My AI Lawyer broadens access to legal services

My AI Lawyer aims to broaden access to legal services by introducing potential two-way conversational capabilities. Darren Cohen, the head of distribution and marketing at My AI Lawyer, discussed these plans with ITWeb ahead of the tool's official launch in South Africa. Created by legal software firm Legal Interact and insurer Legal&Tax Services, My AI Lawyer debuted in March 2023 as a service on WhatsApp and later as a comprehensive legal dashboard.

Initially launched in beta, the platform expanded to partner businesses before reaching 30,000 users addressing labor, civil, and family matters. Offering subscription plans from R49 to R99 per month, the service currently partners with around 70 businesses, including employers, mobile networks, and insurers.

The goal is to promote access to justice by making legal advice and assistance readily available, potentially preventing costly litigation. My AI Lawyer assists users in understanding their legal rights, and qualified human advisors are available for sensitive or complex issues. The platform curates complex legal jargon into plain language, enabling users to request drafted legal letters, receive e-mail notifications, and receive refined contextualized advice.

From a technical standpoint, My AI Lawyer is built on large language models (LLM) with Microsoft certification, ISO compliance, and a proprietary corpus of legal information. The platform constantly updates its knowledge base, which includes 1,000 to 2,000 questions and answers weekly, tailored to South African law by South African lawyers.

Unlike generic AI tools, My AI Lawyer is specifically trained on South African law, incorporating guardrails to ensure answers align with the country's legal system.