Artificial intelligence is transforming industries worldwide — and the legal profession is no exception. In this episode of Brief Chats, Director and Principal Clerk Anna Svenson sits down with Laurence White, barrister and AI expert, to explore how machine learning and large language models are reshaping the practise of law in Australia.

From smarter research tools to alarming courtroom mishaps, they unpack the good, the bad and the downright ugly of AI in legal work. Expect real-world case examples, ethical discussions, and a sobering look at what happens when lawyers rely too heavily on artificial intelligence.

 

Get in contact with Svenson Barristers:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/anna-svenson-2610b790/

https://www.linkedin.com/company/svenson-barristers/?viewAsMember=true

https://svensonbarristers.com.au/

 

Key topics include:

• How AI is helping lawyers work smarter, faster and cheaper.
• The risks of hallucinations and fake citations in legal documents.
• Recent Australian cases Dayal DPP v GR, May v Costaras where AI got it wrong.
• What courts and regulators are now saying about responsible AI use.
• Whether clients will use AI to “self-lawyer” — and what that means for the profession.
  
  

Why Listen:
If you’re a lawyer, legal student, or anyone curious about how technology is changing the justice system, this episode offers practical insights and cautionary tales from the front line of AI adoption in law.

Chapters

00:00 – Courtroom cold open — “Silence in the court!”
00:35 – Introducing Brief Chats and today’s topic: AI in the legal profession
01:30 – Meet Laurence White: barrister, FinReg specialist and early AI adopter
02:40 – How AI is being used in law firms today
04:30 – The good: speeding up research and document summarisation
07:20 – The billing dilemma — should clients pay less if AI saves time?
09:00 – The rise of the “AI-educated client”
10:30 – Why legal context still matters: the limits of chatbot advice
12:30 – The risks: confidentiality, bias and accuracy
13:50 – Accuracy studies — GPT-4 vs Lexis, Westlaw and others
16:10 – What are AI hallucinations and why are they dangerous?
19:00 – Case 1: DAYAL — fake citations and the Leap AI scandal
21:40 – Penalties for lawyers who misuse AI
22:10 – Case 2: DPP v GR — when both sides submit AI-generated fakes
24:50 – The temptation to cut corners and why supervision matters
26:05 – Justice Elliott’s warning on AI use in court in Dayal DPP v GR
27:40 – Case 3: May v Costaras — self-represented litigants and chatbot submissions
29:30 – How to spot AI-generated documents
30:30 – Final reflections: transparency, trust and the future of AI in law

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