New Problem in US Courts: Artificial Intelligence Is Increasing Lawsuit Filings

The number of citizens representing themselves without lawyers in US courts is rising sharply, and judges are linking this to the spread of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies. According to a study analyzing 4.5 million civil cases from 2005 to 2026, the share of filings submitted without lawyers rose from 11 percent in 2022 to 16.8 percent in 2025. Colorado Judge Maritza Braswell notes that court documents increasingly feature styles typical of large language models like ChatGPT, fabricated precedents, and non-existent citations. Reported by Ixbt.com report .

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Southern California checked 1,600 documents using the Pangram detector. The results showed that while only 1 percent of documents had generation markers in 2023, this figure rose to 18 percent by 2026. According to judges, although the volume of documents has increased, their quality has improved. Applications that previously consisted of illegible handwriting or confusing arguments are now being made systematic and understandable with the help of Microsoft Copilot.

However, the improvement in text quality is not positively affecting success in court cases. Parties without lawyers continue to lose in proceedings involving professional attorneys. Researcher Joshua Levy explains that the judicial process is not just about preparing documents, and text generation solves only part of the problem. For example, after posts on the Reddit network, the number of lawsuits prepared via Microsoft Copilot in Vermont increased from 45 to 1,100 per year, but effectiveness remained low.

Currently, US courts are debating a new legal issue: the confidentiality of user communication with chatbots. While a Michigan court recognized correspondence with ChatGPT as part of protected legal work, a New York court stated that such confidentiality does not apply to documents created via Claude. Judge Allison Goddard emphasizes that artificial intelligence sometimes creates a false impression of the chance to win, leading people to unjustified legal expenses.