The 14-page motion looked like any standard court filing in a civil lawsuit. Filed in April in San Diego Superior Court, attorneys defending a local company were making a routine request for a judge to authorize additional expert witnesses in a vehicle collision injury case.

But on the sixth page of the motion, the attorneys cited legal authority from a case that does not exist — it was hallucinated by artificial intelligence.

RELATED: Stanford AI expert’s credibility shattered by fake, AI-created sources: judge

A San Diego judge wrote in October that she was “deeply troubled” by the conduct of the company’s civil defense attorneys. She found they had filed multiple documents containing AI hallucinations, including citations to non-existent cases, fake quotes from real cases and inaccurate citations to real but irrelevant legal authorities.

That is one of at least two known San Diego cases that are part of a troubling trend of attorneys abusing or misusing AI, especially generative AI, a powerful technology that can at times fabricate information with no basis in reality.

But even as legal watchdog groups have documented hundreds of AI hallucination cases in the U.S. and around the world, legal experts and attorneys say those cases are rare, arguing that AI is an important tool being put to good use throughout the legal profession, helping lawyers research case law, analyze evidence, draft contracts and complete any number of rote tasks.

“We can’t just ignore generative AI, we have to become experts in the use so that we can avoid issues … where hallucinated case law gets into final documents,” Bryan McWhorter, a patent attorney and partner at the firm Knobbe Martens, said in an interview. “But I think when leveraged correctly, generative AI is frankly a power tool. It’s going to allow me to produce higher-quality work product in less time and deliver that value to clients.”

RELATED: California issues historic fine over lawyer’s ChatGPT fabrications

McWhorter recently argued that AI cannot now and likely never will be able to replace human legal analysis. That’s a view shared by James Cooper, a professor at California Western School of Law in downtown San Diego and co-author of the book “A Short & Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers.”

“It complements all our skill sets,” Cooper said. “(But) there still needs to be a human in the loop.”

Cooper said there will always be subtlety in fact-finding and questioning people “that robots don’t understand … AI tools can’t fully engage with the nuance of humankind.”

Even so, Cooper is concerned that the use of AI in the legal field may be advancing too rapidly, and he hopes attorneys and firms are implementing safeguards that lawmakers and regulators have not.

“We’re at a juncture now where the technology is far outpacing our ability to regulate it, both as a legal profession but also in the real world, in a non-legal context,” Cooper said. “… We don’t know yet where to put the guardrails.”

‘Risks are no different’

As the use of AI has exploded in recent years, legal organizations have grappled with what sort of guidelines and policies to put in place to ensure that attorneys who use the technology do so ethically and responsibly. That can look different for a patent lawyer such as McWhorter and attorneys who litigate criminal and civil cases before judges, though the basic principles are largely the same.

“Broadly speaking, (the) risks are no different than we’ve always had in the industry, which is we must produce work that is 100% accurate and maintains all of our ethical obligations regarding client confidentiality,” McWhorter said.

For courtroom litigators, a federal judge in New York helped set the standard for the use of the technology in June 2023 while presiding over a case in which attorneys filed documents containing AI hallucinations. He wrote that there is “nothing inherently improper about using a reliable artificial intelligence tool for assistance,” but also noted that existing rules required that attorneys ensure the accuracy of every filing.

RELATED: Chatbot dreams generate AI nightmares for Bay Area lawyers

That has been the theme of most court opinions and bar association guidelines issued since then.

“Simply stated, no brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court should contain any citations — whether provided by generative AI or any other source — that the attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally read and verified,” wrote a panel of judges from California’s Second Appellate District.

The judges said the September opinion was the first by a California court to address “the generation of fake legal authority by AI sources” and should double as a warning for all attorneys in the state.

The American Bar Association and California State Bar have issued similar guidelines that AI cannot replace the judgment of trained lawyers and that attorneys should not become overly reliant on the technology.

Cooper, McWhorter and organizations such as the ABA all agree that there is a long list of legitimate uses of AI technology in the law. Much of it is geared toward helping summarize and analyze large data sets, while other tools can help be a middle step in crafting writing.

“The best analogy is we are creating the bones of the strategy, generative AI is adding the first-pass flesh onto those bones and then we’re going back and sculpting it into the final creation,” McWhorter said. “It’s really an intermediary in the process; it’s neither a beginning nor an end.”

‘Erodes trust in the legal profession’

Thus far, the most obvious and visible risk that has emerged in the use of AI in legal work is that of hallucinations. Several watchdog groups have been tracking cases in which court filings have contained AI hallucinations.

While the databases show that many such instances involve pro se litigants, or non-attorneys representing themselves, hundreds of licensed attorneys have also been sanctioned, reprimanded or otherwise caught submitting filings containing AI hallucinations, according to one such database compiled by attorney and researcher Damien Charlotin. His database only tracks cases in which a court has explicitly found or implied that a party relied on hallucinated content.

Charlotin’s database includes three cases in which U.S. judges were found to have written orders or opinions containing AI hallucinations. Meanwhile, the New York Times recently reported that a district attorney in Northern California has been accused of filing briefs containing mistakes typical of AI, one of the first known cases involving suspicions of prosecutorial misuse of the technology.

So far in San Diego, there are two known cases involving court documents containing AI hallucinations.

On Oct. 2, a panel of judges from the California Court of Appeals’ 4th Appellate District sanctioned longtime San Diego criminal defense attorney George Siddell, finding that he violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. They ordered him to pay $1,500 as part of the sanction.

A member of the California State Bar since 1971, Siddell admitted to filing a motion in a client’s criminal appeal that contained a citation to a case that doesn’t exist, a fake quote from a real case and two citations to cases that did not address the issues for which they were cited, according to a published appellate opinion. Siddell declined to comment for this story.

The judges wrote that Siddell’s conduct, when compared to similar conduct by attorneys in civil matters, was “particularly disturbing because it involves the rights of a criminal defendant, who is entitled to due process … and representation by competent counsel.”

The next day, San Diego Superior Court Judge Carolyn Caietti ruled that two attorneys from Tyson & Mendes, a national firm headquartered in San Diego, had filed multiple documents containing AI hallucinations in the case defending the local company in the auto injury lawsuit.

A Tyson & Mendes partner wrote in a declaration prior to the ruling that he took responsibility for the mistakes, though he blamed the errors on a younger associate attorney who he said “neglected to confirm the accuracy of certain case citations.”

In her own declaration, the associate attorney took responsibility and wrote that she was fired from the firm “as a direct result of my actions and conduct in this case.”

In a statement provided by Tyson & Mendes, the firm said in part: “As the Court in this case noted, we accept responsibility for our obligation to present the highest quality work product to the Court. We affirm this responsibility, even and especially in the face of technological transformation.”

The firm also added a lengthy explanation about how it is endeavoring to be a leader in the use of AI in the legal industry.

“As the practice of law continues to evolve through new challenges, opportunities, and technologies, we must also continue to hold ourselves accountable through introspection and transparency,” the firm said in its statement. “Tyson & Mendes remains steadfast in our commitment to our clients, our industry, and our profession to leverage the transformative power of AI and new technologies with keen professional and ethical judgment, ongoing education, and agility.”

Caietti did not ultimately sanction either attorney, though her decision was based on procedural issues rather than their conduct.

“Notwithstanding the denial on procedural grounds, the Court is deeply troubled by the conduct of Defense counsel,” Caietti wrote. “… All of this conduct is contrary to the rules of professional responsibility and is the type of conduct that erodes trust in the legal profession … This is hopefully an experience that will never be repeated by the attorneys involved in this matter, let alone others in the profession.”

Client confidentiality

Since AI learns from the data fed to it by its users, attorneys must also take care that confidential client information is not used to train AI models and that it does not inadvertently become public.

For patent attorneys such as McWhorter, those risks revolve around business interests and market competition. Other areas of the law — Cooper mentioned due process and evidentiary issues, as examples — could implicate constitutional rights and protections.

Cooper said that unless and until there are stronger regulations, it will be up to each attorney and law firm to understand the AI technology they use and mitigate any potential risks and harms.

‘Effectively and ethically’

Newer attorneys especially run the risk of becoming over-reliant on AI tools without first building a foundational knowledge of how to practice the law, Cooper said.

At California Western School of Law, the use of AI is a balancing act. The faculty is navigating how best to ensure that students don’t abuse AI technology in their coursework while also teaching them how practicing attorneys are using it.

“We’re trying to make sure that we prepare our students to be able to enter the workforce, enter the profession, and use it effectively and ethically,” said Liam Vavasour, vice dean for academic affairs.

Vavasour said students are not allowed to use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for writing assignments unless given explicit permission to do so, and even then the use is typically limited to idea-generation or editing and must be disclosed.

Vavasour said that from his understanding, practicing attorneys and judges are using AI in a variety of ways, “so we’re trying to make sure that our students know how to use it effectively and some of the pitfalls to avoid.”

McWhorter supervises younger associates at his firm and believes fears about them being over-reliant on AI are overblown.

“Because the value of generative AI is not in legal strategy, (young attorneys) will develop the ability to provide legal strategy the same as anyone else,” McWhorter said.

Source link


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The post Attorneys balance use of powerful AI tools with risks — including legal hallucinations – The Mercury News appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

The 14-page motion looked like any standard court filing in a civil lawsuit. Filed in April in San Diego Superior Court, attorneys defending a local company were making a routine request for a judge to authorize additional expert witnesses in a vehicle collision injury case.

But on the sixth page of the motion, the attorneys cited legal authority from a case that does not exist — it was hallucinated by artificial intelligence.

RELATED: Stanford AI expert’s credibility shattered by fake, AI-created sources: judge

A San Diego judge wrote in October that she was “deeply troubled” by the conduct of the company’s civil defense attorneys. She found they had filed multiple documents containing AI hallucinations, including citations to non-existent cases, fake quotes from real cases and inaccurate citations to real but irrelevant legal authorities.

That is one of at least two known San Diego cases that are part of a troubling trend of attorneys abusing or misusing AI, especially generative AI, a powerful technology that can at times fabricate information with no basis in reality.

But even as legal watchdog groups have documented hundreds of AI hallucination cases in the U.S. and around the world, legal experts and attorneys say those cases are rare, arguing that AI is an important tool being put to good use throughout the legal profession, helping lawyers research case law, analyze evidence, draft contracts and complete any number of rote tasks.

“We can’t just ignore generative AI, we have to become experts in the use so that we can avoid issues … where hallucinated case law gets into final documents,” Bryan McWhorter, a patent attorney and partner at the firm Knobbe Martens, said in an interview. “But I think when leveraged correctly, generative AI is frankly a power tool. It’s going to allow me to produce higher-quality work product in less time and deliver that value to clients.”

RELATED: California issues historic fine over lawyer’s ChatGPT fabrications

McWhorter recently argued that AI cannot now and likely never will be able to replace human legal analysis. That’s a view shared by James Cooper, a professor at California Western School of Law in downtown San Diego and co-author of the book “A Short & Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers.”

“It complements all our skill sets,” Cooper said. “(But) there still needs to be a human in the loop.”

Cooper said there will always be subtlety in fact-finding and questioning people “that robots don’t understand … AI tools can’t fully engage with the nuance of humankind.”

Even so, Cooper is concerned that the use of AI in the legal field may be advancing too rapidly, and he hopes attorneys and firms are implementing safeguards that lawmakers and regulators have not.

“We’re at a juncture now where the technology is far outpacing our ability to regulate it, both as a legal profession but also in the real world, in a non-legal context,” Cooper said. “… We don’t know yet where to put the guardrails.”

‘Risks are no different’

As the use of AI has exploded in recent years, legal organizations have grappled with what sort of guidelines and policies to put in place to ensure that attorneys who use the technology do so ethically and responsibly. That can look different for a patent lawyer such as McWhorter and attorneys who litigate criminal and civil cases before judges, though the basic principles are largely the same.

“Broadly speaking, (the) risks are no different than we’ve always had in the industry, which is we must produce work that is 100% accurate and maintains all of our ethical obligations regarding client confidentiality,” McWhorter said.

For courtroom litigators, a federal judge in New York helped set the standard for the use of the technology in June 2023 while presiding over a case in which attorneys filed documents containing AI hallucinations. He wrote that there is “nothing inherently improper about using a reliable artificial intelligence tool for assistance,” but also noted that existing rules required that attorneys ensure the accuracy of every filing.

RELATED: Chatbot dreams generate AI nightmares for Bay Area lawyers

That has been the theme of most court opinions and bar association guidelines issued since then.

“Simply stated, no brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court should contain any citations — whether provided by generative AI or any other source — that the attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally read and verified,” wrote a panel of judges from California’s Second Appellate District.

The judges said the September opinion was the first by a California court to address “the generation of fake legal authority by AI sources” and should double as a warning for all attorneys in the state.

The American Bar Association and California State Bar have issued similar guidelines that AI cannot replace the judgment of trained lawyers and that attorneys should not become overly reliant on the technology.

Cooper, McWhorter and organizations such as the ABA all agree that there is a long list of legitimate uses of AI technology in the law. Much of it is geared toward helping summarize and analyze large data sets, while other tools can help be a middle step in crafting writing.

“The best analogy is we are creating the bones of the strategy, generative AI is adding the first-pass flesh onto those bones and then we’re going back and sculpting it into the final creation,” McWhorter said. “It’s really an intermediary in the process; it’s neither a beginning nor an end.”

‘Erodes trust in the legal profession’

Thus far, the most obvious and visible risk that has emerged in the use of AI in legal work is that of hallucinations. Several watchdog groups have been tracking cases in which court filings have contained AI hallucinations.

While the databases show that many such instances involve pro se litigants, or non-attorneys representing themselves, hundreds of licensed attorneys have also been sanctioned, reprimanded or otherwise caught submitting filings containing AI hallucinations, according to one such database compiled by attorney and researcher Damien Charlotin. His database only tracks cases in which a court has explicitly found or implied that a party relied on hallucinated content.

Charlotin’s database includes three cases in which U.S. judges were found to have written orders or opinions containing AI hallucinations. Meanwhile, the New York Times recently reported that a district attorney in Northern California has been accused of filing briefs containing mistakes typical of AI, one of the first known cases involving suspicions of prosecutorial misuse of the technology.

So far in San Diego, there are two known cases involving court documents containing AI hallucinations.

On Oct. 2, a panel of judges from the California Court of Appeals’ 4th Appellate District sanctioned longtime San Diego criminal defense attorney George Siddell, finding that he violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. They ordered him to pay $1,500 as part of the sanction.

A member of the California State Bar since 1971, Siddell admitted to filing a motion in a client’s criminal appeal that contained a citation to a case that doesn’t exist, a fake quote from a real case and two citations to cases that did not address the issues for which they were cited, according to a published appellate opinion. Siddell declined to comment for this story.

The judges wrote that Siddell’s conduct, when compared to similar conduct by attorneys in civil matters, was “particularly disturbing because it involves the rights of a criminal defendant, who is entitled to due process … and representation by competent counsel.”

The next day, San Diego Superior Court Judge Carolyn Caietti ruled that two attorneys from Tyson & Mendes, a national firm headquartered in San Diego, had filed multiple documents containing AI hallucinations in the case defending the local company in the auto injury lawsuit.

A Tyson & Mendes partner wrote in a declaration prior to the ruling that he took responsibility for the mistakes, though he blamed the errors on a younger associate attorney who he said “neglected to confirm the accuracy of certain case citations.”

In her own declaration, the associate attorney took responsibility and wrote that she was fired from the firm “as a direct result of my actions and conduct in this case.”

In a statement provided by Tyson & Mendes, the firm said in part: “As the Court in this case noted, we accept responsibility for our obligation to present the highest quality work product to the Court. We affirm this responsibility, even and especially in the face of technological transformation.”

The firm also added a lengthy explanation about how it is endeavoring to be a leader in the use of AI in the legal industry.

“As the practice of law continues to evolve through new challenges, opportunities, and technologies, we must also continue to hold ourselves accountable through introspection and transparency,” the firm said in its statement. “Tyson & Mendes remains steadfast in our commitment to our clients, our industry, and our profession to leverage the transformative power of AI and new technologies with keen professional and ethical judgment, ongoing education, and agility.”

Caietti did not ultimately sanction either attorney, though her decision was based on procedural issues rather than their conduct.

“Notwithstanding the denial on procedural grounds, the Court is deeply troubled by the conduct of Defense counsel,” Caietti wrote. “… All of this conduct is contrary to the rules of professional responsibility and is the type of conduct that erodes trust in the legal profession … This is hopefully an experience that will never be repeated by the attorneys involved in this matter, let alone others in the profession.”

Client confidentiality

Since AI learns from the data fed to it by its users, attorneys must also take care that confidential client information is not used to train AI models and that it does not inadvertently become public.

For patent attorneys such as McWhorter, those risks revolve around business interests and market competition. Other areas of the law — Cooper mentioned due process and evidentiary issues, as examples — could implicate constitutional rights and protections.

Cooper said that unless and until there are stronger regulations, it will be up to each attorney and law firm to understand the AI technology they use and mitigate any potential risks and harms.

‘Effectively and ethically’

Newer attorneys especially run the risk of becoming over-reliant on AI tools without first building a foundational knowledge of how to practice the law, Cooper said.

At California Western School of Law, the use of AI is a balancing act. The faculty is navigating how best to ensure that students don’t abuse AI technology in their coursework while also teaching them how practicing attorneys are using it.

“We’re trying to make sure that we prepare our students to be able to enter the workforce, enter the profession, and use it effectively and ethically,” said Liam Vavasour, vice dean for academic affairs.

Vavasour said students are not allowed to use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for writing assignments unless given explicit permission to do so, and even then the use is typically limited to idea-generation or editing and must be disclosed.

Vavasour said that from his understanding, practicing attorneys and judges are using AI in a variety of ways, “so we’re trying to make sure that our students know how to use it effectively and some of the pitfalls to avoid.”

McWhorter supervises younger associates at his firm and believes fears about them being over-reliant on AI are overblown.

“Because the value of generative AI is not in legal strategy, (young attorneys) will develop the ability to provide legal strategy the same as anyone else,” McWhorter said.

Source link


Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

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The post Attorneys balance use of powerful AI tools with risks — including legal hallucinations – The Mercury News appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

The 14-page motion looked like any standard court filing in a civil lawsuit. Filed in April in San Diego Superior Court, attorneys defending a local company were making a routine request for a judge to authorize additional expert witnesses in a vehicle collision injury case.

But on the sixth page of the motion, the attorneys cited legal authority from a case that does not exist — it was hallucinated by artificial intelligence.

RELATED: Stanford AI expert’s credibility shattered by fake, AI-created sources: judge

A San Diego judge wrote in October that she was “deeply troubled” by the conduct of the company’s civil defense attorneys. She found they had filed multiple documents containing AI hallucinations, including citations to non-existent cases, fake quotes from real cases and inaccurate citations to real but irrelevant legal authorities.

That is one of at least two known San Diego cases that are part of a troubling trend of attorneys abusing or misusing AI, especially generative AI, a powerful technology that can at times fabricate information with no basis in reality.

But even as legal watchdog groups have documented hundreds of AI hallucination cases in the U.S. and around the world, legal experts and attorneys say those cases are rare, arguing that AI is an important tool being put to good use throughout the legal profession, helping lawyers research case law, analyze evidence, draft contracts and complete any number of rote tasks.

“We can’t just ignore generative AI, we have to become experts in the use so that we can avoid issues … where hallucinated case law gets into final documents,” Bryan McWhorter, a patent attorney and partner at the firm Knobbe Martens, said in an interview. “But I think when leveraged correctly, generative AI is frankly a power tool. It’s going to allow me to produce higher-quality work product in less time and deliver that value to clients.”

RELATED: California issues historic fine over lawyer’s ChatGPT fabrications

McWhorter recently argued that AI cannot now and likely never will be able to replace human legal analysis. That’s a view shared by James Cooper, a professor at California Western School of Law in downtown San Diego and co-author of the book “A Short & Happy Guide to Artificial Intelligence for Lawyers.”

“It complements all our skill sets,” Cooper said. “(But) there still needs to be a human in the loop.”

Cooper said there will always be subtlety in fact-finding and questioning people “that robots don’t understand … AI tools can’t fully engage with the nuance of humankind.”

Even so, Cooper is concerned that the use of AI in the legal field may be advancing too rapidly, and he hopes attorneys and firms are implementing safeguards that lawmakers and regulators have not.

“We’re at a juncture now where the technology is far outpacing our ability to regulate it, both as a legal profession but also in the real world, in a non-legal context,” Cooper said. “… We don’t know yet where to put the guardrails.”

‘Risks are no different’

As the use of AI has exploded in recent years, legal organizations have grappled with what sort of guidelines and policies to put in place to ensure that attorneys who use the technology do so ethically and responsibly. That can look different for a patent lawyer such as McWhorter and attorneys who litigate criminal and civil cases before judges, though the basic principles are largely the same.

“Broadly speaking, (the) risks are no different than we’ve always had in the industry, which is we must produce work that is 100% accurate and maintains all of our ethical obligations regarding client confidentiality,” McWhorter said.

For courtroom litigators, a federal judge in New York helped set the standard for the use of the technology in June 2023 while presiding over a case in which attorneys filed documents containing AI hallucinations. He wrote that there is “nothing inherently improper about using a reliable artificial intelligence tool for assistance,” but also noted that existing rules required that attorneys ensure the accuracy of every filing.

RELATED: Chatbot dreams generate AI nightmares for Bay Area lawyers

That has been the theme of most court opinions and bar association guidelines issued since then.

“Simply stated, no brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court should contain any citations — whether provided by generative AI or any other source — that the attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally read and verified,” wrote a panel of judges from California’s Second Appellate District.

The judges said the September opinion was the first by a California court to address “the generation of fake legal authority by AI sources” and should double as a warning for all attorneys in the state.

The American Bar Association and California State Bar have issued similar guidelines that AI cannot replace the judgment of trained lawyers and that attorneys should not become overly reliant on the technology.

Cooper, McWhorter and organizations such as the ABA all agree that there is a long list of legitimate uses of AI technology in the law. Much of it is geared toward helping summarize and analyze large data sets, while other tools can help be a middle step in crafting writing.

“The best analogy is we are creating the bones of the strategy, generative AI is adding the first-pass flesh onto those bones and then we’re going back and sculpting it into the final creation,” McWhorter said. “It’s really an intermediary in the process; it’s neither a beginning nor an end.”

‘Erodes trust in the legal profession’

Thus far, the most obvious and visible risk that has emerged in the use of AI in legal work is that of hallucinations. Several watchdog groups have been tracking cases in which court filings have contained AI hallucinations.

While the databases show that many such instances involve pro se litigants, or non-attorneys representing themselves, hundreds of licensed attorneys have also been sanctioned, reprimanded or otherwise caught submitting filings containing AI hallucinations, according to one such database compiled by attorney and researcher Damien Charlotin. His database only tracks cases in which a court has explicitly found or implied that a party relied on hallucinated content.

Charlotin’s database includes three cases in which U.S. judges were found to have written orders or opinions containing AI hallucinations. Meanwhile, the New York Times recently reported that a district attorney in Northern California has been accused of filing briefs containing mistakes typical of AI, one of the first known cases involving suspicions of prosecutorial misuse of the technology.

So far in San Diego, there are two known cases involving court documents containing AI hallucinations.

On Oct. 2, a panel of judges from the California Court of Appeals’ 4th Appellate District sanctioned longtime San Diego criminal defense attorney George Siddell, finding that he violated the Rules of Professional Conduct. They ordered him to pay $1,500 as part of the sanction.

A member of the California State Bar since 1971, Siddell admitted to filing a motion in a client’s criminal appeal that contained a citation to a case that doesn’t exist, a fake quote from a real case and two citations to cases that did not address the issues for which they were cited, according to a published appellate opinion. Siddell declined to comment for this story.

The judges wrote that Siddell’s conduct, when compared to similar conduct by attorneys in civil matters, was “particularly disturbing because it involves the rights of a criminal defendant, who is entitled to due process … and representation by competent counsel.”

The next day, San Diego Superior Court Judge Carolyn Caietti ruled that two attorneys from Tyson & Mendes, a national firm headquartered in San Diego, had filed multiple documents containing AI hallucinations in the case defending the local company in the auto injury lawsuit.

A Tyson & Mendes partner wrote in a declaration prior to the ruling that he took responsibility for the mistakes, though he blamed the errors on a younger associate attorney who he said “neglected to confirm the accuracy of certain case citations.”

In her own declaration, the associate attorney took responsibility and wrote that she was fired from the firm “as a direct result of my actions and conduct in this case.”

In a statement provided by Tyson & Mendes, the firm said in part: “As the Court in this case noted, we accept responsibility for our obligation to present the highest quality work product to the Court. We affirm this responsibility, even and especially in the face of technological transformation.”

The firm also added a lengthy explanation about how it is endeavoring to be a leader in the use of AI in the legal industry.

“As the practice of law continues to evolve through new challenges, opportunities, and technologies, we must also continue to hold ourselves accountable through introspection and transparency,” the firm said in its statement. “Tyson & Mendes remains steadfast in our commitment to our clients, our industry, and our profession to leverage the transformative power of AI and new technologies with keen professional and ethical judgment, ongoing education, and agility.”

Caietti did not ultimately sanction either attorney, though her decision was based on procedural issues rather than their conduct.

“Notwithstanding the denial on procedural grounds, the Court is deeply troubled by the conduct of Defense counsel,” Caietti wrote. “… All of this conduct is contrary to the rules of professional responsibility and is the type of conduct that erodes trust in the legal profession … This is hopefully an experience that will never be repeated by the attorneys involved in this matter, let alone others in the profession.”

Client confidentiality

Since AI learns from the data fed to it by its users, attorneys must also take care that confidential client information is not used to train AI models and that it does not inadvertently become public.

For patent attorneys such as McWhorter, those risks revolve around business interests and market competition. Other areas of the law — Cooper mentioned due process and evidentiary issues, as examples — could implicate constitutional rights and protections.

Cooper said that unless and until there are stronger regulations, it will be up to each attorney and law firm to understand the AI technology they use and mitigate any potential risks and harms.

‘Effectively and ethically’

Newer attorneys especially run the risk of becoming over-reliant on AI tools without first building a foundational knowledge of how to practice the law, Cooper said.

At California Western School of Law, the use of AI is a balancing act. The faculty is navigating how best to ensure that students don’t abuse AI technology in their coursework while also teaching them how practicing attorneys are using it.

“We’re trying to make sure that we prepare our students to be able to enter the workforce, enter the profession, and use it effectively and ethically,” said Liam Vavasour, vice dean for academic affairs.

Vavasour said students are not allowed to use ChatGPT or other generative AI tools for writing assignments unless given explicit permission to do so, and even then the use is typically limited to idea-generation or editing and must be disclosed.

Vavasour said that from his understanding, practicing attorneys and judges are using AI in a variety of ways, “so we’re trying to make sure that our students know how to use it effectively and some of the pitfalls to avoid.”

McWhorter supervises younger associates at his firm and believes fears about them being over-reliant on AI are overblown.

“Because the value of generative AI is not in legal strategy, (young attorneys) will develop the ability to provide legal strategy the same as anyone else,” McWhorter said.

Source link


Attorneys and law firms can elevate their online presence with professionally written content from SEO Content Writing Services monthly plan. Our team of experienced writers specializes in crafting blog posts, articles, and written content that accurately reflect the expertise and knowledge of our clients in the legal field. With a keen eye for detail and a thorough understanding of legal terminology, we provide high-quality writing that helps our clients stand out from their competition and engage with their target audience. Trust SEO Content Writing Services for one time article writing or monthly written content to handle all of your written content needs and showcase your law firm's expertise.
If you need written content, blog posts, or articles professionally written for your website, we can help. Go HERE to find out more.
or email us here: myseowritingservices@gmail.com
To find out more about our article writing or blog post services, fill out the form, thank you.

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First

Last

Business Name

Email *

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WILMINGTON, Del. — Attorneys for Fox Corp. asked a Delaware judge Friday to dismiss a shareholder lawsuit seeking to hold current and former company officials personally liable for the financial fallout stemming from Fox News reports regarding alleged vote rigging in the 2020 election.

Five New York City public employee pension funds, along with Oregon’s public employee retirement fund, allege that former chairman Rupert Murdoch and other Fox Corp. leaders deliberately turned a blind eye to liability risks posed by reporting false claims of vote rigging by election technology companies Dominion Voting Systems and Smartmatic USA.

Smartmatic is suing Fox News for defamation in New York, alleging damages of $2.7 billion. It recently settled a lawsuit in the District of Columbia against One America News Network, another conservative outlet, over reports of vote fraud.

Dominion also filed several defamation lawsuits against those who spread conspiracy theories blaming its election equipment for Donald Trump’s loss in 2020. Last year, Fox News settled a defamation lawsuit filed by Dominion in Delaware for $787 million.

The shareholder plaintiffs also allege that Fox corporate leaders ignored “red flags” about liability arising from a 2017 report suggesting that Seth Rich, a Democratic National Committee staffer, may have been killed because he had leaked Democratic party emails to Wikileaks during the 2016 presidential campaign. Rich, 27, was shot in 2016 in Washington, D.C., in what authorities have said was an attempted robbery.

Fox News retracted the Seth Rich story a week after its initial broadcast, but Rich’s parents sued the network for falsely portraying their son as a criminal and traitor. Fox News settled the lawsuit in 2020 for “millions of dollars,” shortly before program hosts Lou Dobbs and Sean Hannity were to be deposed, according to the shareholder lawsuit.

Joel Friedlander, an attorney for the institutional shareholders, argued that Fox officials waited until the company’s reporting about Rich became a national scandal before addressing the issue. Similarly, according to the shareholders, corporate officials, including Rupert Murdoch and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, allowed Fox News to continue broadcasting false narratives about the 2020 election, despite internal communications suggesting that they knew there was no evidence to support the conspiracy theories.

“The Murdochs could have minimized future monetary exposure, but they chose not to,” Friedlander said. Instead, he argued, they engaged in “bad-faith decision making” with other defendants in a profit-driven effort to retain viewers and remain in Trump’s good graces.

“Decisions were made at the highest level to promote pro-Trump conspiracy theories without editorial control,” Friedlander said.

Defense attorneys argue that the case should be dismissed because the plaintiffs filed their lawsuit without first demanding that the Fox Corp. board take action, as required under Delaware law. They say the plaintiffs also failed to demonstrate that a pre-suit demand on the Fox board would have been futile because at least half of the directors face a substantial likelihood of liability or are not independent of someone who does.

Beyond the “demand futility” issue, defense attorneys also argue that allegations that Fox officials breached their fiduciary duties fail to meet the pleading standards under Delaware and therefore should be dismissed.

Defense attorney William Savitt argued, for example, that neither the Rich settlement, which he described as “immaterial,” nor the allegedly defamatory statements about Dominion and Smartmatic constitute red flags putting directors on notice about the risk of defamation liability. Nor do they demonstrate that directors acted in bad faith or that Fox “utterly failed” to implement and monitor a system to report and mitigate legal risks, including defamation liability risk, according to the defendants.

Savitt noted that the Rich article was promptly retracted, and that the settlement included no admission of liability. The Dominion and Smartmatic statements, meanwhile, gave rise themselves to the currently liability issues and therefore can not serve as red flags about future liability risks, according to the defendants.

“A ‘red flag’ must be what the term commonly implies — warning of a risk of a liability-causing event that allows the directors to take action to avert the event, not notice that a liability-causing event has already occurred,” defense attorneys wrote in their motion to dismiss.

Defense attorneys also say there are no factual allegations to support claims that Fox officials condoned illegal conduct in pursuit of corporate profits, or that they deliberately ignored their oversight responsibilities. They note that a “bad outcome” is not sufficient to demonstrate “bad faith.”

Vice Chancellor J. Travis Laster is expected to rule within 90 days.

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The post Fox attorneys seek to dismiss shareholder lawsuit over reporting of vote rigging allegations in 2020 appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Baton Rouge

Anderson O. “Andy” Dotson III has been appointed by the Louisiana Supreme Court to serve as chief disciplinary counsel for the Louisiana attorney Disciplinary Board.

Dotson replaces Charles B. Plattsmier, who recently retired after 28 years as chief disciplinary counsel for the state.

Dotson worked at Phelps Dunbar for nine years before heading to the Parish attorney‘s Office for the city of Baton Rouge/East Baton Rouge Parish. He served as chief city prosecutor from 2015 to 2019 and parish attorney from 2019 to 2024.

He earned a bachelor’s from LSU and a law degree, magna cum laude, from the Southern University Law Center. Dotson has been a part-time adjunct professor at Southern and LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center.

New Orleans

Mandi Cambre has joined The Historic New Orleans Collection as director of development.

Cambre previously worked as senior consultant for Acceleraise, where she was responsible for executing fund development strategies that included grant writing and reporting, corporate relations, and individual and major gifts strategies.

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The post Once-prominent Bakersfield attorney pleads guilty to insurance fraud – The Bakersfield Californian appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Fort Worth, Texas, Jan. 04, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys, a leading law firm specializing in criminal defense cases, is pleased to announce its unwavering commitment to providing exceptional legal representation to individuals facing criminal charges in the Hampton area.

With a strong track record of successfully defending clients across a wide range of criminal cases, Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys has established itself as a trusted and reliable legal resource in the community. The firm’s dedication to upholding the rights of the accused and ensuring fair and just legal proceedings has earned them a reputation for excellence.

Key Highlights of Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys:

• Experienced Legal Team: Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys boasts a team of seasoned and skilled attorneys who have extensive experience in criminal defense. Their expertise spans various practice areas, including DUI/DWI, drug offenses, domestic violence, theft, assault, and more.
• Client-Centered Approach: The firm is committed to providing personalized and compassionate legal services. They understand that every case is unique, and they work closely with clients to tailor defense strategies that address their specific needs and circumstances.
• Strong Advocacy: Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys tirelessly advocates for the rights and interests of their clients. They have a reputation for vigorously defending against charges, negotiating favorable plea bargains, and, when necessary, representing clients in court with unwavering determination.
• Thorough Case Preparation: The firm leaves no stone unturned when preparing a defense. They conduct comprehensive investigations, gather evidence, consult experts, and build compelling cases to achieve the best possible outcomes for their clients.
• Legal Consultations: Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys offers free initial consultations, providing individuals with the opportunity to discuss their cases, understand their legal options, and receive expert legal advice without financial commitment.
• Community Engagement: The firm actively engages with the Hampton community, participating in legal education programs and community outreach efforts to promote awareness of individuals’ legal rights and the importance of legal representation.

A spokesman from Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys, stated, “Our mission is to protect the rights and futures of individuals facing criminal charges. We understand the stress and uncertainty that come with legal matters, and we are dedicated to providing our clients with the highest level of legal support and advocacy.”

If you or someone you know requires experienced and dedicated legal representation in criminal defense matters, Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys is here to assist you.

For more information about Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys and their services, please visit https://www.criminalattorneyfortworthtx.com/drug-lawyer/

About Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys:

Hampton Criminal Defense Attorneys is a reputable law firm based in Hampton, committed to providing expert legal representation to individuals facing criminal charges. With a team of experienced criminal defense lawyers, the firm offers personalized, client-centered services to help individuals navigate the legal process, protect their rights, and secure the best possible outcomes in their cases.

Source: https://thenewsfront.com/hampton-criminal-defense-attorneys-your-trusted-advocates-in-legal-matters/

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By Magaly Muñoz

Rising numbers of unbanked or underbanked individuals, largely due to unmet minimum balance requirements, have become a growing concern. However, organizations across Oakland are stepping up, waging a war against the financial illiteracy that’s plaguing some residents.

Up to 4% of Alameda County’s residents lack access to basic banking services, with Black and Hispanic communities making up the majority of that unbanked or underbanked population. The term ‘unbanked’ describes people without a checking or savings account, while ‘underbanked’ describes people who have checking or savings accounts but often rely on alternative financial solutions like money orders and payday loans rather than conventional loans and credit cards.

Recently, the downtown Oakland Wells Fargo branch redesigned their bank to include a Hope Inside center in partnership with Operation HOPE, an organization centered around expanding economic opportunities for underserved communities.

The center features free access to financial coaches who work with individuals to gain financial assistance and guidance, such as helping improve credit scores.

Dr. Joaquin Wallace is one of the financial coaches at the Oakland branch who meets one-on-one with clients to provide credit money management solutions and develop strategic plans to assist them with reaching their financial goals.

He’s created a seven-step blueprint for attaining generational wealth. This includes acknowledging that your background and culture have significant influence on how you view finances, focusing on reprogramming financial trauma and gaining financial edification through literacy programs.

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He shared that it can be difficult for some to accept their financial struggles because their environment might not allow for these immediate understandings because for many, money is not openly discussed in their communities.

“Money is a topic that is not communicated about — it’s taboo. And so first, you have to at least feel comfortable enough to have this conversation,” Wallace said.

Despite the initial roadblocks, the branch is seeing success with the program. Fifty-seven percent of the clients at the Hope Inside center have increased their credit score by an average of 19 points; 47% of the clients increased their savings by a median of $141; and 50% of clients have successfully reduced their debt by a median of $364.

Sonya Verdine, an Oakland resident of four years, is one of the success stories that Oakland Wells Fargo has helped since their soft launch in 2022.

Verdine’s life has been a rollercoaster of challenges including homelessness, mental health struggles and health scares that ultimately pushed her to improve her life, starting with attempting to correct the financial choices she’d made up to that point.

She was introduced to Wallace’s seven-step generational wealth method which provided her with a roadmap to get her on the right track to financial stability. Since visiting the Hope Inside center, Verdine has seen her credit score go up 200 points and she’s saving almost 10% of her income every month with a goal to someday buy her own home.

“You can take this program, you can start from literally nothing, and the program can help you build because they offer a variety of other services,” Verdine said. “It will be time well spent to participate in this program.”

Another organization that has long taken the reins to combat financial illiteracy and break the cycle of poverty is United Way Bay Area (UWBA), a program that assists families in the region to find financial stability.

Nicole Harden, Vice President of Economic Success at UWBA, says that their Sparkpoint program, which features centers scattered across the Bay Area that help low to middle income families establish financial goals, has grown tremendously since its inception in 2009. Anyone can come into one of their 23 centers to consult with a financial coach to receive guidance on how to increase their income, boost their credit, augment their savings, or reduce their debt.

She shared that it’s important for people to not feel embarrassed when talking about their financial struggles. Organizations like UWBA exist to help provide resources that they know are often inaccessible to underserved communities.

Harden explained that their centers not only cater to low-income families but see a significant number of women of color seeking assistance. As a result, they’ve taken the steps to ensure their programs are culturally competent to make conversations easier and more comfortable.

“We operate from the assumption that folks are creative, resourceful and whole. People have been making it all along, people aren’t broken. There’s systems that are broken, but this is an opportunity to work within the systems and help folks figure out how to navigate that,” she said.

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The post California Attorney General Announces $700 Million Multistate Settlement Agreement with Google appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

SAN DIEGO — California attorney General Rob Bonta joined volunteers with the San Diego Food Bank Monday to encourage people to donate this holiday season without getting scammed.

The San Diego Food Bank is the largest hunger relief organization throughout San Diego County. It has been a lifeline in the community since 1977 feeding 400,000 each month.

“The holidays are an important time for the San Diego food Bank we do see contributions increase,” said Casey Castillo, San Diego Food Bank’s CEO. He says they see the majority donations for the year in November and December.

Free winter festivals in San Diego that are family friendly

“Just like we hope for increased funds, we also see demand increase during the holidays as well,” said Castillo.

As more people give this holiday season, Bonta urges people to be aware of scammers that are looking to take advantage of those looking to make charitable donations.

“Before writing a check, pulling out your credit card or opening PayPal please do your due diligence,” the attorney general said while visiting the Food Bank Monday.

For those planning on making a donation to a nonprofit this holiday season, here are some tips from California officials about how to do so safely:

• Check the Registration Status: All charities and professional fundraisers that solicit donations in California are required to register and submit financial report to the attorney General’s office. Before donating, verify that the organization you are sending money to meets all of the state registration and reporting requirements here.
• Give to Organizations You Trust: Always do your research before making a donation. Review the charity’s annual financial reports to find out how much of your donation will actually be spent on the charitable cause, as well as how much, if any, will go to overhead and employee compensation.
• Don’t Be Pressured by Telemarketers: If you receive a call from a telemarketer, do not fall for pressure tactics or threats. Remember, you have the right to decline a donation request and can hang up. If you are interested in donating to a particular organization, you can visit their website or contact them directly to get more information.
• Be Cautious of “Look-Alike” and Fake Websites and Emails: Be on the lookout for websites and emails that use slightly different web addresses or email addresses in order to pass off as a legitimate charity. Be careful of fake websites by closely looking at the web address and be cautious of web addresses that end in a series of numbers.
• Watch Out for Similar-Sounding Names and Other Deceptive Tactics: Some organizations use names that closely resemble those of well-established charitable organizations in order to mislead donors. Additionally, if you receive an email from an organization to which you have never donated, take extra precautions before clicking on any links. Be skeptical if someone thanks you for a pledge or donation that you never made, as scammers use this trick to deceive you into paying them. If you are unsure whether or not you made a donation, make sure to check your records.
• Be Wary of Peer-to-Peer Social Network Fundraising: Do not assume charitable fundraising that you see online or on social media are legitimate, even if the charitable campaign is shared by someone that you trust.
• Protect Your Identity: Never give your Social Security number, credit card information or other personal identifiable information in response to a charitable solicitation.
• Be Careful When Making Electronic Donations: Electronic donations — such as donations made via text, QR Codes and portable credit card readers — have become common practice due to their ability to provide a quick and easy way to donate on the spot. Always confirm that the solicitation was submitted by a charity, or that the person facilitating the transaction is authorized to receive donations on behalf of a charity. Always check your receipt and your credit card/online payment method statement to ensure that the transaction charged to your account is accurate. 

If you believe a charity or fundraiser is engaged in misconduct, you can report it to the California attorney General’s office here. More information on how to protect yourself against charity fraud is available here.

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The post California Attorney General Rob Bonta urges avoiding scams with holiday donations in San Diego visit appeared first on Attorney Legal Counsel.

Trent Shores and Brian J. Kuester

As two former U.S. Attorneys for the Northern and Eastern Districts of Oklahoma, we agree with Sens. James Lankford and Markwayne Mullin in supporting Sara Hill and John Russell to serve as judges for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District.

Their nominations are critical for our state. Currently, the Northern District has only one full-time district judge.

The U.S. Constitution grants every American the right to a speedy trial. The Northern District has a backlog of over 500 criminal cases, and it is not able to timely hear civil cases because of the massive backlog.

In 2019, there were 227 criminal cases filed in the Northern District. In 2020, 240 were filed. After the McGirt decision, there were 400 cases filed in 2021. Between 2020 and 2021, there was a 66% increase in criminal cases filed, and an additional 27.8% increase between 2021 and 2022.

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Not having more full-time judges means justice may be delayed for Oklahomans who are victims of crime as well as for criminal defendants who want their Constitutionally guaranteed day in court.

Hill and Russell will serve our nation well as judges for the Northern District. They have dedicated themselves to their profession and to their communities. We know this from our personal experience of having worked with them for years.

Throughout her career, Hill has proven to be an astute attorney and is well-respected in the Oklahoma legal community. Likewise, Russell’s extensive experience in the public and private sectors has led to him being one of the top litigators in Oklahoma.

Oklahoma needs more federal judges. Fortunately, our U.S. senators helped find two qualified nominees. We have no doubt that Hill and Russell will serve our nation well, respect the rule of law and uphold their oaths to “faithfully and impartially discharge and perform all duties incumbent upon (them) as a judge under the Constitution and laws of the United States.”

Trent Shores served as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District from September 2017 to March 2021. Brian J. Kuester served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District from September 2017 to February 2021. Both are members of the Republican Party and appointed by President Donald Trump for their positions as U.S. attorney.

Editor’s Note: Hill’s confirmation is opposed by Gov. Kevin Stitt, citing her service as the former attorney general for the Cherokee Nation. Oklahoma Sen. Nathan Dahm as chairman of the Oklahoma Republican Party is campaigning against her nomination. If confirmed, Hill would be the first Indigenous woman to be appointed to the federal bench in Oklahoma and the 8th Native American to serve as U.S. judge in the nation’s history.

Trent Shores served as the U.S. attorney for the Northern District from September 2017 to March 2021. Brian J. Kuester served as the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District from September 2017 to February 2021. Both are members of the Republican Party and appointed by President Donald Trump for their positions as U.S. attorney.

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