OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Figuring out ways to harness the power of artificial intelligence is being challenged by every industry. What works, what doesn’t and what’s ethical.

The Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments in a divorce and custody case this month, but what the justices really wanted to know was: Did the attorney really write this?

It’s a big deal for attorneys arguing a case before the Nebraska Supreme Court. First up was an appeal of a divorce case from Omaha. But 37 seconds into the argument, the justices interrupted Omaha attorney Greg Lake.

“Before we get into that, I’d like to ask you about your brief,” a justice said.

“Of course,” Lake said.

“And your brief had a number of errors in it that were submitted. Can you explain to us how that occurred?” the justice asked.

“Absolutely, Your Honor. I was on my 10th wedding anniversary. While flying down there, my computer broke. And I uploaded the incorrect version of my brief,” Lake said.

Extensive errors discovered

The opposing attorney told the court that of the 63 references Lake made in his brief, 57 contained some form of defect.

“The brief that was submitted had misquotes from cases, fictitious cases, and misquotes from statutes. How were those all generated in your, I guess, the version that you did submit to us?” a justice asked.

“Sure. It was a draft. And when I… My writing process is when I’m drafting, I stick in things that I know wouldn’t pass muster,” Lake said.

“The elephant in the room is whether or not you used artificial intelligence. Did you?” the justice asked.

“No, I did not,” Lake said.

“With respect, if you didn’t use artificial intelligence, how do we end up with a citation to cases that don’t exist? I mean, it’s frankly a little hard to believe that’s just a citation error,” the justice said.

“Certainly, Your Honor. And again, like I said, I was… My computer was broken,” Lake said.

Client concerns

Jason Regan is the client whose divorce and custody arguments were essentially hijacked by the AI questions for four minutes, making him wonder if the merits of his case will even be considered.

“This was supposed to be where I felt my story would be heard,” Regan said.

“That’s why you go to a professional and pay big bucks for their expertise. I thought I was in safe hands,” Regan said.

Lake charges $375 an hour.

Expert perspective

Professor George McHendry teaches AI ethics at Creighton University.

“In law, that’s where we’ve seen immediate consequences of technology to made up cases,” McHendry said.

“I think you’re going to see courts grow more tired. I wouldn’t be surprised if, at some point, someone’s law license is at stake,” McHendry said.

“With a number of mistakes and basically misleading comments that were made in the brief, why shouldn’t this appeal just be treated as frivolous?” a justice asked.

“Your Honor, I don’t have a great answer for that,” Lake said.

Case outcome and broader implications

The Nebraska Supreme Court took the case under advisement. The opposing counsel suggested the entire case should be tossed. The court even asked Greg Lake’s opinion on if he should be sanctioned for his actions.

“I’m not running away from this… I made a mistake,” Lake said.

The Nebraska Counsel for Discipline can’t say if there’s been a complaint filed in this case. However, in the last few months a couple of attorneys in Douglas County have been sanctioned for using AI and paid fines.

An online database which follows AI hallucination court cases has compiled 958 of them so far across the world including the sanctions. Those wrongly using AI were mostly lawyers. Others are defendants who represent themselves.

The attorney general submitted a friend of the court brief as a reminder to the justices that AI plays a central role for making the job of an attorney more efficient and that Nebraska rules already say that if you use AI, the attorney has a duty to verify the accuracy of court briefs.

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