Governor highlights study saying pro se filings rose after AI; governors discuss implications for courts and legal aid

Governor Couch summarized a recent study he said was titled "Access to Justice in the Age of AI, Evidence from US Federal Courts," and said the research found a notable rise in pro se filings since AI became available.

"The number of pro se filings almost doubled with the invention of AI," Governor Couch said, describing the study’s finding that more unrepresented litigants are filing cases in areas such as consumer, civil-rights and foreclosure disputes.

Couch said the study also found dismissal rates and time-to-resolution had not changed, which he said suggests courts are treating many of the new filings as legitimate matters that require the same judicial attention. "These are real filings that are going through ... even though there's an attorney on the other side are not being dismissed right away," he said.

Other governors reacted to the study and described practical implications. One governor said anecdotal experience shows family-law clients are submitting AI-generated pleadings with irregular formatting and errors; that governor suggested legal-aid clinics and volunteer attorneys could benefit from tools that harness AI to assist representation.

"Harnessing the good out of AI, I think, would be a tremendous thing to, for example, legal aid clinics," a governor said, noting AI might help clinics and volunteer attorneys manage increased demand.

The discussion did not produce a formal direction or vote; governors described the study as thought-provoking and said it could inform future conversations about court capacity, pro se litigant assistance and regulatory or practice guidance for attorneys and nonlawyers using AI tools.

Next steps: governors flagged the study for further attention and suggested the subject be considered by regulators and sections focusing on access to justice and technology.