Check a know-how note for a fictitious generative-AI citation
Key facts
- Human involvement
- YellowClose supervision
- How AI is used
- If a know-how note was prepared with a generative tool, list every case, academic reference and legislative citation in the note. Leave a blank beside each one for whether the source exists and whether it says what the note claims. Do not treat a citation as real because it looks complete. Do not add the note to the bank.
- What the lawyer must review
- The lawyer checks each citation. The Law Society of NSW guide, A solicitor's guide to responsible use of artificial intelligence, January 2026, says generative AI systems have been known to produce inaccurate information, for example fictitious case law or academic references. It describes a hallucination as a reference that appears legitimate but is fictitious, and says solicitors must always thoroughly check outputs. The guide says use of AI does not negate the need to deliver legal services competently, diligently and as promptly as possible, which it attributes to Solicitor Conduct Rule 4.1.3. It says practitioners must thoroughly review and verify generative AI outputs for accuracy, and that law practice principals must have policies and procedures for appropriate use and supervision. It attributes principal responsibility to section 34 of the Legal Profession Uniform Law, and staff supervision to Solicitor Conduct Rule 37. Those instruments were not opened. The lawyer confirms them and checks each citation against the source. This check asks whether a citation in a know-how note exists. It does not compare a quoted passage with the in-force text of a section the lawyer has already identified, and it is not a check of a document prepared for filing or of what may be typed into a tool.
- Written for / version
- US
Open a jurisdiction version of this task to see which instruments apply: US
Who does what
| Role | What they do |
|---|---|
| Assistance | If a know-how note was prepared with a generative tool, list every case, academic reference and legislative citation in the note. Leave a blank beside each one for whether the source exists and whether it says what the note claims. Do not treat a citation as real because it looks complete. Do not add the note to the bank. |
| Lawyer | Set the scope, supervise the work closely, verify every part relied on, resolve omissions and exceptions, and approve the exact output. |
Checklist
- List every citation, including one that looks well formed. The guide's point is that a fictitious reference can appear legitimate.
- Leave the verification column blank. Do not mark a source as found without the lawyer opening it.
- A quote that the lawyer has already tied to an identified section is a different check. This list is for citations the tool or a draft introduced.
- Do not treat the guide's references to rule 4.1.3, section 34 and rule 37 as a substitute for reading those instruments. They were not opened.
Sources
- Law Society of NSW, A solicitor's guide to responsible use of artificial intelligence (January 2026) · 2026-10-22
These are suggested working checks. Confirm the required checking with the responsible lawyer before work starts; the checking approach does not establish permission to use AI.