Monday, October 26, 2026 · Edition updated 6:00 AM ETMON, OCT 26 editionNext edition in Next in --:--:--
Intelligence Verdict
Can AI do it yet? · Money and legal

Can AI do legal research yet?

Legal research tools built for lawyers still gave wrong information more than one time in six in Stanford's 2024 test, and a public database counts 2,199 court decisions involving AI-invented content.

  • 3 of 6Independently tested
  • 1piece of evidence
  • 2,199court decisions with AI-invented content
The answer

Stage 3: independently tested.

The rule that placed itSomeone other than the maker has tested it: an independent benchmark, a peer-reviewed paper, or a hands-on test by a trusted outlet.

The evidenceStanford researchers found leading legal AI tools gave incorrect information more than 17% of the time, and one more than 34%. Stanford HAI and RegLab, May 23, 2024.

A stage says how far the evidence has got. It is not a rating of the AI and not advice.

  1. 1
    ClaimedNo evidence yet
  2. 2
    LaunchedNo evidence yet
  3. 3
    Independently testedPlaced here
  4. 4
    Tested with real peopleNo evidence yet
  5. 5
    Regulator-clearedNo approval process exists
  6. 6
    Widely used with a verified recordNo evidence yet
The evidence

Everything we found.

In ladder order, newest first within each kind. Makers' own claims are labeled as theirs.

Tested

What independent tests found

  • Stanford RegLab and HAI

    Stanford researchers found leading legal AI tools gave incorrect information more than 17% of the time, and one more than 34%.

    “the Lexis+ AI and Ask Practical Law AI systems produced incorrect information more than 17% of the time,”

    Stanford HAI and RegLab · May 23, 2024

Not found in our sources yet: what the makers claim; what has launched; tested with real people; how many people use it. No regulator approves AI for this task, so the approval step doesn't apply.

Beside the stage

Track record and tools.

Failures and court cases are shown beside the stage, never folded into it. Tools are listed because the evidence names them, in no order of merit.

Track record2,199

court decisions with AI-invented content.

AI Hallucination Cases database (Damien Charlotin) · Oct 16, 2026

Tools named in the evidence
  • Lexis+ AILexisNexis
  • Ask Practical Law AIThomson Reuters