My AI Lawyer puts affordable legal advice in your pocket

My AI Lawyer has launched in South Africa, offering an affordable artificial intelligence legal advisor you can access online and at any time. Available on the web and via WhatsApp, the platform provides you with practical, on-demand guidance on everyday legal questions. Qualified human legal advisors are available when you need help with a sensitive or complex matter. You can sign up for a free trial at StartWithMyAILawyer.com.

The secure, mobile-first platform is designed to democratise access to legal services in a country where millions cannot afford traditional legal advice. My AI Lawyer helps you navigate everyday legal challenges from understanding tenant rights and handling employment disputes to knowing what to do when arrested or navigating maintenance orders.

Says Darren Cohen, Head of Distribution and Marketing at My AI Lawyer: “Access to justice should not be a privilege, but a right. In reality, expensive hourly rates and intimidating jargon mean that too many South Africans are unable to access the legal advice and information they need to protect their rights.

“My AI Lawyer changes that. It puts a trained, knowledgeable legal advisor directly into your phone, making legal advice accessible 24/7. You can ask questions and get answers in plain language. It’s like having a lawyer in your pocket.

Unlike generic AI tools, My AI Lawyer is trained extensively on South African law by South African lawyers and constantly updated for the latest developments, making it one of the first LLM solutions of its kind in the country. The platform engages directly with your specific question, delivering accurate, up-to-date and personalised guidance tailored to your situation.

You can ask questions via text or voice, request that legal letters be drafted and emailed to you, and access contextualised advice that becomes more refined the more you engage on a particular matter. When matters are complex, you can ask My AI Lawyer to transfer you to one of our highly qualified human legal advisors.

“When you’re unsure, or need more input, you can speak to one of our human lawyers. My AI Lawyer is an empathetic legal companion that understands South African law and enables you to connect with a qualified human advisor. It is digital when you want it, human when you need it,” says Cohen.

The AI lawyer has guardrails to contextualise and provide answers that align with the South African legal system. My AI Lawyer handles all personal information in accordance with South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act (POPIA). The platform is a closed system, meaning that your personal info and legal questions are not used to train large language models.

On the backend, all user data is processed within the secure Microsoft Azure infrastructure, where it is stored in encrypted databases and logically isolated in a multi-tenant architecture ensuring conversations are private and secure.

The product’s potential has already attracted international recognition. My AI Lawyer was the first ever African project to be awarded the Microsoft Global Inclusion Changemaker award. Recognised for our role in making access to justice a reality, and driving democratised, inclusive growth, underscoring its impact on access to justice. A full subscription is available at R99 per month.

“Access to justice is recognised as a right in the South African Constitution and the UN Sustainable Goals. Traditional legal services can be prohibitively expensive for many, including those who do not qualify for legal aid,” says Cohen. “My AI Lawyer was built to close that gap.”

//Staff writer