Extract from Jon Campisi’s article “As AI Blunders Pile Up, Law Firms Address Ethics Implications of New Technology”
Learning precisely how to use an artificial intelligence platform in the course of legal business is obviously going to be a part of law firm AI training, but knowing when—and for that matter, when not—to use AI technology is a sometimes overlooked, but crucial, component of technology training.
As the legal industry continues to embrace AI within legal workflow, many firms are enhancing their professional development around the ethical considerations of AI use, since lawyers are bound by a strict code of ethics.
While training on the actual use of AI technology for legal work is a given—lawyers clearly must know how these programs and platforms function—more firms are now focusing more heavily on the ethical implications of using AI in client matters, given client confidentiality and regulatory oversight.
The focus on ethical AI use couldn’t come at a more apt time; just last week, Sullivan & Cromwell made headlines after learning one of its lawyers had filed a brief that included AI hallucinations, or nonexistent case citations. The discovery that one of the most prestigious law firms in the world made such a seemingly rudimentary error led to a attorney having to apologize to a federal bankruptcy judge.
