AI tools are driving more self represented court cases in the US

In short: More people are filing court cases without a lawyer, and many filings now show signs they were written with AI tools.

What's going on

Researchers Anand Shah and Joshua Levy reviewed millions of US federal court filings and found a sharp rise in cases where people represent themselves, instead of hiring a lawyer. These self represented cases held steady at about 11 percent of federal civil cases from 2005 to 2023. Since AI writing tools became widely used, the share has risen to 17 percent.

The researchers also used a tool called Pangram to look for AI generated text in legal complaints. (Think of it like a plagiarism checker, but for spotting computer written language.) They estimate the share of civil complaints with probable AI text went from close to zero in 2022 to about 18 percent so far in 2026.

The study did not find clear signs that these AI assisted cases were worse in quality, at least in federal court. There was no increase in how often cases were dismissed, and no evidence that cases took longer. However, the amount of paperwork per AI assisted case increased, which suggests courts may face more strain over time.

The Financial Times also reports a different experience in the UK, especially in employment tribunals. Some UK lawyers say they are seeing a surge of long, highly detailed claims that can be hard to sort through and may misuse laws. One lawyer compared the situation to attaching a powerful hose to old, narrow pipes, meaning the system can clog even if more people can file claims.

What to watch

A key question is whether court systems can handle a bigger volume of filings and documents. Another is whether AI encourages people to bring simpler claims they previously could not afford, while leaving more complex legal work for human lawyers.

Source: Financial Times