Yesterday I played golf with a buddy. His son has a degree that is now almost useless. AI has taken over the discipline he studied to earn. I mentioned that AI will take over drafting mundane discovery, and it should shrink the time needed to research cases for briefing. I said, it should lower client bills, but added, it won’t. Too many frauds in the legal profession. They will take advantage of AI to not do “the work,” but they will still bill for it.
I mentioned that law firms should start cutting back on attorneys because most, if not all, firms use associates to grind out useless billable hours. Those worker bees draft discovery and research case law. Now, much of that work can be instantly done by AI. What AI cannot effectively do is think.
So, what would happen if an attorney prompted AI with a “find everything” prompt? The prompt would be “all-encompassing”. Way too broad. AI might find “case law” in fiction and pull quotes from any source, including books, the backs of cereal boxes, or from garbage sites like Quora. What might be worse? If a lazy/incompetent attorney doesn’t check his/her AI prompt for accuracy? That nightmare happened in Georgia a few days ago.
A criminal case came up before the Georgia Supreme Court. The case is styled: Payne vs The State. The State’s attorney had finished her oral presentation. The Chief Justice then told her that he had one more item to deal with. The State’s attorney smiled and waited. He told her that her filing contained 5 cases and citations that don’t exist. 5 citations that don’t support the argument she was making. And the judge told her there are three “quotations” from actual cases that are not in the cited cases.
Justice Peterson: “Did you prepare the Order?” Leslie: “I did prepare an Order, that Order was revised.”The judge then pointed out that her initial order contains all the myths and errors.
Justice Peterson: “Those nonexistent cases were cited in your initial brief opposing the motion for a new trial.”Leslie, started to nervously flip through pages, maybe looking for a portal to another world. She had no answer because, there wasn’t one. She was cooked, and she knew it.
Leslie: “Your honor, I’m not aware of that, but I would be glad to research and provide the court with a supplement.”The Supreme Court then does something extraordinary, because this type of incompetence and fraud on the court is not “ordinary”. In a written order it requires Leslie to explain how nonexistent cases and mythical quotes ended up in her brief. What should happen is Leslie is now, out of a job; fired for embarrassing the State Attorney’s office, and committing a fraud on the court. I looked up her Lawyers.com profile. Here are just two reviews of her work defending criminal cases:
“Worst service ever! Don’t waste your time! She rude and mean as well. Didn’t even try in the case…she’s court appointed don’t even worry about her doing anything. She’s shows up and says nothing. And she will not speak nor discuss the case with your family.” “One of the worst lawyers I have ever encountered!!! You might as well represent yourself!!! She NEVER contacts clients, only speaks in court if she feels the need to (which is rarely), and on top of it all as a court appointed attorney she asks for money for any consultation or activity outside the courtroom (which is illegal). I don’t know how this woman passed law school. If you get her as a court appointed attorney, request for a new one!!! “Criminals are generally unhappy with being convicted, but…Yikes. The uncomfortable truth? She likely won’t be fired. She should have been fired a 30 seconds after that hearing. But Leslie is a Black female. Firing her is a risk because she has DEI clout. If she’s also a lesbian, she’s almost human Teflon. I practiced over 30 years and saw lots of incompetent lazy lawyers like Leslie. I can only imagine what garbage I would have seen, had AI been a “thing” when I practiced. The irony of Leslie’s incompetence and “ineffective counsel for the state? The underlying issue in Payne vs The State? Ineffective trial counsel. Want to watch the whole excruciating event? Click here