorney, unlike defendants in criminal cases. iStock/Getty Images Plus Most Americans know that in all criminal cases – those filed by the government against an accused individual – the defendant has a constitutional right to a lawyer https://www.nacdl.org/Landing/Right to Counsel . The Supreme Court established this right in 1963 in the landmark case Gideon v. Wainright https://www.oyez.org/cases/1962/155 . What many people may not know is that no such right exists in civil cases https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal aid indigent defense/civil right to counsel1/ . Civil cases are those filed by individuals or businesses against other individuals or businesses – for example, a landlord against a tenant, a bank against a borrower or an employee against an employer. These cases affect rights that many Americans take for granted, including housing, healthcare and education. But calls for a civil right to counsel, or “ civil Gideon https://www.americanbar.org/groups/legal aid indigent defense/civil right to counsel1/ ,” have gone unanswered for years. Meanwhile, the United States ranks 112th of 143 countries https://civilrighttocounsel.org/major developments/u s rank on access to civil justice in rule of law index 116th out of 142 countries/ on access and affordability to civil legal services. This is 40 spots lower than a decade ago, despite a 6% increase https://www.americanbar.org/content/dam/aba/administrative/news/2025/2025 natl lawyer population survey.pdf in the U.S. practicing lawyer population during the same period. Access to justice Studies show that low income Americans receive insufficient or no legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems https://justicegap.lsc.gov/ . Nonprofit legal aid organizations fill some of this “justice gap.” However, 49% of those whose income is low enough https://justicegap.lsc.gov/resource/executive summary/ to qualify for services are turned away because legal services organizations lack resources https://evictionlab.org/legal aid under threat/ . The number of people turned away does not include those who make too much money to qualify https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2026/01/26/2026 01431/income level for individuals eligible for assistance for legal aid, typically 125% of the federal poverty level, or US$37,878 for a family of four https://www.healthcare.gov/glossary/federal poverty level fpl/ . My scholarship https://directory.law.wfu.edu/murphyme/ , along with that of others, suggest that the U.S. cannot lawyer itself out of this crisis. The legal system has failed to provide the resources that these seniors, veterans, children, rural Americans and others need to defend their legal rights or even understand their legal problems. I believe the proliferation of AI powered chatbots and legal services offers a new means of addressing these unmet legal needs. AI legal services Since ChatGPT’s release in November 2022, concerns over lawyers’ sloppy AI use have dominated headlines https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en/institute/articles/genai hallucinations , including instances where attorneys have cited fake legal cases in court filings https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/us/ai lawyers sanctioned mississippi.html . Typically overlooked is how AI has changed the way ordinary people interact with the law. AI offers not only ready access to free legal information that was once hard to find https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract id=2942478 , but also customized solutions to legal problems. Two types of AI tools are relevant.
Low income Americans receive insufficient or no legal help for 92% of their civil legal problems. Narumon Bowonkitwanchai/Moment via Getty Images The first type is widely known and broadly available: the multipurpose AI platforms like ChatGPT and Claude. Built on massive datasets of information, these tools provide unrestricted, easy access to legal information and resources. They can also provide tailored answers to specific questions, including legal ones. The second type is less well known. Niche AI tools are built on information relevant to a specific domain, like law. These types of tools are designed to understand the nuance of a field and assist with a narrow task. For example, Legal Aid of North Carolina offers a self service AI https://legalaidnc.org/lia/ tool that can answer users’ specific legal questions about child custody, domestic violence or consumer law. Both multipurpose and niche tools can provide generic legal information as well as advice about a person’s legal problem. However, niche AIs are more accurate https://www.ibm.com/think/topics/domain specific llm because they are trained on legal rather than generalized data and, therefore, they are more precise and relevant. Nonetheless, multipurpose tools have proven skilled https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/2512858 at helping litigants without access to lawyers. Early data https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/2512858 indicate that these self represented people are filing more cases as ChatGPT and similar tools became available. Judges agree https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/06/04/1138391/courts coping ai lawsuits/ that the increase in self represented litigants may be attributable to AI. However, access to the courts has not yet resulted in better chances of winning one’s lawsuit https://www.technologyreview.com/2026/06/04/1138391/courts coping ai lawsuits/ . Pros and cons of AI use Opponents of self represented litigants have complained about the proliferation of cases and improper filings created by multipurpose AI https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/25/us/politics/artificial intelliegence courts.html . Judges have expressed frustration with self represented parties dumping “ hundreds of pages of documents https://www.law360.com/pulse/articles/2512858 ” on the court. Furthermore, without individualized human interaction, algorithmic driven legal advice could harm litigants who are most in need of help by providing erroneous or incomplete advice. Both multipurpose https://natlawreview.com/article/case was settled chatgpt thought otherwise dispute poised define ai legal liability and niche legal tools https://www.floridabar.org/the florida bar news/tikds online service found to be upl/ are plagued by the legal profession’s self imposed limits on who can deliver legal services. When individuals other than lawyers provide legal advice or otherwise engage in the practice of law, it is known as the unauthorized practice of law https://www.westacademic.com/The Unauthorized Practice of Law An Interactive Course Concise Video Edition 3 , or UPL. UPL restrictions are designed to ensure the public receives competent and ethical legal representation. However, AI offers those who may not even understand they have a legal problem an opportunity to access information and assistance. AI can help people without counsel better understand the merits of their case and perhaps even understand the court procedure https://www.abajournal.com/web/article/Tell me how to get even with my lawyer? necessary to successfully represent themselves. These tools are not without risk. But, without them, we may continue to meet only 8% percent of the civil legal needs of Americans. Everyone else will continue to do without.
Ellen Murphy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.