DoNotPay

DoNotPay is a legal services chatbot founded by Joshua Browder, a British-American entrepreneur. The chatbot was originally built to contest parking tickets, but has expanded to include other services as well. As a "robot lawyer," DoNotPay is a downloadable mobile app that makes use of artificial intelligence to provide legal services to all users free of charge.[1] It is currently available in the United Kingdom and United States (all 50 states).[2]

DoNotPay
Original author(s)Joshua Browder
Initial release2015 (2015)
Operating systemiOS
Available inEnglish
TypeLegal technology chatbot
Websitewww.donotpay.com

DoNotPay has been featured by the BBC[3], NPR[4], NBC[5], Bloomberg[6], Washington Times[7], and many other major news outlets.

Application

DoNotPay had started off as an app for contesting parking tickets, but has since expanded to include features that help users with many different types of legal issues, ranging from consumer protection to immigration rights and other social issues. The "robot lawyer" makes use of automation to provide free legal consultation for the public.[8] The application is supported by IBM's Watson computer.[9]

As of October 2018, the app only allows for appealing small claims with a maximum limit of $25,000, but Browder plans to expand into more legal areas and add many more features in the near future. Browder claims that one of his major goals for DoNotPay is to eventually allow all members of society to have access to the same levels of legal representation.[10] The app also allows users to file small claims with utility providers and other companies.[11][12]

History

In 2015, DoNotPay was founded by Browder when he was 17 years old. Originally, Browder had created an app that allowed users in the United Kingdom to protest their parking tickets.[13] Coverage for DoNotPay was then subsequently expanded to the United States, covering all 50 states.[13]

Immediately after its launch, Browder's DoNotPay application quickly became widely used by thousands of users and gained significant international media coverage. In 2016, The Guardian reported that the chatbot had successfully contested more than 250,000 parking tickets in London and New York and won 160,000 of them, all free of charge, claiming a success rate of over 60 percent.[14]

In 2017, Browder launched 1,000 more bots to help with filling out transaction legal forms in the US and UK.[15] DoNotPay has also expanded to include features that help users obtain refunds on flight tickets and hotel bookings,[16] cancel free trials,[17] sue people,[18][19] and even offer legal services relating to social issues such as asylum applications and housing for the homeless.[20]

In 2018, DoNotPay acquired Visabot, a chatbot that helps provide automated services to users seeking to obtain U.S. visas and green cards. Around the same time, DoNotPay also launched a service that helped users seek claims from Equifax during the aftermath of its security breach, a feature that has since been integrated into the DoNotPay app.[13][21]

As of 2019, DoNotPay provides specialized advice for appealing parking tickets[22] in locations such as New York City,[23] Cambridge, Massachusetts,[24] Chicago,[25] Milwaukee,[26] Sacramento,[27] and UCSD.[28]

In 2019, the DoNotPay application has even advised students at Stanford University, Browder's alma mater, to waive their Student Activities Fees.[29] More recently, DoNotPay launched Free Trial Card, which gives users a virtual credit card number that can be used to sign up for free online trials such as Netflix and Spotify.[30] As soon as the free trial period ends, the card automatically declines any charges, thus ending free trials without having to give up the cardholder's personal payment information.[31][32]

Funding

In 2019, Browder obtained $4.6 million in funding from Silicon Valley investors such as Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, who were early funders of Facebook.[33]

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See also

References
  1. "Disputing & Beating Parking Tickets With A Chatbot". Telemundo. Sep 12, 2019. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  2. Johnson, Khari (July 12, 2017). "DoNotPay bot expands its free legal services across the U.S. and U.K." VentureBeat. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  3. Kleinman, Zoe (16 September 2019). "App that cancels subscriptions launches in UK". BBC. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  4. Rezvani, Arezou (January 16, 2017). "'Robot Lawyer' Makes The Case Against Parking Tickets". NPR. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  5. Fishbach, Julie (July 21, 2016). "Coder, 19, Builds Chatbot That Fights Parking Tickets". NBC. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  6. Sullivan, Casey (June 29, 2016). "A Robot that Kills Parking Tickets and its Big Law Friend". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  7. Chasmar, Jessica (June 29, 2016). "Stanford student's robot lawyer has beaten 160,000 parking tickets". Washington Times. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  8. Kelley, Jaclyn (October 18, 2018). "Robot Lawyer: App allows you to sue anyone with press of a button". Fox 5. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  9. Kreiger, Lisa M. (March 28, 2019). "Stanford student's quest to clear parking tickets leads to "robot lawyers"". The Mercury News. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  10. Burns, Janet (Sep 15, 2017). "Chatbot Can Help You Sue Equifax For Up To $25K, Fight Parking Tickets". Forbes. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  11. "Sue AT&T (small claims)". DoNotPay.
  12. "Suing Comcast (small claims)". DoNotPay.
  13. Ambrogi, Robert (October 10, 2018). "New Bots From DoNotPay Includes One That Lets You Sue In Any Small Claims Court At The Press Of A Button". LawSites. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  14. Gibbs, Samuel (28 Jun 2016). "Chatbot lawyer overturns 160,000 parking tickets in London and New York". Guardian. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  15. Mannes, John (Jul 12, 2017). "DoNotPay launches 1,000 new bots to help you with your legal problems". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  16. Sharma, Ruchira (16 September 2019). "New app promises to automatically cancel subscriptions at end of a free trial period so you won't get charged". iNews.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  17. Dreyfuss, Emily (July 7, 2019). "This Clever New Service Auto-Cancels Your Free Trials". Wired. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  18. Haskins, Caroline (Oct 10, 2018). "New App Lets You 'Sue Anyone By Pressing a Button'". Vice. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  19. Quinn, Lindsey (October 17, 2018). "Josh Browder's DoNotPay lets users 'swipe right' on court settlements and sue for $25k". The Hustle. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  20. Johnson, Khari (July 12, 2017). "DoNotPay bot expands its free legal services across the U.S. and U.K." VentureBeat. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  21. "Suing Equifax". DoNotPay.
  22. "Appealing parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  23. "New York parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  24. "Cambridge parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  25. "Chicago parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  26. "Milwaukee parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  27. "Sacramento parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  28. "UCSD parking tickets". DoNotPay. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  29. deNicola, Cooper (January 25, 2019). "Stanford alum's company advises students to waive Student Activities Fee". The Stanford Daily. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  30. Sharma, Ruchira (16 September 2019). "New app promises to automatically cancel subscriptions at end of a free trial period so you won't get charged". iNews.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  31. Dreyfuss, Emily (July 7, 2019). "App that cancels subscriptions launches in UK". BBC. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
  32. "Virtual Credit Cards". DoNotPay.
  33. Titcomb, James (4 July 2019). "British 22-year-old's 'robot lawyer' app raises $4.6m from Facebook backers". Telegraph. Retrieved 2019-10-16.
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