AI-assisted submissions are becoming a regular presence in Atlantic Canadian courtrooms, raising questions about accuracy, professional competence and the growing volume of material judges must review.
A new LexisNexis Canada blog post explores those challenges through insights from Justice Peter Browne of the Supreme Court of Newfoundland and Labrador and Justice Maya Hamou of New Brunswick’s Court of King’s Bench.
The article follows a September webinar that LegalTech.ca previously previewed, part of LexisNexis Canada’s national AI and the Courts series.
A central takeaway is that lawyers remain accountable for checking their work, regardless of how it was produced. Alongside fabricated citations, the judges described longer submissions and instances where counsel could not discuss the authorities they cited.
“The explosion of AI has led to a paperwork explosion in our courts,” Justice Hamou observed.
The discussion also examined courts’ own adoption of technology, including the need for digitization before broader AI implementation. Carefully defined administrative applications offer potential, while increasingly realistic deepfakes present challenges for assessing evidence.
Throughout the conversation, both judges emphasized that efficiency gains must preserve professional accountability and independent judicial decision-making.
Read the full LexisNexis Canada post, AI in the Atlantic Courts: Navigating Innovation, Risk and Human Judgment.