Letter · Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents
Client warning letter on AI-fabricated or altered evidence
Letter warning a client that creating, altering or "enhancing" evidence with AI is serious misconduct and may be a crime, explaining what the firm must do if it learns evidence is false, and asking for originals and provenance.
- Kind
- Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
- Where it applies
- Australia, New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 17 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked against the cited sources on 17 October 2026.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Send at the start of any litigated matter where the client holds key digital evidence (photos, recordings, messages, documents), and promptly if there is any sign that client material has been edited or generated.
How AI may be used
AI can adapt the letter to the client's evidence types and forum from the lawyer's notes, but the lawyer decides the warnings given and handles any disclosure by the client.
AI may
- Tailor the list of evidence types to the client's matter from the lawyer's notes.
- Simplify the language to the client's reading level.
- Prepare a list of originals and devices to request from the client.
AI must not
- Must not soften or omit the consequences of fabricated evidence.
- Must not record or summarise a client's admission of fabrication; that goes directly to the lawyer.
- Must not suggest how material could be made to look more convincing.
The lawyer checks
- The professional duty paragraph accurately reflects the conduct rules for the forum.
- The criminal law reference is correct for the state.
- Any concern already raised is handled in a separate conference and file note.
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
More in Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents
- Deepfake and synthetic evidence authenticity checklist (images, audio, video and documents)
- Letter requesting native files, metadata and device examination (Evidence Act s 167)
- Letter instructing a digital forensics expert on suspected synthetic or altered media
- Digital evidence intake and chain-of-custody record
- Outline of submissions objecting to evidence suspected to be AI-generated or altered
All precedents for Incoming evidence — deepfakes & synthetic documents · Tasks and AI use in this area