Verify criminal-law research that came from a tool
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- For each citation in the research, record whether it appears in a source the lawyer supplies. Quote the holding or the rule that source states. Flag a citation with no source. Do not add one.
- What the lawyer must review
- You decide what is relied on. Comment 8 to Rule 1.1 treats technology as part of competence. Formal Opinion 512 requires you to check a citation before you rely on it. Model Rule 3.3 applies if the research is handed to a court. A citation you cannot match is not authority. This check does not confirm a guidelines calculation. The Guidelines Manual was not opened.
- Written for / version
- United States versionUS
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | Potential support includes organising research leads and identifying points for review. Confirm the tool’s capability and permitted scope. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- Open each relied-on authority independently. Confirm its existence, current status, proposition and any quotation or pinpoint reference.
- Trace every relied-on figure to its source, confirm dates and assumptions, and independently recalculate totals or derived amounts.
- Confirm the output against the client’s instructions and the complete relevant source material, including omissions or contradictions.
- Resolve exceptions and record the responsible lawyer’s approval of the exact output and intended use.