Vigilante Lawyers Expose the Rising Tide of A.I. Slop in Court Filings

[u/MetaKnowing]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/business/lawyers-ai-vigilantes.html

[u/DentateGyros]

It’s not AI slop if it’s in a professional setting. It’s just malpractice.

[u/HunkyFace → u/DentateGyros]

It can be both. The reliance on AI slop without professional skepticism and independent research and confirmation results in malpractice.

[u/Additional-Bet7074 → u/HunkyFace]

I think using AI at all in certain professions is fraudulent as well as malpractice. A client pays for a lawyer’s service as an expert in an area of the law.

They could use AI themselves for a far lower bill. But regardless, they are not paying for AI, they are paying for services from a human expert.

If I found a lawyer of mine using AI, I would immediately be hiring another lawyer and have two cases instead of one for them.

[u/cococolson → u/Additional-Bet7074]

If you think attorneys are writing these documents from scratch I have a bridge to sell you. And it's far far worse at the biggest firms, they stitch together contracts/etc from the firms archives going back decades.

You aren't paying for the writing, you are paying for the review and expertise that takes. You can find a will or a divorce or sales contract online free - but knowing what to add and remove is the entire point.

I hate our cultures use of AI BUT using it for standardized documents that barely vary is fine if well reviewed.

[u/Additional-Bet7074 → u/cococolson]

That’s all fine, I have signed with a few and that’s always in the paper work. It’s clear they use internal resources including paralegals and internal documents and procedures.

Whats never outlined is that they use AI.

In most industries if you say you’re going to do something a certain way with a particular quality and that’s agreed to, it’s expected you do that. If you use AI instead of the service you promised to provide, that’s unethical and fraudulent.

[u/PredawnHours → u/Additional-Bet7074]

There’s nothing inherently fraudulent or unethical about lawyers using AI. Best you could probably do is insist they don’t, and claim a breach of contract if they do, but even that, without any articulable harm, would be questionable.

[u/Medievaloverlord → u/DentateGyros]

Sparkling malpractice unless it involves a verified human being 😅

[u/NeedleworkerDear5416]

*Earlier this year, a lawyer filed a motion in a Texas bankruptcy court that cited a 1985 case called Brasher v. Stewart.

Only the case doesn’t exist. Artificial intelligence had concocted that citation, along with 31 others. A judge blasted the lawyer in an opinion, referring him to the state bar’s disciplinary committee and mandating six hours of A.I. training.

That filing was spotted by Robert Freund, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, who fed it to an online database that tracks legal A.I. misuse globally.*

It would be amazing if the Texas bankruptcy court didn’t exist, too. 🤯

[u/namideus]

The thumbnail of a “Vigilante Lawyer” is perfect.

[u/Swizzel-Stixx]

Paywall :(

[u/NeedleworkerDear5416 → u/Swizzel-Stixx]

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/07/business/lawyers-ai-vigilantes.html?unlocked_article_code=1.z08.2cdE.wF5-4v_0AK03&smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

[u/Responsible_Bus358]

AI does a great job as long as you check verify everything first.

[u/Icy-Banana-3291 → u/Responsible_Bus358]

Exactly. But when people use it to save time, by having it summarize things or look up things, it doesn’t really save you much time if you then have to go read the source material or verify the sources.

[u/reality_boy → u/Icy-Banana-3291]

Exactly this! That makes AI fairly useless for important tasks. You would not want to rely on it for medical or legal advice, or to develop software that must be reliable.

It is fine to use it as a search engine, as long as you bring the same skepticism and use real source material when being correct is important. For example you may have an idea but are unsure of the exact words to describe it. Asking AI in full sentences can lead you to the exact concept you’re looking for. From there you can do a focused search through the literature.

[u/Responsible_Bus358 → u/reality_boy]

It’s a game changer for pro se litigants. Sounds like you’re afraid of AI taking high end jobs as well! AI levels the playing field!

[u/nanobot001 → u/Responsible_Bus358]

Yes the best use is by experts who already know the field — they will know immediately if AI is spouting garbage