{"id":130848,"date":"2025-08-19T10:42:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:42:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/19\/elite-law-schools-are-offering-classes-on-responsible-ai-use\/"},"modified":"2025-08-19T10:42:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-19T18:42:08","slug":"elite-law-schools-are-offering-classes-on-responsible-ai-use","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/2025\/08\/19\/elite-law-schools-are-offering-classes-on-responsible-ai-use\/","title":{"rendered":"Elite Law Schools Are Offering Classes On Responsible AI Use"},"content":{"rendered":"

Convenience and laziness go hand in hand like great power and responsibility. We\u2019ve seen the consequences of lazy lawyers and judges using widely accessible large language models irresponsibly. Citing to nonexistent cases can get your cemented in the annals of the New York Times and on Above The Law\u2019s Point and Laugh WallTM<\/sup><\/a>. Mike Lindell\u2019s lawyers earned a sanction after shoddy LLM use<\/a>, Alabama lost its chosen lawyers over fake cases<\/a>, and a judge took the time to (professionally) mock a lawyer whose apology for using AI included purple prose that would make William Faulkner blush<\/a>. It would be one thing if it were just lawyers showing poor judgement, but judges have hopped on the trend too \u2014 one trial judge managed to mail-in their job so hard that an \u201cAI hallucination\u201d became good law for a short while<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At this point, the general public would benefit if someone stepped in to save lawyers and judges from completely outsourcing their jobs to LLMs. Who better to intervene than law schools? Bloomberg Law<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

Incidents of AI-generated errors in legal citations have increased the pressure on law schools to teach responsible use of the technology.<\/p>\n

The University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale law schools are among those augmenting curricula. In new or updated classes, schools are training their students to understand the AI tools\u2019 limitations and to check their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never give enough reminders and enough instruction to people about the fact that you cannot use AI to replace human judgment, human research, human writing skills, and a human\u2019s job to verify whether something is actually true or not,\u201d said William Hubbard, deputy dean of University of Chicago Law School.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is an amazing heuristic to have. One, because it directly counters Elon Musk\u2019s sentiment that feeding Grok all prior precedent will replace judges<\/a>, but also because it refocuses agency back on what matters \u2014 the person with a JD responsible for advocating on their client\u2019s behalf. Language like \u201cAI Hallucinations\u201d does a phenomenal job of covering up the real issue behind the negligence that allows errors to make their way in to briefs and caselaw: PEBCAK<\/a>. I\u2019ll admit it doesn\u2019t roll off of the tongue quite as nicely as \u201cAI hallucination\u201d does, but it\u2019s a better alternative:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n

PEBCAK \u2014 Problem Exists Between Keyboard and Chair https:\/\/t.co\/LcnxxofUQm<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 aught enjoyer (@wthrihrdlyknwhr) April 10, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

Remember: bad AI cites don\u2019t make the AI look nearly as bad as it makes you look lazy. You, and your school, should have known better than to let that happen. <\/p>\n

Top Law Schools Boost AI Training as Legal Citation Errors Grow<\/a> [Bloomberg Law]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: For The Love Of All That Is Holy, Stop Blaming ChatGPT For This Bad Brief<\/a><\/p>\n

Trial Court Decides Case Based On AI-Hallucinated Caselaw<\/a><\/p>\n

T14 Law School Actually Wants You To Use AI In The Application Process<\/a><\/p>\n

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<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0cwilliams@abovethelaw.com <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The post Elite Law Schools Are Offering Classes On Responsible AI Use<\/a> appeared first on Above the Law<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tIt’s okay, this used to confuse me too. \t\t\t\t\t\t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Convenience and laziness go hand in hand like great power and responsibility. We\u2019ve seen the consequences of lazy lawyers and judges using widely accessible large language models irresponsibly. Citing to nonexistent cases can get your cemented in the annals of the New York Times and on Above The Law\u2019s Point and Laugh WallTM<\/sup><\/a>. Mike Lindell\u2019s lawyers earned a sanction after shoddy LLM use<\/a>, Alabama lost its chosen lawyers over fake cases<\/a>, and a judge took the time to (professionally) mock a lawyer whose apology for using AI included purple prose that would make William Faulkner blush<\/a>. It would be one thing if it were just lawyers showing poor judgement, but judges have hopped on the trend too \u2014 one trial judge managed to mail-in their job so hard that an \u201cAI hallucination\u201d became good law for a short while<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At this point, the general public would benefit if someone stepped in to save lawyers and judges from completely outsourcing their jobs to LLMs. Who better to intervene than law schools? Bloomberg Law<\/a> has coverage:<\/p>\n

\n

Incidents of AI-generated errors in legal citations have increased the pressure on law schools to teach responsible use of the technology.<\/p>\n

The University of Chicago, University of Pennsylvania, and Yale law schools are among those augmenting curricula. In new or updated classes, schools are training their students to understand the AI tools\u2019 limitations and to check their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can never give enough reminders and enough instruction to people about the fact that you cannot use AI to replace human judgment, human research, human writing skills, and a human\u2019s job to verify whether something is actually true or not,\u201d said William Hubbard, deputy dean of University of Chicago Law School.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

This is an amazing heuristic to have. One, because it directly counters Elon Musk\u2019s sentiment that feeding Grok all prior precedent will replace judges<\/a>, but also because it refocuses agency back on what matters \u2014 the person with a JD responsible for advocating on their client\u2019s behalf. Language like \u201cAI Hallucinations\u201d does a phenomenal job of covering up the real issue behind the negligence that allows errors to make their way in to briefs and caselaw: PEBCAK<\/a>. I\u2019ll admit it doesn\u2019t roll off of the tongue quite as nicely as \u201cAI hallucination\u201d does, but it\u2019s a better alternative:<\/p>\n

Remember: bad AI cites don\u2019t make the AI look nearly as bad as it makes you look lazy. You, and your school, should have known better than to let that happen. <\/p>\n

Top Law Schools Boost AI Training as Legal Citation Errors Grow<\/a> [Bloomberg Law]<\/p>\n

Earlier<\/strong>: For The Love Of All That Is Holy, Stop Blaming ChatGPT For This Bad Brief<\/a><\/p>\n

Trial Court Decides Case Based On AI-Hallucinated Caselaw<\/a><\/p>\n

T14 Law School Actually Wants You To Use AI In The Application Process<\/a><\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Chris Williams became a social media manager and assistant editor for Above the Law in June 2021. Prior to joining the staff, he moonlighted as a minor Memelord\u2122 in the Facebook group\u00a0Law School Memes for Edgy T14s . \u00a0He endured Missouri long enough to graduate from Washington University in St. Louis School of Law. He is a former boatbuilder who is learning to swim,\u00a0is interested in critical race theory, philosophy, and humor, and has a love for cycling that occasionally annoys his peers. You can reach him by email at\u00a0[email\u00a0protected] <\/a>and by tweet at\u00a0@WritesForRent<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Convenience and laziness go hand in hand like great power and responsibility. We\u2019ve seen the consequences of lazy lawyers and judges using widely accessible large language models irresponsibly. Citing to nonexistent cases can get your cemented in the annals of the New York Times and on Above The Law\u2019s Point and Laugh WallTM. Mike Lindell\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":130823,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-130848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-above_the_law"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/xira.com\/p\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Chris-Williams-2025-1RE5HA.jpg?fit=512%2C288&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130848"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130848\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130823"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}