Since its launch, the event of generative synthetic intelligence has elevated exponentially. Regardless of its fast development, nonetheless, many attorneys are hesitant so as to add AI instruments to their agency’s IT stack. One of many high causes for this reticence is a insecurity within the reliability of AI responses.
Based on the 8am 2026 Legal Industry Report, 84% of authorized professionals surveyed reported that lowered belief within the outcomes had a major or average influence on their agency’s AI adoption.
This reluctance to embrace AI just isn’t unfounded, particularly with regards to authorized analysis. Based on a website managed by Damien Charlotin that tracks AI hallucinations in courtroom submissions, there have been over 1,600 reported incidents, and the quantity is simply rising. As defined on the web site’s FAQ page, earlier than 2025, AI hallucinations in authorized briefs occurred two or thrice per 30 days however now seem a number of instances every day.
This explosion within the variety of faux case citations has precipitated vital frustration for judges making an attempt to maneuver instances by means of their dockets. Most just lately, in Landberg v. City of New York, Justice Valerie Brathwaite Nelson of the New York Supreme Court docket’s Appellate Division chastised not solely the offending legal professional but in addition his opponent.
She explained that the respondent’s lawyer’s failure to advise the courtroom of the wrong citations was equally problematic as a result of all appellate attorneys have a accountability to “notify the courtroom when these kind of misrepresentations and fictitious instances and fictitious citations and misrepresenting the holding of a courtroom of appeals case.” She additionally chastised the respondent’s lawyer, saying: “in case you learn the temporary and regarded on the instances, you’d have realized it was your accountability additionally to alert the courtroom.”
The extent of this downside has led to the event of a completely new class of software program designed to verify the validity of AI-generated case citations. An rising variety of these instruments, AI cite-checking merchandise, have been launched over the previous yr, both as stand-alone apps or as new options in established merchandise. When you’re utilizing AI-powered authorized analysis and drafting instruments, you might wish to think about including this performance to your agency’s workflow.
Selecting AI quotation verify instruments
Earlier than investing in AI quotation verify instruments, be sure to perceive how they are going to be utilized in your agency, by whom and the way typically. As you’ll see when researching your choices, prices can typically add up rapidly, thus including to the value your agency already pays for AI authorized analysis and temporary drafting merchandise.
For that motive, earlier than persevering with to spend money on any of these kind of merchandise, you must carry out a cost-benefit evaluation to find out whether or not the time saved utilizing AI-powered authorized analysis, drafting and case quotation verify instruments outweighs their expense. It’s completely potential that you could be discover that conducting authorized analysis utilizing conventional authorized analysis platforms and drafting paperwork the “old style” means might in the end be cheaper.
When you determine to remain the course and add a quotation verify instrument to your agency’s tech stack, you’ll want to make sure that you rigorously vet each the providers supplied and the know-how supplier. One of these AI software program is cloud-based, that means your agency’s information will likely be saved on third-party servers. The moral obligation of know-how competence requires you to inquire about the place the information will likely be saved, who may have entry to it, how continuously will probably be backed up, and the steps that will likely be taken to guard the information.
Moreover, as a result of these instruments are sometimes powered by AI, you may additionally want to grasp accuracy metrics, how shopper and agency information is protected, and whether or not any info entered into the system will likely be used for AI mannequin coaching. You’ll additionally wish to decide which caselaw databases the instruments depend on for quotation verification functions.
With that in thoughts, let’s evaluation among the choices accessible. The record beneath isn’t complete, and widespread authorized analysis instruments additionally supply methods to conduct AI case quotation checks. Nonetheless, for our functions, we’ll deal with stand-alone instruments or performance built-in into doc drafting techniques. Pricing will likely be included if accessible on the corporate’s web site.
AI instruments built-in into doc drafting platforms
First are the quotation checking instruments constructed instantly into present authorized doc ecosystems or writing-improvement suites, permitting attorneys to confirm caselaw with out leaving their core drafting workflow.
Clearbrief, an AI-powered litigation drafting platform that operates as a Microsoft Phrase add-in, consists of the Clearbrief Cite Check Report as a part of the usual subscription. This function makes use of conventional AI to judge a doc’s file and case citations to flag potential inaccuracies or AI-generated hallucinations.
One other temporary drafting platform, Benchly, additionally affords a quotation checker, Beyond Assure, which is included within the core ezBriefs subscription plan. This function depends on rules-based logic to verify paperwork for hallucinated citations, formatting errors and contextual mismatches, delivering auditable outcomes and a sentiment rating to make sure a cited case really aligns with the related textual content.
BriefCatch RealityCheck is available as part of the usual Solo subscription plan throughout the BriefCatch Next platform, an AI-powered authorized modifying and writing assistant and Microsoft Phrase add-in. It pairs deterministic database verification with focused AI evaluation to establish fabricated citations, misquoted language, inaccurate holdings and refined mischaracterizations of legitimate precedent.
Stand-alone AI quotation verification instruments
Subsequent are the stand-alone instruments, which perform as devoted, impartial functions that course of uploaded paperwork or textual content snippets to display screen them for fabricated authorized authority.
CaseRead is a instrument that permits customers to stick as much as 50,000 characters of authorized textual content, which it screens to find false hallucinated case citations. CaseRead is at the moment accessible without cost.
Another choice is LawDroid CiteCheck AI. This verification instrument extracts citations from uploaded Phrase or PDF information. It cross-references extracted information with public databases, reminiscent of CourtListener, and generates a color-coded report that clearly highlights legitimate and invalid instances. You’ll be able to add as much as 5 paperwork for gratis.
Subsequent, BrentWorks CiteSentinel is a stand-alone net utility that focuses strictly on confirming the validity of caselaw cited in a short. Pricing begins at $19.99 per doc, with month-to-month plans accessible.
GroundTruth, which affords a stand-alone instrument along with a Microsoft Phrase add-in, establishes a factual baseline for digital references by cross-referencing the authorized textual content supplied towards verified public data and first courtroom paperwork. It’s at the moment free to make use of; no bank card is required.
Needed insurance coverage coverage
As you may see, there’s no scarcity of the way to verify the accuracy of citations included in AI-generated authorized paperwork.
Finally, taking the time to rigorously choose and implement the fitting verification instrument is a obligatory insurance coverage coverage for shielding your agency’s popularity, satisfying your moral obligations, and making certain your submissions all the time stand as much as judicial scrutiny.
Nicole Black is a Rochester, New York-based legal professional, creator and journalist. She is the principal authorized perception strategist at 8am, dad or mum firm of LawPay, MyCase, CasePeer and DocketWise. She is the nationally acknowledged creator of Cloud Computing for Attorneys and is a co-author of Social Media for Attorneys: The Subsequent Frontier, each revealed by the American Bar Affiliation. She writes common columns for ABAJournal.com and Above the Regulation, has authored lots of of articles for different publications, and he or she recurrently speaks at conferences relating to the intersection of legislation and rising applied sciences. Comply with her on LinkedIn, or she may be reached at [email protected].