Pretty remarkable story out of University Heights, Ohio. Daniel Grand wrote and filed his cert petition to the Supreme Court on his own, pro se. Although he went to law school, he did not graduate. To study how cert petitions are constructed as well as the Supreme Court’s rules, he reportedly used AI, per the Wall Street Journal. The WSJ states: “When he decided to petition the Supreme Court on his own, he used artificial intelligence to learn the court’s intricate rules and study the work of top Supreme Court advocates.”
(After Grand’s cert petition was filed and the Supreme Court asked for a response from the City of University Heights, the respondents, Josh Rosenkranz, Supreme Court litigator from Orrick, and the conservative advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom became Grand’s lawyers.)
DOWNLOAD CERT PETITION:
Grand’s prior law school training probably distinguishes him from the average lay person. But legal AI tools offer people greater accessibility to the justice system. It lowers the barriers to entry, at least to some extent. And the divide is not merely between pro se versus parties with lawyers. Legal AI tools can help to level the playing field between solo practitioners and boutique firms versus large firms.
