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AI, Ethics, Essays and Scandals Ranked Among LawSites’ 40 Most Popular Legal Tech Stories of 2024

It
says
something
about
our
collective
attitude
towards
generative
AI
in
legal
that
this
blog’s
most-read
story
of
the
year
was
about
lawyers
getting
sanctioned
for
hallucinated
case
citations.

In
fact,
it
will
probably
not
surprise
you
to
learn
that,
of
my
40
most-read
stories
of
the
year,
24
involved
generative
AI
in
some
way.
Whether
they
were
stories
about
gen
AI
products,
gen
AI
studies,
or
gen
AI
screw-ups,
they
clearly
drew
readers’
attention
and
interest.

The
top
40
included
stories
about
major
AI
products
such
as
CoCounsel
and
Harvey.
They
included
stories
about
notable
AI
studies,
such
as
Stanford’s
analysis
of
AI
legal
research
tools
and
Clio’s
of
trends
in
AI
adoption.
They
include
stories
about
ethics
rulings
on
lawyers’
use
of
AI.

But
AI
was
not
the
only
topic
that
drew
readers’
interest.
There
was
scandal,
as
well.
Three
of
the
top
40
stories,
and
two
of
the
top
five,
involved
the
sudden
departure
of
the
CEO
of
UnitedLex,
amid
allegations
that
he
had
engaged
in
predatory
behavior
involving
minors.

The
most-named
company
among
the
top
40
was
Thomson
Reuters.
Several
of
those
stories
involved
its
gen
AI
products,
including
CoCounsel,
but
there
were
also
stories
about
its
closing
of
a
law
practice
management
product
and
its
launch
of
an
API
portal.

Other
stories
among
the
top
40
included:

  • Clio’s
    record-setting
    raise
    of
    $900
    million.
  • Two
    parts
    of
    my
    four-part
    series
    on
    the
    consolidation
    of
    ownership
    of
    law
    practice
    management
    products.
  • My
    essay
    on
    the
    justice
    gap
    in
    legal
    tech.
  • My
    essay
    on
    whether
    there
    is
    a
    gen
    AI
    divide
    between
    larger
    and
    smaller
    law
    firms.

One
surprise
to
my
was
that
my
recent
recap
of
the
TLTF
Summit
made
the
list.
It
was
a
surprise
because
I
published
the
recap
just
two
weeks
ago,
and
generally
the
most-trafficked
posts
are
the
ones
that
have
been
up
longer
and
had
the
benefit
of
accumulating
hits
over
time.
The
fact
that
the
TLTF
post
quickly
garnered
enough
hits
to
make
this
list
shows
how
much
interest
there
is,
broadly
speaking,
in
that
conference.

The
40
Most-Read
Posts

Here’s
the
list
of
my
40
most-read
posts.


  1. Not
    Again!
    Two
    More
    Cases,
    Just
    this
    Week,
    of
    Hallucinated
    Citations
    in
    Court
    Filings
    Leading
    to
    Sanctions

    (Feb.
    22,
    2024).

  2. UnitedLex
    CEO’s
    Sudden
    Departure
    Appears
    to
    Be
    Due
    to
    Personal
    Allegations
    Unrelated
    to
    Work

    (Oct.
    13,
    2024).

  3. Harvey
    AI
    To
    Move
    Out
    Of
    Early
    Access
    Phase,
    Release
    More
    Affordable
    Versions
    Of
    Its
    Custom
    AI
    Models

    (May
    1,
    2024).

  4. A
    Week
    After
    Appearing
    on
    My
    Podcast,
    UnitedLex
    CEO
    is
    Abruptly
    Replaced
    By
    Company’s
    General
    Counsel

    (Oct.
    10,
    2024).

  5. In
    Redo
    of
    Its
    Study,
    Stanford
    Finds
    Westlaw’s
    AI
    Hallucinates
    At
    Double
    the
    Rate
    of
    LexisNexis

    (June
    4,
    2024).

  6. Is
    Gen
    AI
    Creating
    A
    Divide
    Among
    Law
    Firms
    Of
    Haves
    and
    Have
    Nots?

    (June
    19,
    2024).

  7. It’s
    the
    Battle
    of
    the
    AI
    Legal
    Assistants,
    As
    LexisNexis
    Unveils
    Its
    New
    Protégé
    and
    Thomson
    Reuters
    Rolls
    Out
    CoCounsel
    2.0

    (Aug.
    12,
    2024).

  8. Stanford
    Will
    Augment
    Its
    Study
    Finding
    that
    AI
    Legal
    Research
    Tools
    Hallucinate
    in
    17%
    of
    Queries,
    As
    Some
    Raise
    Questions
    About
    the
    Results

    (May
    28,
    2024).

  9. AI
    Adoption
    By
    Legal
    Professionals
    Jumps
    from
    19%
    to
    79%
    In
    One
    Year,
    Clio
    Study
    Finds

    (Oct.
    7,
    2024).

  10. Federal
    Court
    Suspends
    Florida
    Attorney
    Over
    Filing
    Fabricated
    Cases
    Hallucinated
    by
    AI

    (March
    14,
    2024).

  11. ABA
    Issues
    Ethics
    Opinion
    on
    30-Year-Old
    Technology
    whose
    Use
    Is
    Waning.
    My
    Question:
    Why
    Now?

    (May
    9,
    2024).

  12. In
    First
    Ethics
    Ruling
    on
    Gen
    AI,
    ABA
    Says
    Lawyers
    Must
    Have
    Reasonable
    Understanding
    of
    the
    Technology,
    But
    Need
    Not
    Become
    Experts

    (July
    30,
    2024).

  13. New
    Legal
    Ethics
    Opinion
    Cautions
    Lawyers:
    You
    ‘Must
    Be
    Proficient’
    In
    the
    Use
    of
    Generative
    AI

    (June
    24,
    2024).

  14. Legal
    Tech
    Startup
    Ai.law
    Can
    Now
    Draft
    the
    Complaint
    for
    Your
    Lawsuit

    (March
    21,
    2024).

  15. The
    Five
    Most
    Momentous
    Legal
    Tech
    Fails

    (April
    11,
    2024).

  16. Law
    Student’s
    Gen
    AI
    Product,
    Lexplug,
    Makes
    Briefing
    Cases
    A
    Breeze

    (Feb.
    7,
    2024).

  17. Thomson
    Reuters
    Lays
    Out
    Plan
    To
    Provide
    CoCounsel
    AI
    Assistant
    Across
    Every
    Professional
    Vertical
    It
    Serves

    (April
    17,
    2024).

  18. Thomson
    Reuters
    Is
    Shutting
    Down
    Its
    Firm
    Central
    Law
    Practice
    Management
    Software

    (Feb.
    10,
    2024).

  19. Thomson
    Reuters’
    Message
    to
    Law
    Firms:
    Adapt
    to
    Market
    Changes
    or
    Become
    the
    Pan
    Am
    of
    Legal

    (Jan.
    9,
    2024).

  20. As
    Thomson
    Reuters
    Expands
    Casetext
    CoCounsel,
    the
    AI
    Legal
    Assistant,
    to
    Canada
    and
    Australia,
    It
    Provides
    Details
    on
    U.S.
    Growth

    (Feb.
    20,
    2024).

  21. The
    Justice
    Gap
    in
    Legal
    Tech:
    A
    Tale
    of
    Two
    Conferences
    and
    the
    Implications
    for
    A2J

    (Feb.
    5,
    2024).

  22. ROSS
    Cofounder
    Returns
    To
    Legal
    Tech
    with
    Startup
    Using
    AI
    To
    Surface
    Judges’
    Decision-Making
    Patterns

    (Feb.
    29,
    2024).

  23. Clio
    Sets
    Legal
    Tech
    Funding
    Record
    with
    $900M
    Raise
    at
    $3B
    Valuation;
    LawNext
    Has
    Exclusive
    Podcast
    Interview
    with
    Founder
    Jack
    Newton

    (July
    23,
    2024).

  24. LawNext:
    A
    Year
    Into
    His
    Tenure,
    UnitedLex
    CEO
    James
    Schellhase
    on
    How
    the
    Company
    Is
    Embracing
    Innovation

    (Oct.
    1,
    2024).

  25. The
    25
    Largest
    Legal
    Tech
    Investments
    of
    All
    Time

    (July
    24,
    2024).

  26. LawNext:
    Thomson
    Reuters’
    AI
    Strategy
    for
    Legal,
    with
    Mike
    Dahn,
    Head
    of
    Westlaw,
    and
    Joel
    Hron,
    Head
    of
    AI

    (Feb.
    28,
    2024).

  27. New
    President
    of
    Thomson
    Reuters
    Legal
    Segment
    Says
    Industry
    Needs
    Open
    Benchmarking
    on
    Gen
    AI

    (June
    13,
    2024).

  28. The
    Shrinking
    Ownership
    of
    Law
    Practice
    Management
    Technology
    (Part
    2
    of
    4):
    A
    Scorecard
    of
    Who
    Owns
    What

    (Sept.
    17,
    2024).

  29. The
    Shrinking
    Ownership
    of
    Law
    Practice
    Management
    Technology
    (Part
    1
    of
    4):
    A
    Market
    Dominated
    by
    Just
    Six
    Ownership
    Groups

    (Sept.
    16,
    2024).

  30. Supreme
    Courts
    of
    Delaware
    and
    Georgia
    Act
    to
    Regulate
    Use
    of
    Generative
    AI
    in
    the
    Courts

    (Nov.
    1,
    2024).

  31. At
    the
    Third
    TLTF
    Summit,
    Legal
    Tech
    Leaders
    Convened
    in
    Miami
    for
    Three
    Days
    of
    Dialogue
    and
    Serendipity

    (Dec.
    9,
    2024).

  32. Hotshot,
    the
    Legal
    Learning
    Platform,
    Releases
    First
    Five
    in
    Planned
    Series
    of
    AI
    Training
    Videos
    for
    Lawyers

    (March
    6,
    2024).

  33. Exclusive:
    iManage
    Reveals
    Details
    On
    Its
    Growth,
    Lays
    Out
    Plans
    to
    Further
    Leverage
    Gen
    AI,
    Partnerships

    (March
    13,
    2024).

  34. Recent
    Reports
    of
    Law
    Schools’
    AI
    Adoption
    Have
    Been
    Greatly
    Exaggerated

    (July
    2,
    2024).

  35. Federal
    Court
    Dismisses
    ROSS
    Intelligence’s
    Remaining
    Antitrust
    Claim
    Against
    Thomson
    Reuters

    (Sept.
    30,
    2024).

  36. New
    Gavel
    Feature
    Uses
    AI
    to
    Convert
    PDFs
    into
    Automated
    Document-Generation
    Workflows

    (June
    25,
    2024).

  37. New
    AI
    Features
    In
    Practical
    Law
    Enable
    Users
    To
    Ask
    Legal
    Questions
    And
    Find
    Relevant
    Contract
    Clauses

    (Jan.
    24,
    2024).

  38. Some
    Lawyers
    Using
    Venmo
    Are
    Exposing
    Confidential
    Client
    Information

    and
    they
    May
    Not
    Even
    Know
    It

    (Sept.
    4,
    2024).

  39. Thomson
    Reuters
    Launches
    Developer
    Portal
    Giving
    Access
    to
    Over
    100
    APIs
    for
    Legal,
    Tax,
    Risk
    and
    Fraud

    (April
    15,
    2024).

  40. Breaking
    News:
    LexisNexis
    To
    Acquire
    Contract
    Drafting
    Company
    Henchman

    (June
    3,
    2024).