Interesting Legal Issue: ChatGPT Sued in Federal Court in Illinois Under Allegation of Practicing Law Without a License

According to an article written by Laura Lorek which was published in a March 9, 2026 online edition of The Legal Intelligencer, an interesting lawsuit was filed in the US District Court of the Northern District of Illinois recently, naming OpenAI Foundation and OpenAI Group PBC as Defendants. The lawsuit accuses ChatGPT, a chatbot developed by OpenAI, of practicing law without a license.

Nippon Life Insurance Company of America filed suit against the Defendants noted after a former pro se litigant used ChatGPT to contest a previously settled and dismissed lawsuit, which the pro se Plaintiff later acknowledged was a final and enforceable settlement.

The Complaint that was filed in the lawsuit alleges that ChatGPT provided unauthorized legal assistance to the former pro se litigant who had settled claims against the insurance company. The Complaint alleges that the unauthorized legal assistance provided by ChatGPT resulted in forty-four (44) frivolous Motions being filed and allegedly caused the Plaintiff $300,000 in legal expenses.

The insurance company was seeking in its lawsuit $300,000 in compensatory damages, court costs, attorneys’ fees, a permanent injunction barring OpenAI from providing legal assistance in Illinois, and $10 million dollars in punitive damages.

As noted in the article written by Laura Loreck for The Legal Intelligencer, the case raises unresolved legal questions, including whether AI tools can be held liable as third-party offenders, whether providing legal assistance constitutes “the practice of law” under state statutes, and the extent to which AI companies are responsible for foreseeable misuse of their products.

Source: Article – “Practicing Law Without a License: ChatGPT Sued For Legal Fees,” By Laura Lorek of The Legal Intelligencer (March 9, 2026).

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