AI
has
been
taking
the
“y”
out
of
“your”
work
product
for
years
now.
As
courts
succumb
to
the
apparent
inevitability
of
AI
being
used
to
collaborate
on
briefs,
they’ve
shared
some
pretty
reasonable
expectations
with
the
lawyers
who
use
ChatGPT
or
whatever
LLM
is
en
vogue
to
do
their
jobs.
First
and
foremost,
you
are
responsible
for
whatever
work
you
hand
in.
And
is
that
really
so
strict
of
an
expectation?
If
you
expect
a
judge
to
sit
through
your
laundry
list
of
WHEAREAS
and
whatnot,
the
least
you
can
do
is
proofread
your
words
and
the
cases
you
cite
to.
A
Wisconsin
DA
didn’t
take
the
time
out
to
clean
up
his
work
and
got
sanctioned
for
it.
CBS
News
has
coverage:
A
Wisconsin
judge
sanctioned
a
prosecutor
for
secretly
using
artificial
intelligence
in
court
filings,
and
getting
the
law
wrong
in
a
burglary
case
that
ended
up
being
dismissed.
…
[K]enosha
County
Circuit
Court
Judge
David
Hughes
sanctioned
county
District
Attorney
Xavier
Solis
during
a
hearing
in
the
case
of
Christain
Garrett,
26,
and
Cornelius
Garrett,
32,
who
in
2023
were
charged
with
a
combined
74
criminal
counts
—
38
of
them
felonies
—
related
to
burglary
and
property
damage.Court
documents
requested
by
CBS
58
indicated
that
the
defense
moved
to
dismiss
the
case
in
August
of
last
year.
The
defense
said
a
reply
by
the
state
contained
“AI
hallucinations,”
documents
said.
It
is
worth
noting
that
the
reasons
for
dismissal
have
little
to
do
with
the
AI
use.
The
sanctions,
though?
All
because
Solis
didn’t
make
sure
the
caselaw
he
cited
actually
existed.
The
problem
isn’t
really
that
Solis
used
AI,
the
problem
is
that
he
couldn’t
follow
the
local
rules.
The
judge
allows
for
the
use
of
AI
in
documents,
you
just
have
to
also
tack
on
a
disclosure
that
you
got
some
LLM
help,
give
the
name
of
the
program
you
used,
explain
how
it
was
used,
along
with
some
other
minor
housekeeping
stuff.
The
legal
equivalent
of
your
math
teacher
telling
you
to
show
your
work.
It
keeps
everyone
honest
and
when
you
put
down
that
13×5
=
57,
it
shows
that
something
in
the
process
went
very
wrong.
The
usual
tell-tale
sign
of
hallucinations
tipped
the
judge
off
that
Solis
didn’t
take
the
time
to
do
a
close
read
of
his
work
product.
A
big
part
of
doing
the
work
is
making
sure
that
you
do
the
work.
Not
a
high
hurdle,
yet
people
keep
falling
on
their
faces.
Kenosha
County,
Wisconsin
Judge
Sanctions
Prosecutor
Over
AI
Use
In
Court
Filings
[CBS
News]
Chris
Williams
became
a
social
media
manager
and
assistant
editor
for
Above
the
Law
in
June
2021.
Prior
to
joining
the
staff,
he
moonlighted
as
a
minor
Memelord™
in
the
Facebook
group Law
School
Memes
for
Edgy
T14s
.
He
endured
Missouri
long
enough
to
graduate
from
Washington
University
in
St.
Louis
School
of
Law.
He
is
a
former
boatbuilder
who
is
learning
to
swim, is
interested
in
critical
race
theory,
philosophy,
and
humor,
and
has
a
love
for
cycling
that
occasionally
annoys
his
peers.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at [email protected]
and
by
tweet
at @WritesForRent.