EDITED BY:
Professor Michael H. Hoeflich, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Carrie E. Parker, Legal Editor
Luzianne Jones, Design & Publishing Editor
PUBLISHED BY: Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC
PUBLICATION DATE: February 27, 2026
READ & DOWNLOAD FULL-TEXT PDF OF LEMR Vol. 7, No. 2
FEATURE ARTICLE: Time, Uncertainty & Legal Ethics
When I began to teach legal ethics forty years ago, one of the reasons that I did so was that it was not a subject with radical changes occurring almost every day. In practice, I was a tax and real estate lawyer. The first thing I did each weekday morning when I arrived at the office was to grab a coffee and a roll and a copy of the Daily Tax Report to read before I could begin to do client work. I did so because the outpouring of new law (cases, administrative rulings, and legislation at the federal level was enough to fill twenty to thirty pages of the Report). Legal Ethics, on the other hand, was a rather quiet field, in which the ABA Model Code was still the reigning source of law.
Of course, the Model Code was replaced in 1983 by the new Model Rules of Professional Conduct. One of the main purposes of the Model Rules’ adoption was to give greater direction and more specific rules to the profession as to what lawyer activity was permissible. Indeed, over the past forty years, we have seen several major revisions of the Rules and a significant increase in new legislation, advisory opinions, and court cases in the subject. The nature of the Rules and the increasing new interpretations of the rules, much of it caused by the introduction of new legal technology over the past twenty years, is making it very difficult for lawyers to know precisely what behavior is acceptable and what is not.
Three factors are important.
. . .
NEW AUTHORITY: District of Kansas Show Cause Order Demonstrates Dangers of AI
A show cause order filed on December 15, 2025, by senior federal Judge Julie Robinson in the case of Lexos Media IP, LLC. v. Overstock.Com. Inc., Case No. 22-cv-2324-JAR, demonstrates the dangers of using AI in litigation and may create serious concerns beyond what the lawyers had heretofore expected.
The problem in Lexos was that lawyers submitted imperfect documents in a patent case. According to the court:
… Plaintiff’s response briefs to Defendant’s motion to exclude Dr. Russ and its motion for summary judgment contain defective legal citations that were created through the use of generative artificial intelligence (“AI”), which were not checked and confirmed before filing. These defects include: (1) nonexistent quotations; (2) nonexistent and incorrect citations and (3) misrepresentations about cited authority.
Although there were six attorneys involved in the case for Lexos, only one filed a declaration with the court as to how and why this had happened. Judge Robinson ordered each attorney on the signature blocks of specified documents to show cause, in writing and under penalty of perjury, why they should not be sanctioned under Rule 11 and referred to the disciplinary panel of the court and to disciplinary administrators in the jurisdictions where they are licensed.
Most importantly, Judge Robinson included local counsel in her order. This took a number of Kansas attorneys by surprise, as, under Judge Robinson’s opinion, local counsel would have to “check and confirm” all citations in all documents drafted by co-counsel to ensure the citations were accurate and not AI hallucinations or misrepresentation. While Judge Robinson relied on the district’s pro hac vice rule in her order, attorneys have expressed that this requirement may prove a significant burden for local counsel—and result in substantial additional expenses for clients.
We will discuss the extent of lawyer responsibility for AI generated errors in a future article. For now, practitioners should be mindful that responsibility may extend beyond material they personally craft.
ETHICS & MALPRACTICE RESEARCH TIP: New Articles on Legal Malpractice & Ethics
1.) Christina D. Lockwood, Rhetoric over Reality: Examining Ethical Obligations of Confidentiality When Information Is Publicly Available, 59 Ind. L. Rev. 97 (2025).
One of the issues that often confuses law students is the extent to which Rule 1.6 covers information easily available in public sources.
2.) Michael D. Murray, Visual Legal Rhetoric in the Age of Generative AI and Deepfakes: Renaissance or Dark Ages?, 28 SMU Sci. & Tech. L. Rev. 199 (2025-2026).
The ethics of visual materials is one more fascinating issue for lawyers using generative AI.
A BLAST FROM THE PAST: Pro Cluentio
We are bound by the law so that we may be free.
— Marcus Tullius Cicero, Pro Cluentio
READ & DOWNLOAD FULL-TEXT PDF OF LEMR Vol. 7, No. 2
About Joseph, Hollander & Craft LLC
Joseph, Hollander & Craft is a mid-size law firm representing criminal defense, civil defense, personal injury, and family law clients throughout Kansas and Missouri. From our offices in Kansas City, Lawrence, Overland Park, Topeka and Wichita, our team of 26 attorneys covers a lot of ground, both geographically and professionally.
We defend against life-changing criminal prosecutions. We protect children and property in divorce cases. We pursue relief for clients who have suffered catastrophic injuries or the death of a loved one due to the negligence of others. We fight allegations of professional misconduct against medical and legal practitioners, accountants, real estate agents, and others.
When your business, freedom, property, or career is at stake, you want the attorney standing beside you to be skilled, prepared, and relentless — Ready for Anything, come what may. At JHC, we pride ourselves on offering outstanding legal counsel and representation with the personal attention and professionalism our clients deserve. Learn more about our attorneys and their areas of practice, and locate a JHC office near you.
