For decades, every U.S. law student has learned to research on Lexis and Westlaw. Both are trusted names, and both ship citation‑checking tools that generations of associates rely on. And yet their newer AI assistants have surfaced authorities that don't exist — and courts have sanctioned the lawyers who filed them.
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The legal titans haven't kept up with the technology of the times and are getting called out by name with hallucinated citations.
The AI vendor isn't standing next to you at the hearing. When a citation turns out not to exist, it's your signature on the brief, your name in the order, and your standing in front of the court and the bar. Every matter above began with a lawyer who trusted the draft.
Verbatim is how you catch it first. Before the filing leaves your desk, you see which authorities are real and quoted accurately — and which ones you can't stand behind. Draft on Lexis, Westlaw, or anything else; put your name only on citations that hold.
You never find out at the hearing that the one citation nobody had time to double‑check was the one that was invented.
When opposing counsel or the judge tests a citation, what they find is what you already saw. No surprises on the record.
A citation that can't be confirmed comes back flagged — so you're the one who learns it's weak, not the court.