AI Use Could Hinder Lawyers’ Training And Put Clients At Risk: US Judge

A federal judge has warned that law firms’ growing use of artificial intelligence could create risks for clients and hinder the training of junior lawyers, even as he declined to sanction attorneys over AI-generated errors in a court filing.

 

Manhattan-based US District Judge Arun Subramanian said in an order this week that the episode should serve as a “wake-up call” for lawyers, cautioning that AI-generated legal work must be carefully checked for accuracy.

 

“While clients may demand the use of AI to save money, there is a risk of adverse consequences when things go wrong,” Subramanian wrote. “For this reason, it might make sense to clients to think hard before requiring counsel to use AI for tasks such as the drafting of briefs.” The judge did not say the client in this case had asked its lawyers to use AI.

 

State and federal judges are increasingly weighing whether and how to sanction lawyers over misuse of AI as the technology becomes more widespread.

 

In the New York case, Subramanian questioned in an order last month whether the “unchecked” use of AI had led to citation errors in a copyright infringement case he was overseeing.

 

The judge this week declined to impose sanctions on the lawyers after Cynthia Arato, an attorney for defendant Foundation Media, apologised and said the errors stemmed from another lawyer at her firm who was responsible for preparing the initial draft and finalising it before it was filed.

 

Arato said in a declaration this week that the lawyer, who was not named, had acted “contrary to the firm’s policies and training” and that the failure to check AI-generated citations was “an isolated error and not any bad faith or intent to mislead or deceive the court”.

 

Foundation Media declined to comment. There was no indication in court filings that the company had directed its outside lawyers to use AI.

 

Arato said her firm, Shapiro Arato Bach, was implementing additional safeguards against AI misuse.

 

In a filin, Arato disclosed that the firm had used AI tools developed by technology company Harvey to help prepare the filing, which contained the improperly vetted citations.

 

Subramanian said in his order that the legal profession should “think about ways to ensure that junior lawyers are getting the training they need, even as reliance on these technological tools increases”. He suggested that firms could require initial drafts of briefs to be prepared without AI assistance.

 

“The use of AI may be unavoidable, but mentoring young lawyers is a joint responsibility that we all share,” Subramanian wrote.