While the courts and Tribunals continue to be overwhelmed with cases, a recent case caught my eye, not only as it shows how easy it is to fall foul to the “creativity” of Artificial Intelligence (AI) but because it involves a lawyer!
In the case of Cork and Anor v Smith [2026] EHC 1199 (Ch) (an insolvency matter), the judge publicly admonished a UK based law firm, whose junior solicitor was found to have used AI to generate fictitious law. The junior solicitor produced two letters for the court using AI, the first letter misinterpreting statute and allocating power to the court that simply didn’t exist and the second letter attempting to provide a credible explanation of the first rogue letter, which was wrong in again misapplying the law.
Interestingly in this matter, the Judge ordered disclosure of the AI chat thread (don’t assume chats with AI are confidential when it comes to legal proceedings) and following review, commented that it was remarkable how in many instances AI was “plainly wrong or, at the very least, extremely misleading”. Ironically, this also showed that AI had warned the solicitor that it was not fully confident about the way it was interpreting the law. Sadly, the solicitor had failed to double check the references.
AI is developing at a rapid speed, in fact, the first law firm providing legal services through AI was authorised by the legal regulator last year, for help in recovering unpaid debts. However, we have also seen a rise in the use of AI by employees in particular, who have contacted us with their own AI assessments of their employment situation, claim or grievance many of which, on review are plainly incorrect, exaggerated and are potentially diminishing their arguments. As all this suggests, AI needs to be used with care. Businesses using AI internally (including law firms!) need to ensure they are fool proof and that documented review procedures are in place.
Please see the following link to read the judgment in this case https://www.iclr.co.uk/document/2026004445/2026ewhc1199ch_TNA/html.
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