The lead defense attorney for convicted Fugees hip-hop star Prakasler “Plus” Michel used an experimental generative AI program last spring to draft closing arguments in Michel’s high-profile criminal trial. One news outlet reported that the company inappropriately relied on Newly submitted preliminary documents Requesting a retrial for Mr. Michel.
Michelle’s new lawyer at Arent Fox Schiff said the AI-generated closing argument by her former lawyer David Kenner was a colossal failure, saying, “Mr. “They misunderstood important factors, confused the plan, and ignored the government’s critical weaknesses.” This incident,” the brief states.
The brief said that by using an experimental AI program to generate closing arguments, Kenner botched the “most important part” of Michel’s jury trial.
Kenner did not immediately respond to two email inquiries about the new brief. His co-counsel, Aron Israelly, did not immediately respond to inquiries sent via LinkedIn.
Michel was convicted in April of federal charges of conspiring with fugitive Malaysian investor Jho Low in three lobbying schemes to influence two different U.S. presidential administrations.
New lawyers said Kenner relied on AI program EyeLevel.AI to assemble closing arguments in the complex and politically charged case, which featured testimony from Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio and a former U.S. attorney general. The lawsuit alleges that Kenner’s defense of Michelle was woefully inadequate. Jeff Sessions.
“The AI program was a failure for Kenner, a failure for Kenner and a failure for Michelle,” the brief said. “The closing argument was inadequate and unhelpful, and was a missed opportunity against the defense.”
Even more egregious, according to ArentFox’s brief, Kenner and Israelley have an undisclosed financial interest in a company called CaseFile Connect, which served as a “technology partner” for EyeLevel.AI. “It seems like he had it.”
The brief alleges that Kenner and Israelley viewed Michelle’s trial as an opportunity to promote Casefile Connect and advance their own financial interests at Michelle’s expense.
CaseFile Connect did not immediately respond to inquiries submitted through its website.
In a statement accompanying the brief, Peter Seidenberg, a partner at Arendt Fox and a former Justice Department political corruption prosecutor, said his team confirmed that Kenner used an AI program to write his closing argument. He said he first learned about it from Mr. Michel’s former publicist, who told Arendt Fox that Mr. Kenner had said similar things. At the end of Michelle’s trial.
Then ArentFox discovered May 10th, which had not received much attention. press release EyeLevel.AI announced after Michelle’s trial, praising the “first use of generative AI in a federal trial.”
The press release included quotes from Kenner, who said the AI program “turned hours or even days of legal work into seconds,” and that the program’s use “will help us envision how litigation will proceed in the future.” “I will do it,” he said.
Seidenberg’s declaration also cited a LinkedIn post by an EyeLevel.AI executive who acknowledged the use of the program in Michel’s trial. “The AI startup I’ve been working on is the first to use AI in a federal criminal trial,” the executive said in a post. “The attorneys for Fugees star Pras Michel used our platform to quickly conduct an investigation and help draft closing arguments.”
EyeLevel.AI said in an emailed statement that Kenner and Israelley have no financial interest in the program. In response to ArentFox’s criticism of closing arguments, the company said, “EyeLevel’s legal AI is a powerful tool for human lawyers to make human decisions, but faster and with much more information.” and can make decisions.” “EyeLevel can capture and understand complex legal records based solely on the facts of the case as presented in court.”
ArentFox announced that it has determined that CaseFile Connect and the Kenner Law Firm both list the same office suite in Encino, California as their principal address. Another address for Casefile Connect, according to Mr. Seidenberg’s filing, was a New York City office affiliated with Kenner’s co-counsel Israel Lee.
Arendt-Fox said the case file website does not reveal its ownership, but because of the duplicate addresses, Seidenberg wrote in the declaration that “Mr. Kenner and Mr. Israel “This appears to confirm that he had a financial interest in the AI program used to create this file.” After the closing argument, he bragged about it after the trial. ”
Ahrendt Fox’s attorney said in a filing that his team contacted Mr. Kenner and Mr. Israelley through their attorneys, but they refused to speak with Mr. Michel’s new attorney about the trial.
Michel’s motion for a new trial also requires the trial judge, U.S. District Judge Colleen Koller-Kottery in Washington, D.C., to ask the jury in the context of the trial that Michel and another federal judge have already concluded. It was argued that the proceedings were tainted by allowing the court to do so. This is a criminal fraud exception to the attorney-client privilege in which Michel conspired with his alleged co-conspirators to commit some of the crimes the government charges.
Those references, along with inadequate testimony about Michelle’s guilt by the lead case attorney in Michelle’s case, turned the jury into a “rubber stamp,” the brief alleged.
In addition to AI’s debacle in closing arguments, the brief listed a long list of alleged failures by Kenner. One of the most serious was that Mr. Kenner, who is not an expert in complex white-collar cases or lobbying regulations, outsourced trial preparation to an inexperienced contract lawyer from an e-discovery firm co-founded by his old friend Israel. This is Arent Fox’s accusation.
The lack of preparation proved fatal to Mr. Kenner’s attempts to cross-examine government witnesses, the brief said.