Three lawyers to face regulators after AI was used to prepare document

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Three lawyers have been referred to legal regulators after artificial intelligence was used to prepare a court document which a judge found contained incorrect citations. The case has raised concerns about how lawyers and litigants are using generative AI in their preparations, and how it might be affecting accuracy.

Transcript

00:00Solicitors have a, they're white-collar workers and generative AI tends to be seen as being

00:10something which is able to be in the sort of knowledge production business.

00:15So that's why it's seen as starting to encroach on what lawyers and other professionals do.

00:20OK, so to what extent is the use of AI already creeping into legal work?

00:26Oh, I think it's, it's being used quite frequently, but it's being used in a way which you might

00:35call law adjacent, which means it's being used for things like summarising documents or document

00:43drafting, maybe to get an overview of the law, but it's not being, or it shouldn't be used in

00:51relation to legal research, and in particular in relation to documents that are being put

00:56before the court.

00:57Yeah.

00:58And so what are the rules around the use of it in Australia?

01:01And I'm guessing there are different rules for each state and territory, so it can be

01:04pretty complicated.

01:05Well, I think the, the, the, the overarching approach is that lawyers have professional

01:13obligations.

01:14And one of the key obligations is you can't mislead the court.

01:18You've got a duty to the court and you need to be frank and honest with the court.

01:23So if you're putting forward law that doesn't exist, then you're effectively misleading the

01:30court as to the state of the law, the precedent that, that governs the way they should decide

01:35the case.

01:36And you simply can't do that.

01:38And is this recent incident, um, a bit of a, uh, yeah, a good example for the legal profession

01:46in, in terms of where this is at right now?

01:48I think it is a good example.

01:50Um, we, we've been undertaking some research and we've seen at least, uh, 10 other cases

01:56in Australia where lawyers have, uh, misused generative AI.

02:00But this particular example, I think is a good one in the sense that it sort of, um, brings

02:06home to lawyers that both solicitors and barristers have got a responsibility for making sure that

02:12what they put before the court is accurate.

02:14Uh, and so really the, the, the, the main point here is it's about verification.

02:20Uh, if you're going to use the generative AI tool, then you've got to make sure that you're

02:25checking and verifying the law that it's, uh, it's providing to.

02:30And are the laws around this adequate at the moment, or are the principles that you've

02:35outlined there enough to make it clear to everyone in the profession what the red lines are?

02:42So the, the courts, uh, in a number of jurisdictions have issued, uh, practice notes or guidelines,

02:48uh, as a way to try to help lawyers understand, I guess, partially what generative AI is and how

02:55it works, uh, to highlight the risks in the way that it works, and then to effectively

03:00remind them of their duties.

03:02And so that's having a, I guess, um, a good effect in terms of making people aware.

03:08But I think we still need further education.

03:11Uh, and that's really the challenge.

03:13It's, it's being able to get the information and the, and the knowledge, um, across to the

03:18entire profession.

03:19Yeah.

03:20And you're, so you're with this organisation, the Centre for the Future of the Legal

03:23Profession, is, is AI one of the most profound developments that there's been for the legal

03:30profession over the, over the last few decades?

03:33Uh, yes, in short.

03:36Um, certainly what we have found at the Centre is the, the sorts of questions that we get,

03:42um, and the interest in terms of, uh, where people would like to see research undertaken,

03:48um, has been heavily around, uh, artificial intelligence and in particular generative AI in

03:54the last, uh, 24 months.

03:56And that doesn't seem to be, um, uh, getting any less because the, the technology is continuing

04:03to develop.

04:04And as a result, lawyers are, I guess, still trying to sort of fill their way as to where

04:09it can be used, where it can't be used, and whether the technology is going to improve

04:15so that, uh, other uses are likely to become available.

04:19Do you expect we're going to see a significant reduction in the, the numbers of solicitors

04:25over, over the next five or 10 years, or you think that's overblown?

04:28I don't think we're going to see a significant number, um, uh, reduction in numbers, primarily

04:35because I, I think what we're starting to appreciate is that, uh, artificial intelligence works best

04:43when it's teamed with a human, with a legal practitioner.

04:48And so it's not like you're replacing, um, lawyers, you will change some of their functions,

04:54some of the roles that they perform.

04:56Uh, but, um, if there's, uh, if, if it's able to be more, if law is able to be more efficiently

05:03delivered, then what that might actually do is start to address our access to justice problem

05:09and actually mean that more people are able to afford to, um, get a lawyer or at least

05:14get some assistance, um, potentially from a generative AI tool, but more likely from a tool

05:21combined with a human lawyer.

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