Civil wrongs such as assault, defamation, false imprisonment, and negligence are known as torts, the area of law governing harm between private parties. In these cases, a person or organization can be held responsible and required to pay damages. For some, hiring an attorney is possible and worthwhile. For many others, the cost is simply out of reach, leaving them to navigate the civil system on their own as pro se litigants.
Unfortunately, pro se litigants face enormous barriers: understanding procedural rules, identifying the right legal claims, and preparing documents that courts will actually accept. Even individuals with valid claims often fail to move forward because they can't afford professional assistance at the start. That's the gap between justice and access to justice that Luri's research aims to narrow responsibly.
Last year, we began exploring how large language models (LLMs) might help individuals and lawyers better understand and structure civil complaints, not to replace lawyers, but to improve early-stage legal literacy and preparation. While tools like ChatGPT can assist in organizing facts or drafting correspondence, complex cases still require attorney oversight and review.
Complainer is part of Luri's access-to-justice research initiative, designed to generate structured sample complaint materials and checklists for attorney review. The system helps users organize key facts, possible claim types, and relevant parties — producing an educational sample that attorneys or legal clinics can refine into a proper pleading. It never files, signs, or submits any document. Users must operate Complainer either as licensed attorneys or under the express instruction of their attorney. Every sample generated is for illustrative and educational purposes only, not for direct submission to any court.
Our vision for Complainer is to reduce the initial friction between clients and lawyers, by making the factual intake and pre-review process more structured. We believe that, when used responsibly, AI can make the legal preparation process less opaque, freeing lawyers to focus on strategy rather than manual formatting and intake.
We're now inviting lawyers, professors, and legal aid professionals to evaluate this tool and shape its safeguards. Early validation sessions are short (15–30 minutes) and help us ensure the system remains both useful and compliant with ethical practice standards.
Complainer is not a substitute for legal advice or representation. It is a step toward making justice more accessible, understandable, and ethically enhanced through responsible AI. If you are a torts attorney, legal educator, or advocate for access to justice, we'd love to collaborate. Contact us at roopa@luri.ai or connect on LinkedIn to get involved. Together, we can ensure technology supports — never replaces — the essential role of lawyers.
