Unfathomable pinheadery (see Misc.)
A small newsletter about legaltech
AI
The ABA’s Working Group on AI and the Courts (part
of the ABA’s Task Force on Law and Artificial Intelligence) has released a set of guidelines for the use of AI by judgesThe 3 lawyers, including 2 from PI giant Morgan & Morgan, who were ordered to show cause in a federal court in Wyoming over AI-generated fake citations have been sanctioned with fines of varying amounts [Order | Bloomberg Law ($) | LawSites]
Another attorney has been chastised for fake citations and not ‘Shepardizing’ them - the magistrate judge recommends a fine of $15K ($5,000 for each of the 3 fictitious citations) [Report | Bloomberg Law ($)]
Some of your favorite British artists from the 80s, 90s and Aughts have released a silent album on Spotify to protest “UK government plans to let artificial intelligence companies use copyright-protected work without” artist consent [The Guardian | Spotify]
The Senate has passed a bill to encourage removal of explicit images posted without consent, including deepfakes, called The TAKE IT DOWN Act [Congress.gov | Electronic Frontier Foundation]
Online learning platform Chegg is suing Google, claiming that the search giant is abusing its monopoly position to force content companies to provide data for its AI overviews feature [Reuters | The Verge | Docket]
A couple of two-part blog posts by legal pros on AI use (and misuse) by attorneys:
Ryan McDonough: Building Your Own Legal Benchmarks for LLMs and Vendor AI Tools and Legal AI Benchmarks: The Overlooked Blind Spots
Tex Pasley (make.law): Hallucinations, Pt. 1: I'm Not Worried About the Chat Bots and Hallucinations, Pt. 2
Blockchain/Digital currency
Cryptocurrency exchange CoinBase announced last week that the Securities and Exchange Commission would drop its lawsuit against the company after coming to an agreement on a proposed settlement
Also last week, cryptocurrency exchange ByBit was hacked to the tune of $1.5 billion, the largest ever “crypto hack” in monetary terms [Ars Technica]
From the NY Times [$]: How a community bank in Kansas lost millions in a cryptocurrency scam
Data Privacy
The patients of a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon have filed a class action suit against the doctor after the practice’s computer system was hacked (twice) and nude photos of the patients ended up online
After pressure from the UK government to provide a “backdoor tool” to access encrypted data, Apple is turning off the encryption feature, called Advanced Data Protection, in Great Britain [NY Times ($)]
Miscellaneous
The California State Bar has run into logistical and technical difficulties with test-runs of the February 2025 bar exam, leading to offers of refunds and free test-retakings in July for those who fail in February as well as re-takings scheduled for next week for people unable to take the test on Tuesday due to technical/proctoring failures
Long Reads
Hagan, Margaret, “Measuring What Matters: A Quality Rubric for Legal Q&A,” AI for Access to Justice Workshop – Jurix 2024 [Paper (PDF) | Illustrated summary on Medium ($)]
Responsible AI in Legal Services (RAILS), “AI Risk Management Framework: Guidance For Corporate Legal Teams,” February 2025, https://rails.legal/wp-content/uploads/sites/49/2025/02/RAILS-AI-Policy-Guidance-Framework-Final-Feb2025-1.pdf