“AI
Hallucinations”
in
legal
work
product
have
aged
like
macaroni
art.
At
first
it
was
cute
enough
that
you
ignored
the
childish
errors
and
inattention
to
detail.
But
once
your
refrigerator
runs
out
of
room
for
macaroni
glued
to
printer
paper
you
start
to
realize
the
severity
of
this
shit
popping
up
everywhere.
The
silver
lining
used
to
be
that
the
underlying
cases
tended
to
be
some
contract
dispute
that
doesn’t
mean
much
in
the
scheme
of
things.
Now
we
see
judges
and
assistant
US
Attorneys
caught
red-handed
outsourcing
legal
writing
to
blackbox
LLMs.
And
as
the
ubiquity
of
AI
enabling
bad
lawyering
goes
up,
it’s
only
a
matter
of
time
before
this
conversation
happens:
Inmate
1:
So
what
are
you
in
for?
Inmate
2:
AI
Hallucinations.
And
while
that
conversation
could
happen
anywhere,
Georgia
wouldn’t
be
a
bad
state
to
bet
on.
Atlanta
News
First
has
coverage:
Calling
her
efforts
to
oppose
a
new
trial
for
a
convicted
murderer
“expanded
legal
research,”
a
metro
Atlanta
attorney
has
admitted
using
AI
to
cite
nonexistent
cases
in
a
recent
appearance
before
the
Supreme
Court
of
Georgia.In
a
signed
affidavit,
Deborah
Leslie
–
who
is
listed
as
an
attorney
for
the
appellate
and
assets
forfeitures
unit
in
the
Clayton
County
District
Attorney’s
Office
–
has
apologized
for
citing
some
cases
that
don’t
exist.On
March
18,
Payne
appeared
before
the
state
Supreme
Court
as
it
was
hearing
arguments
in
Hannah
Payne’s
attorneys’
request
for
a
new
trial.
“Expanded
Legal
Research?”
That’s
what
we’re
calling
it
now?
At
least
“This
was
one
revealed
to
me
in
a
dream”
was
earnest
and
quasi-poetic.
That
said,
I
admit
“I
went
to
the
make-shit-up
machine
to
help
me
with
my
job
and
submitted
the
made-up
shit
without
bothering
to
check
its
veracity”
doesn’t
roll
as
cleanly
off
the
tongue.
Dealing
with
prosecutors
is
rough
enough
without
having
to
worry
if
they’re
just
throwing
spaghetti
at
the
wall
to
see
what
sticks.
Georgia’s
public
defender
office
has
been
facing
a
staffing
shortage
for
years
—
to
be
overburdened
with
work
and
know
that
the
other
side
isn’t
even
bothering
to
check
their
work
must
be
maddening.
Thankfully
Payne’s
lawyers
had
the
time
to
call
out
the
prosecutorial
misconduct.
One
of
them,
Brian
Steel,
has
built
a
reputation
for
putting
belt
to
ass
when
prosecutors
step
out
of
line.
At
least
it
wasn’t
a
secret
ex
parte
meeting
this
time!
Payne’s
lawyers
argue
that
that
the
underlying
murder
case
relied
on
a
botched
jury
instructions.
Hopefully
she
gets
a
second
chance
at
justice.
Attorney
With
Clayton
County
DA’s
Office
Apologizes
For
Using
AI,
Citing
Fake
Cases
In
Court
Brief
[Atlanta
News
First]
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
boat
builder
who
is
learning
to
swim
and
is
interested
in
rhetoric,
Spinozists
and
humor.
Getting
back
in
to
cycling
wouldn’t
hurt
either.
You
can
reach
him
by
email
at
[email protected]
and
by
Tweet/Bluesky
at @WritesForRent.