AI-assisted mass legal filing collapses Chilean judicial system
An attorney reportedly used AI automation to file approximately 38,000 legal documents across Chilean civil courts in three days, causing the virtual judicial office system to collapse. The Committee of Civil Judges requested the Supreme Court prohibit AI use for filing documents and investigate the lawyer for procedural abuse.
What happened
Starting July 25, 2026, attorney Paul Chateau filed approximately 38,477 legal documents across all civil courts in Chile using an automated agent or robot, primarily submissions for case withdrawal and termination of legal representation.
The filings averaged 500 to 900 documents per civil court and caused the Virtual Judicial Office system to collapse, overwhelming the processing capacity of court staff.
Reported impact
The system collapse prevented normal judicial operations and significantly increased workload for judges and court staff without additional technical or human resources available.
The Committee of Civil Judges stated that court operations were disrupted and the working environment in each tribunal was adversely affected.
Index analysis
The Committee of Civil Judges classified the incident as procedural abuse and abusive use of technological tools that violated conditions of use for the Virtual Judicial Office platform.
The filings reportedly responded to the termination of the attorney's contracts with institutional clients including Banco Santander, Caja Los Andes, CAT Cencosud, and Parques Cementerio, with the attorney using the automated tool to avoid manually processing each case.
Governance controls
The Committee of Civil Judges requested that the Supreme Court restrict the attorney's access to the platform, obtain a report on potential disciplinary and criminal liability, and prohibit the use of AI for document filing until an institutional policy regulating such use is established.
Classification
Sources and evidence
This record was researched and written by the Index, based on the following original reporting.