from the note-to-self:-never-conduct-fraud-that-kathryn-tewson-finds-out-about dept

Over the previous couple of weeks, you might have observed that the world’s most tenacious paralegal, Kathryn Tewson, has been carefully dismantling claim after claim after claim from the corporate DoNotPay and its CEO Joshua Browder. I received’t rehash all of her discoveries, however a lot of them referred to as into query Browder’s obvious tendency to massively overstate what his firm can do, at the same time as he would then search to quietly cowl his tracks each time Tewson identified one other little bit of nonsense.

Browder made the extremely unwise determination (he in all probability ought to have checked with an actual lawyer moderately than his faux AI lawyer) to appear on Bob Ambrogi’s always excellent podcast the place he continued to simply completely misrepresent a ton of issues, a few of which may get him into critical authorized issue. As an apart, I noticed some folks declare that Ambrogi let Browder off simply every time he misrepresented issues, however that wasn’t my impression in any respect. He saved citing increasingly more issues (typically citing us at Techdirt), and simply let Browder dangle himself along with his personal phrases. Phrases that I believe he could come to remorse.

I received’t undergo the whole podcast, however I’ll observe that Browder’s assault on Tewson is simply blatantly false. He claims that DoNotPay delivered its first doc to her, after which “the system” thought she was getting into faux information, and subsequently, for the subsequent two filings she made, she acquired the discover she’d have to attend hours. Besides… that’s not what occurred. As anybody who learn Kathryn’s article here is aware of, whereas Kathryn did request three paperwork, Browder acquired the order fallacious. It was the primary two that the corporate stated could be delivered hours later. It was the third one which was delivered instantly (although it was horrible).

Additionally, Browder retains insisting over and over that Tewson is simply mad as a result of she was banned, besides anybody following Tewson is aware of that’s false. She’s mad that Browder is deceptive the general public and promoting a authorized service that doesn’t do what it claims. He additionally retains falsely saying that Tewson claimed that DoNotPay was actually sending information off to “a military of individuals, typing out each letter manually.” He made that declare just a few weeks in the past too, however Tewson by no means stated nor even implied that. As a substitute, she’s famous that the timing delays make it look like DoNotPay is just taking primary templates, a la LegalZoom, and having somebody fill within the particulars from the submitted customers, which might clarify the delay. By exaggerating and misrepresenting Tewson’s claims, Browder will get to border them as ridiculous, moderately than addressing her actual considerations.

Effectively, now he could have to handle her actual considerations. On Monday, Tewson filed a petition with the NY Supreme Court docket asking for an order for Browder and DoNotPay to protect proof, whereas additionally searching for pre-action discovery, as she plans to file a shopper rights swimsuit, arguing that DoNotPay is basically a fraud. The petition, written by J. Remy Inexperienced, is… price studying. It’s fairly spectacular.


This motion seeks pre-action discovery preliminary to a shopper rights swimsuit over,
at its core, a $36 greenback fraud. Respondents seem to have lied to customers and are pretending
to have leading edge authorized expertise, all to rip-off them out of about $36 an individual.

The petition lays out that DoNotPay is promoting a bunch of authorized companies that there’s little indication it will probably really present, and calls out the similarities to Theranos.


This episode smacks of nothing a lot because the Theranos fraud.

Theranos, like DoNotPay, was constructed on a noble concept. It was designed to chop
via medical testing utilizing leading edge expertise. Theranos was constructed on the declare it had a
distinctive expertise for blood testing that made it cheaper, extra accessible, and fewer painful for
sufferers. It drew investments from throughout the ideological spectrum and was valued at over $10
Billion at its peak.

However Theranos by no means really had that expertise.

As a substitute, as soon as cornered and compelled to ship a product, Theranos dressed up an
current Seimens testing machine and ran it utilizing too little blood for legitimate outcomes.

So too right here: By all appearances, Respondents are dressing up an old style
doc wizard and calling it a “Robotic Lawyer.” Actually that’s what Respondents did with
the one doc Petitioner was capable of get earlier than Mr. Browder personally started re-writing the
DoNotPay phrases of service to principally say “TELL NOTHING TO KATHRYN TEWSON, SHE
IS BANNED FOR LIFE.”

The petition notes that it’s searching for pre-action discovery in order that the upcoming swimsuit is extra correct, and permitting Browder to point out at the very least some proof as as to whether or not DoNotPay really makes use of any AI in any respect.


Earlier than bringing a shopper class motion alleging that is all a home of playing cards, whereas
Petitioner believes she is ready to plausibly allege the fraud, Petitioner would love to have the ability to
allege the main points with specificity. And he or she want to give Respondents an opportunity to point out that
at the very least someplace of their begin up, one thing was working on Synthetic Intelligence.

A lot of the petition is principally a rewriting of the article Tewson wrote for us and numerous Twitter threads she’s posted on the topic.

There may be some amusement within the submitting, primarily within the footnotes. In a single message that Browder despatched to Tewson, printed within the petition, Browder claims the proof that Tewson is utilizing his platform for inauthentic causes is that she made up the identify “James Joyce.”


In relation to the genuine utilization, I messaged you on the twenty fourth to let you know that and
reactivated your account however you must hold it actual to cease our programs flagging
you. Who’s James Joyce? You’re clearly working in dangerous religion by creating faux
names and “producing a TON of” (your phrases) of pretend instances.

Within the Ambrogi interview, Browder additionally calls Joyce a “fictional” character. James Joyce was an actual particular person. He wrote fictional characters, however he, himself, will not be fictional. In one of many footnotes, this apart is known as out: “Whereas not legally actionable, later statements display the literary offense that Mr. Browder genuinely seems to not know who James Joyce is.”

However the actually enjoyable footnote is in the direction of the tip, the place Tewson notes that she consents to Browder utilizing his robotic lawyer to defend himself on this case, and virtually dares him to take action:


For what it’s price, Petitioner does and can consent to any utility Respondents make to make use of their “Robotic
Lawyer” in these proceedings. And he or she submits {that a} failure to make such an utility ought to weigh closely in
the Court docket’s analysis of whether or not DoNotPay really has such a product.

So, maybe Browder finally will get to check his robotic lawyer in court docket in any case…

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