Nebraska

Nebraska Supreme Court questions attorney about AI use in court brief

Published

3 weeks ago

February 19, 2026

Nebraska Supreme Court questions attorney about AI use in court brief

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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Nebraska

68 students chosen as Nebraska Young Artist Award winners

Published

11 hours ago

March 10, 2026

Press Room

68 students chosen as Nebraska Young Artist Award winners

The University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts has announced the winners of the 29th annual Nebraska Young Artist Awards.

The awards recognize 11th-grade students from Nebraska for their talents in visual art, dance, music, theatre, and film and emerging media arts.

Sixty-eight students from more than 40 high schools across the state have been selected as award winners and will be invited to a day of activities on campus March 25.

“Our faculty always look forward to this event,” said Chris Watson, director of recruitment for the college and coordinator of the awards. “They love meeting enthusiastic young artists, working with them and celebrating their talent.”

Students applied for the recognition and submitted an example of their work. Applications were received from 92 students. Hixson-Lied College faculty chose the winners.

Award winners were also asked to nominate the teacher who provided them with the greatest amount of mentoring and support in the development of their special talents.

Each student will receive a certificate and an original piece of artwork commissioned for the event and created by a School of Art, Art History and Design student.

Following is a list of award winners by hometown, with their high school and specialty area(s).

Aurora:

Calvin Miller, Aurora, music

Beaver City:

Johnathan Eakin, Southern Valley, visual arts

Bellevue:

Mami Lloyd, Bellevue West, music

Bennington:

Liliana Martic, Bennington, music

Eagle:

Jorie Goings, Waverly, dance

Firth:

Petra Van Cleave, home school, music

Fremont:

Xavier Herre, Bergan Catholic, theatre

Fullerton:

Lylla Sabata, Fullerton, music

Gretna:

Lillian Bock, Gretna, music

Harvard:

Allee Jarzynka, Harvard, music

Hendley:

Lily Jordan, Southern Valley, visual arts

Hooper:

Leo Arellano, Logan View, visual arts
Ellsie Meier, Logan View, visual arts

Kearney:

Kruz Flamig, Kearney, visual arts
Isaac Hooton, Kearney, visual arts
Mariah Kaslon, Kearney, visual arts
Landen Tilley, Kearney, visual arts

Lincoln:

Alissa Brenning, Norris, dance
Kali Brewer, Lincoln Southeast, visual arts
Ava Engel, Lincoln Northeast, dance
Emalie Fischer, Lincoln North Star, dance
Adelyn Haden, Lincoln Standing Bear, dance and music
Audrey Haugen, Lincoln Southwest, theatre
Andrea Hu, Lincoln East, music
Logan Lambrecht, Lincoln Southwest, music and theatre
Mckinzey Lile, Lincoln North Star, dance
Hayley Marshall, Lincoln Southwest, dance
Riley Minster, Lincoln East, music
Joslyn Morgan, Lincoln Southeast, music
Ariadne Ottoson, home school, music
Megan Plander, Lincoln Lutheran, theatre
Lauren Ramey, LPS Arts and Humanities Focus Program, visual arts
Blake Semrad, Lincoln Southwest, dance
Emma Shaeffer, Lincoln Southwest, dance
Taylor Sharpe, Lincoln Southwest, dance
Hugh Skretta, Lincoln High, music
Samuel Sulzle, Lincoln Northwest, music
Brooks Xia, Lincoln East, music

Martell:

Reese Thomas, home school, music

Norfolk:

Noah Asbury, Norfolk, music
Emily Henkel, Norfolk, music; Nathan Kaiser, Norfolk, music
North Platte: Brett Pfeifer, North Platte, theatre

Omaha:

Asher Abuhl, Trinity Classical Academy, music
Adam Campagna, Omaha South, film and emerging media arts
Liam Cowherd Richardson, Creighton Preparatory, music
Regina Ho, Millard South, film and emerging media arts
Connor Holmstedt, Fort Calhoun, music
Kara Leininger, Duchesne Academy, music
Jayden Li, Millard North, music; Violet Little, Omaha Central, dance
Mrethi Magesh, Millard North, dance
Venkatesan Marichamy, Millard North, dance
Moyra Matthews, Duchesne Academy, dance and music
Jackson Mu, Millard North, music
Gauri Nair, Millard North, dance
Angela Qi, Millard North, music
Jackson Ramsey, Gretna East, music
Tara Richardson, Creighton Prep, music
Vandana Santhanam, Marian, music
Caroline Soderlin, Millard North, music
Akshara Venkatesan, Millard North, dance
Caleigh Walkenhorst, Millard West, music

Osmond:

Donovan Heiman, Osmond, theatre

Papillion:

Emelia Weaver, Papillion-La Vista, music

Pierce:

Spencer Sindt, Pierce, music

Randolph:

Brecken Shearer, Randolph, visual arts

York:

Allison Holmes, York, visual arts

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Nebraska

Nebraska completes sweep over Michigan State in 12-2 seven-inning win

Published

23 hours ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska completes sweep over Michigan State in 12-2 seven-inning win

Nebraska baseball (10-5, 3-0) closed out its three-game series with Michigan State (3-11, 0-3) on Sunday afternoon. The Huskers completed the sweep over the Spartans, earning a 12-2 run-rule win in seven.

Nebraska shut down Michigan State early, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first after the Spartans took a 1-0 lead. The Huskers scored 11 straight before surrendering another run. The team totaled 11 hits and held Michigan State to three. The Spartans also suffered five errors.

Nebraska struck three home runs on the day, two off the bat of Dylan Carey. He hit 3-for-4 for four RBIs after hitting multiple two-run home runs. Preston Freeman also blasted a two-run shot over the wall to finish 1-for-3.

Case Sanderson brought in three RBIs after batting 2-for-4 with a double. Drew Grego also finished 2-for-4, earning one RBI. Mac Moyer grabbed one RBI off a double. Jett Buck and Joshua Overbeek each delivered one hit.

Gavin Blachowicz (2-1) won at the mound and pitched all seven innings for the Huskers. He struck out a career-high 11 batters and allowed three hits for two runs.

Nebraska remains at home for its next matchup, hosting North Dakota State on Wednesday night. The first pitch is set for 6 p.m. CT on B1G+.

Contact/Follow us @CornhuskersWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Nebraska news, notes and opinions.

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Nebraska

Cale Jacobsen scores 15 and No. 9 Nebraska beats Iowa 84-75 in overtime after blowing late lead

Published

1 day ago

March 9, 2026

Press Room

Cale Jacobsen scores 15 and No. 9 Nebraska beats Iowa 84-75 in overtime after blowing late lead

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Cale Jacobsen came off the bench to score 13 of his 15 points after halftime and hit the tiebreaking 3-pointer in overtime, and ninth-ranked Nebraska matched its program record for wins in a season with an 84-75 victory over Iowa on Sunday.

Sam Hoiberg, who scored 15 points and had five steals on his senior day, hugged teammate Pryce Sandfort near halfcourt as time ran out and then heaved the ball high into the stands. He and his father, coach Fred Hoiberg, embraced and a short time later the rest of the Huskers came out of the tunnel to salute the sellout crowd at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Nebraska (26-5, 15-5 Big Ten) led by 10 points with five minutes left in regulation but missed five of its next seven shots and a couple of late free throws to let the Hawkeyes back in it. Kael Combs scored Iowa’s last eight points of regulation, including a second-chance 3-pointer that tied it 70-all with 2.7 seconds left.

After Cooper Koch tied it at 75-all in overtime, Jacobsen made a 3 from the corner and the Huskers went on to score the final nine points. The Huskers beat Iowa (20-11, 10-10) for the first time in five meetings and split the season series.

Sandfort, who transferred from Iowa after last season, scored 15 points and Rienk Mast added 14 for the Huskers.

Combs and Koch had 18 points apiece for the Hawkeyes, who committed 19 turnovers.