Episode 50: Pro Se Litigants, AI, and the Future of Legal Assistance
State bar associations typically file more UPL complaints than consumers. Given the intended aim of protecting consumers, UPL may actually be serving more as an obstacle and less as a protection for consumers using generative AI in the legal space. That’s the argument Wake Forest Law Professor and UPL expert Ellen Murphy makes in the latest Proof Over Precedent episode, where she identifies the legal industry’s progress with AI regulation by state and how AI and human counseling may combine to be the strongest access-to-justice resource.
Episode 49: AI and the Future of Legal Aid—Navigating Unauthorized Practice
The low cost and accessibility of AI make it a potential game changer for pro se litigation and the future of affordable legal aid. But with the patchwork of state unauthorized practice of law (UPL) rules and no court resolution on AI’s UPL liability, it also faces an uncertain future as a legal tool. HLS students tackle the issue in the latest Proof Over Precedent and distinguish between legal information and legal advice—a key to general-purpose AI’s future in law.
Episode 48: Legal Evolution from Auto Clubs to Access Barriers
When the organized bar association faced financial strain during the Depression, it cracked down on low-cost legal service providers via auto clubs like AAA, contributing to today’s access-to-justice gap. In this “How did we get here?”-style episode, HLS student Andrew Reed interviews Stanford Professor Nora Freeman Engstrom and University of Chicago Fellow James Stone about their research and the “revolution” taking place in many states to reform the legal profession.