When the Fugees’ Pras Michél was charged in an international financial conspiracy, he tapped David Kenner, an attorney known for working with rappers from Suge Knight to Snoop Dogg. Now, after being convicted on ten counts in April and facing up to a 20-year sentence, Michél and his new legal team are claiming Kenner was “ineffective” — and that, among other issues, he used artificial intelligence to write his closing statement. “Kenner’s closing argument made frivolous arguments, misapprehended the required elements, conflated the schemes, and ignored critical weaknesses in the Government’s case,” Michél’s new legal team wrote in a motion for a new trial filed October 16, per Politico. “The closing was damaging to the defense.” The lawyers further claimed Kenner had “an undisclosed financial interest” in CaseFile Connect, the program used. Vulture has reached out to Kenner and CaseFile for comment.
EyeLevel.AI, which developed the legal AI with CaseFile Connect, touted Kenner’s use of its product in a press release sent May 10 — days after Michél had already been convicted. “EyeLevel.AI’s litigation assistance technology made history last week, becoming the first use of generative AI in a federal trial,” the release said. Kenner added that the program “turned hours or days of legal work into seconds,” calling it “an absolute game changer” and “the future.” EyeLevel’s founder and COO, Neil Katz, clarified in a statement to Vulture that Kenner did not have a financial stake in his company. However, he also defended EyeLevel’s legal capabilities, adding, “We see enormous benefits for AI in the legal sphere.” Michél’s lawyers, on the other hand, said the AI-written closing statement began with what “appeared to be an admission of guilt” and included a “sole, frivolous defense.”
Michél’s new attorneys also claim Kenner was not familiar with the complicated federal law involved in the case, and that he “outsourced” work to “inexperienced contract attorneys.” (Michél was charged with being part of an international embezzlement scheme and acting as an unregistered foreign agent; he has maintained innocence.) They additionally cite a contempt charge against Kenner from a month before the case, over grand jury materials he allegedly leaked to media. “Michel never had a chance,” his lawyers wrote, calling the resulting verdict “unreliable.”
