Most civil legal needs of low-income individuals go unmet. AI offers, for the first time, a plausible path to scale help that has always been rationed.

Pilots in housing, benefits and family law show AI can triage, draft forms and explain procedures in plain language. The constraint is not technology but regulation of unauthorized practice.

Regulatory sandboxes in several states are testing new models. Their findings will shape whether AI broadens access or simply enriches those already served.

The profession has a choice: defend its monopoly or redesign it in the public interest. History will judge which it chose.