The use of AI has increased exponentially in the last two years, to the point that it is becoming a regular in our everyday lives. This is no different for lawyers.
How AI Is Transforming Legal Work
Lawyers now have the ability to undertake research at a far quicker pace than in the past, and can use AI to assist in drafting. Advances in legal technology allow lawyers to undertake research solely on a database confined to the laws in England and Wales, reducing the risk of your chosen search engine citing case law in the USA to support your set of facts!
It is a truly groundbreaking tool that allows lawyers to work to the peak of their efficiency, thus ultimately keeping costs down for their clients.
The Dangers of AI Misuse in the Legal World
However, we are seeing examples where lawyers have misused AI to generate Court documents, without cross-referencing to ensure the documents are accurate. A Court document is serious, and as lawyers, we are duty-bound not to mislead the Court. There could be significant professional consequences for a lawyer who is found to have cited invented case law or pleaded a case based on clauses in a contract that does not exist.
It is often easy to spot when a document has been generated through AI. It is certainly easier when a lawyer leaves in an AI prompt such as “Let me know if you’d like this reworded for tone or conciseness”. You can also often tell by the language that is used not feeling quite appropriate for the document, or if hyphens that are used are elongated.
It is therefore vital that when a lawyer sends you draft documents for review and approval, you read through them extremely carefully. Ultimately, it is your case that could be jeopardised.
In the cases of Ayinde v London Borough of Haringey and Hamad Al-Haroun v Qatar National Bank, one of our most senior Judges, Dame Victoria Sharp, the President of The King’s Bench Division (KBD) of the High Court, gave this warning on AI:
“…There are serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the justice system if artificial intelligence is misused.”
If you believe that you have instructed a lawyer who has misused AI, you may have grounds to bring a claim for professional negligence against the lawyer or their firm. Our dispute resolution team have expertise in professional negligence claims and is seeing a rise in AI being misused.
If you are unhappy with your lawyer and would like advice on whether they have been negligent (through the misuse of AI or otherwise), our Surrey solicitors dispute resolution team are here to assist – contact us today. You can email, online chat, or call for a no-obligation 10-minute conversation with our disputes and litigation team.
