Think Twice Before Taking Family Law Advice from AI

Artificial Intelligence, otherwise referred to as AI, assists many professionals in their chosen industries. But the use of AI to gather legal information by people who are not attorneys is causing disruption in family law.

The years of experience of a family law attorney who regularly practices in a specific county before a specific court cannot be replaced by AI. First, AI only responds to prompts it is given. If a particular client is using AI to answer legal questions, AI will only respond with the information that supports the inquiry even if the response isn’t correct or doesn’t exist.

In fact, in 2026, numerous Pennsylvania judges have fined attorneys, held attorneys in contempt, directed attorneys to apologize to the court, and reported attorneys to the Disciplinary Board for submitting documents written by AI that contain hallucinated cases. Hallucination cases include false citations or nonexistent cases used in court documents to support a position. Not only is this a violation of an attorney’s duty of candor toward the court, but it brings into question serious issues relating to billing a client for work not done by the attorney. Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 3.3(a)(1) mandates candor toward the court and directs that an attorney shall not knowingly make false statements of material fact or law to a tribunal, and this duty also requires an attorney to correct any false statements of material fact or law previously made to the court.

Clients should not ask their family law attorney to use citations, legal precedent, or statutes the client has identified through AI. Not only is it likely the cases they are referring to are nonexistent, but the consequences could result in suspension of an attorney’s license. Further, an experienced family law attorney should be able to advise a client of how a particular statute relates to the client’s specific case.

Additionally, Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 1.5(a) directs that attorneys may not charge an illegal or excessive fee. An attorney has a responsibility to bill a client for work actually done by the attorney.

The use of AI-generated work product has numerous implications that may result in disciplinary action. Although AI may be useful in many professional areas, hiring a family law attorney with practical experience is the best way to resolve your case.