Don't use AI to convince me to take your case. Just tell me what happened.

If you want me to consider your possible case, read to the end.👇

AI or "Artificial intelligence" is so common that it's hard not to use it.  But here's the thing.  If you want me to consider a potential case that you have, and you ask AI for help in how to present that case to me, it's not going to work.  On the contrary, when I see AI language in an email about a case, it's less likely that I'll ultimately take the case.

Why?  Because I am a human, and presumably you are a human.  And I want to talk to you like humans do.  When I am looking at a new potential case, the first and most important thing I want to know is what happened.  In plain language.  That's it.  If it's something I'll consider, then I'll let you know what else I need, and we'll probably talk about what happened.

Here's what I don't want:

I don't want to hear about what the law is.  That's my job.  And AI often gets it wrong.

I don't want to hear fancy words to prove that you're smart or educated.  I don't care whether you're smart or educated.  I help people who have been taken advantage of.

I don't want the information that AI thinks will be helpful.  AI is not better than me at knowing what I need from you.

So again, if you are emailing me about a new case, tell me what happened in plain language.  The way you normally talk.  Tell me a short story, start to finish.  I don't need every detail.  It doesn't matter to me if your grammar or spelling is poor.  I don't care if you have a cultural way of speaking.  You do not need to hide who you are.

Now, if you need AI because of a disability or language issue, that's fine!  No problem.  Use the AI to solve that problem, but don't ask it what I want to hear.

If you need AI to translate what happened from your plain language explanation into English, great, use it!  I have clients who don't speak English.  We'll deal with it.

If you need AI to help you deal with a physical or mental disability, no problem!  You and your doctor know how best to deal with your disability and help from technology can be awesome.

But still, do not ask AI how you should present your case to me.  I promise you, it does not know.

Be Kind to Lawyers Day

This past Tuesday was "be kind to lawyers day." Here's how my day started. I got a call from the family of a man who suffers from a variety of mental illnesses. He struggles, and is doing reasonably well with medication. This is his story. A few days before, he got a flyer in the mail advertising a "giveaway" at a car dealership -- one of those that has a key taped to it, and says you won one of three prizes. He took the flyer in to see what he had "won." What happened next is shocking.

In order to even find out what he "won" he had to sit through a sales presentation. Despite his telling the salesman that he did not want to buy a vehicle, he was convinced to give him the key to his current car, supposedly to find out what the exact mileage was. The salesman did not give the key back to him. Over the next few hours, he is given a high-pressure sales talk. They show him a big fancy expensive 4-door pickup truck. He repeatedly says he does not want to buy it. But the salesman takes the license plate off his current car and puts it on the truck. He still says no -- he can't afford it. He doesn't have a job, and only gets social security. They convince him to call his wife. He does. She says no too. He is due to take his medication, and starts to shake. He is getting very stressed, and although he is able to take his meds (without food, as he normally does), he just wants to leave. So, in that state, he signs over his trade-in, and "agrees" to buy the $16,000 truck for $34,000, and goes home. His family called me.

I agreed to try to convince the dealer to unwind the deal, at no charge to my client (pro bono), if it could be done without a law suit. So I faxed a letter to the dealer and the finance company involved. The owner of the dealership called. At first, he was polite, and actually agreed to cancel the deal. So far, so good. Then it became clear that he also wanted my client to recant his story, and to tell the finance company that the story didn't happen that way. We said no. That's when I got called an “ambulance-chaser” and was accused of “slander.” That was also the end of the conversation. I politely suggested that the dealer have his attorney contact me if he still wanted to unwind the deal without a law suit.

Thankfully, the dealer's lawyer had more sense than his client. We unwound the deal. The client got his car back, and the contract was canceled. And then, I got something I have never received from a car dealer in nine years of consumer protection cases: an apology.

Greg Reichenbach, Attorney at Law

Bluffton Ohio

Email: Greg@ReichenbachLaw.com

Website: www.reichenbachlaw.com

Twitter: @gsreichenbach

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ReichenbachLaw

“Last Dollar” scams

Check out this Article in the Connecticut Law Tribune by Mark Dubois.

It explains how the laws that ban the unauthorized practice of law are consumer protection laws, and are needed to prevent people from being scammed by people looking for your "last dollars."

Greg Reichenbach, Attorney at Law

Bluffton Ohio

Email: Greg@ReichenbachLaw.com

Website: www.reichenbachlaw.com

Twitter: @gsreichenbach

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ReichenbachLaw