Consequences For Lawyers Who Fail To Catch Opposing Counsel Relying On AI Hallucinations In Their Legal Briefs

InnovationAIConsequences For Lawyers Who Fail To Catch Opposing Counsel Relying On AI Hallucinations In Their Legal BriefsByLance Eliot,Contributor.Forbes contributors publish independent expert analyses and insights. Dr. Lance B. Eliot is a world-renowned AI scientist and consultant.Follow AuthorJun 10, 2026, 03:15am EDTThe little discussed question of what to do when an attorney fails to detect that the opposing side has relied on AI hallucinations.gettyIn today’s column, I examine the seldom-analyzed circumstance of what should or does happen if an attorney fails to catch the fact that the opposing counsel in a case relied upon AI hallucinations as part of their official court filings.This particular topic is not given much airtime. The air in the room goes to the attorneys that crossed the sacred line and used AI-hallucinated content in their formal filings. The base assumption is that they certainly must have been found out by the opposing side. The opposing side would seemingly scrutinize every iota of the filing by their opposition, and in so doing, discover the AI-hallucinated aspects. In turn, they would seemingly alert the court. The court then drives forward on what to do about the weighty matter.Suppose that the use of AI hallucinations is not discovered by the opposing side. This would seem a big miss. Our adversarial system presumes that each side is doing their darnedest to figure out their side of the case and be in the face of the opposing side. If the opposing side includes AI hallucinations, by gosh, the adversarial approach ought to iron-clad guarantee that this will be uncovered by any watchful and dutiful attorney.Unfortunately, this is not always the case and raises the vexing question of whether any penalty or sanction should come to a lawyer that fails to discover that their opponent has dipped into AI hallucinations.It’s an intriguing and unresolved legal question.Let’s talk about it.MORE FOR YOUThis analysis of AI breakthroughs is part of...