Rapper Accuses Attorney of Outsourcing Closing Arguments to AI Technology In Request for New Trial
Prakazrel Michel, better known by his professional name “Pras” and as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, recently appealed his April federal conviction on charges of conspiring to circumvent United States election laws through campaign contributions, arguing that his trial attorney, David Kenner, improperly relied on AI-generated closing arguments in his defense. Pras has appealed his conviction alleging ineffective assistance of counsel by his former attorney, claiming “Kenner’s closing argument made frivolous arguments, misapprehended the required elements, conflated the schemes and ignored critical weaknesses in the government’s case,” his motion states. The motion also points to a press release from the company used, CaseFile Connect, which touted it as “the first use of generative AI in a federal trial” and Kenner himself is quoted as saying the software, “turned hours or days of legal work into seconds.” Worse still, it appears that Pras’ trial attorneys may have had an undisclosed financial interest in the AI company which wrote the closing arguments.
This is not the first time a court or client has taken issue with a lawyer farming out their legal work to artificial intelligence technology, as you will recall earlier this year we covered a lawyer who was reprimanded for using Chat GPT in conducting their legal research which turned up fabricated cases. As we stated then, it is important that when seeking legal representation in any matter, it is important to rely on an attorney who does not seek out shortcuts or use their client as a guineapig to test new technology, however promising it might appear to be.
