City law firms ‘sleepwalking into a crisis’ over AI overreliance

City AM reports that Positive Group warned City law firms are "sleepwalking into a crisis of judgment" by treating AI as an authority rather than a collaborative tool. More than 60% of lawyers reportedly use AI for drafting, research and client delivery, but billable-hour pressure and heavy workloads are encouraging uncritical acceptance of AI outputs.

The report says AI is undermining the traditional apprenticeship model because junior lawyers no longer perform as many foundational tasks, such as document review and basic research, where they previously built judgment and source-checking skills. It also cites hallucination problems, including fake evidence presented to courts, with Pinsent Masons mentioned as one example.

Law firms face conflicting pressures: clients expect sophisticated AI use, competitors are investing heavily in AI systems, and some clients demand AI-enabled work that is still human-validated, cheaper and fully liability-backed. Lawyers quoted in the article argue that critical thinking, creativity and attention to detail remain essential, and that firms must train lawyers to resist automation bias while keeping human judgment as the final safeguard.

(Source：City A.m.)