Using AI for Legal Work: A Recent Case That Raised Serious Questions
Reasons to choose Wilson Browne
Despite the warnings why are people still blindly using AI for legal work? There is no excuse & no immunity from lazy mistakes!
A recent case highlights where so many can, and are, make shocking errors.
The High Court’s recent ruling in Cork and another v Smith [2026] EWHC 1199 (Ch) is a case where a junior lawyer used an AI pilot tool to research an insolvency query. The AI hallucinated entirely fictional statutory text, which was subsequently included in two letters submitted to the court. Despite explicit warnings from the AI software itself to verify the output, the text was not cross-checked, and the supervising partners were unaware AI had even been used.
While the judge accepted there was no intent to deceive, the firm and the supervising solicitors were publicly admonished for a serious failure in adequate supervision.
As ICC Judge Mullen summarised:
Legal professionals cannot outsource the process of legal research or reasoning to AI… It may provide ‘a jumping-off point,’ but it does not remove the need for proper research and thought.
Technology is only as reliable as the human expertise overseeing it. At Wilson Browne Solicitors, we actively embrace the future by leveraging market-leading AI tools to streamline processes, enhance efficiency, and help us do deeper, more exhaustive research. However, our clients remain protected because we maintain an uncompromising stance on quality control.
Every single output generated by our digital toolkit is rigorously stress-tested, verified, and analysed by experienced legal minds.
It is our ANALYSIS that sets us apart, not lazy formatting and unchecked clever sounding words. Our Legal 500 Recognised Commercial Litigation team prides itself on high-quality, hands-on supervision.
AI tools are used responsibly, and the advice we deliver to clients and courts is accurate, authoritative, and legally sound. The legal AI tool that we pay for is market leading and only bases it’s answers in the contents of one of the world’s largest, most trusted, legal libraries. That is why we are proud to partner with Thomson Reuters Practical Law for their deep research and search tools – we do not use AI to draft our output at this time.
Innovation requires infrastructure. If you are navigating complex commercial disputes, you need a team that uses the best tech on the market, backed by the human expertise required to get it right.
Like the change from quill to typewriter, to word processor, to PC… AI is a tool, not a replacement.
Kevin Rogers is Chair of the Board at Wilson Browne Solicitors, with responsibility for our Commercial and Operations Teams. He leads our Commercial Litigation Team, who handle a wide range of complex cases for local, regional and national clients. Human experts decide the advice at WB, where the first call is free.
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Kevin Rogers
Partner
Recognised as a ‘Leading Individual’ (one of only two in our region) by The Legal 500 (the ‘who’s who’ of law) Kevin is a Partner in our Commercial Litigation Team.