London, Monday 5 May 2025 - The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) has authorised Garfield, the world's first AI-powered litigation assistant designed to help small and medium sized businesses and large enterprises recover unpaid small debts through the court system of England and Wales.
Built by a team led by a senior City litigation lawyer and a quantum physicist, Garfield makes the small debt claim process accessible, fast and affordable, helping businesses reclaim money they are owed without the complexity, cost or stress of traditional routes.
"UK businesses lose billions each year to unpaid invoices," said Philip Young, co-founder and CEO of Garfield. "SMEs are especially hard hit. Garfield fixes this. It gives every business the tools to get paid - fairly, affordably and fast."
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The problem: £5.3bn+ in unpaid invoices
Each year UK businesses fail to recover billions of pounds of unpaid debts, often because pursuing small claims under £10,000 is seen as too costly or time-consuming. The small claims process in England and Wales is often perceived as confusing and intimidating, especially for sole traders and smaller businesses.
"Garfield is intended to level the playing field," said Mr Young. "This is access to justice delivered through responsible AI."
The solution: the AI-powered litigation assistant
Using Garfield, the claimant or their representative simply uploads the relevant information and authorises each step in the process. Garfield then takes care of the rest, from creating letters before action, drafting the Claim Form and Particulars of Claim, to applying for default judgment, handling settlement negotiations and preparing for trial.
The small claims process follows a defined series of steps, each needing to be completed in a specific way. Garfield uses legal best practice to ensure all claims are prepared correctly and the process is followed, and tracked, precisely, significantly reducing errors and delays.
No software application like this has ever existed before. This is a world first.
Why now?
Garfield's authorisation by the SRA marks a landmark moment for legal AI in the UK. It is the first time an AI-powered legal platform has been authorised to deliver regulated legal services directly. The decision also shows the SRA's willingness to support innovation that can expand access to justice.
Commenting on the authorisation process, Mr Young said:
The SRA's thoroughness, thoughtfulness, and engagement during the authorisation process for Garfield has been extremely impressive. The SRA is now a world leader in promoting access to justice with AI.
Garfield has already received considerable interest from the senior judiciary, government and Parliament. Speaking at the Civil Justice Council's annual judicial conference in November 2024, Lord Justice Birss, deputy head of civil justice, said Garfield is "absolutely at the core of what we can do for access to justice." His remarks can be viewed here. In February 2025, Garfield was presented to the Justice Select Committee, where it was described as "ground-breaking".
Responsible AI
Garfield is designed with legal integrity at its core. Unlike generic legal chatbots, Garfield is built on domain-specific expert knowledge and modelled to follow the Civil Procedure Rules with precision and transparency.
This is an ideal application for the latest advances in AI. It harnesses AI technology to read through various legal documents and guide users through the many precise steps of the court process - something that's simple in theory but complicated in practice.
Daniel Long, technical co-founder of Garfield
Early adopters of Garfield include SMEs, law firms, accountancy firms and other professional services firms. Garfield also integrates into a law firm's toolkit, giving solicitors a way to handle smaller debt claims profitably and at scale.
A human story
Garfield's original inspiration came from Andy King, a self-employed plumber who lives near Sheffield and is Mr Young's brother-in-law. Despite the success of his business, he occasionally encounters customers who refuse to pay him for quality work completed in good faith. Mr King said:
As a small business owner, I have had occasions where customers did not pay their debts. These usually had to be written off as it is too costly and time consuming to chase them through the Courts. Many people know this and use it to get free labour and goods. Garfield is a game changer - an accessible system that is cost effective to use, allowing SMEs to recover money owed to them. In such a harsh business climate, it gives SMEs a fighting chance.
Please contact:
Philip Young
philip@projectgarfield.co.uk
07946 353583
Daniel Long
dan@projectgarfield.co.uk
07411 431019
About Garfield AI
Garfield is a web based, AI powered legal assistant that guides a claimant, or their representative, through each step of the small claims court process for debt claims, up to trial.
Garfield AI's mission is access to justice. To this end, it will be releasing a further suite of products over the coming year. It was founded by Philip Young, a London commercial litigation lawyer formerly of City law firm CYK, and Daniel Long, who left his PhD in quantum physics to go all in on Garfield. For more information, visit garfield.law.
