Page 26 - 2026 January February Magazine

Effective
Communication
vs Ineffective
Communication:
Use Caution When Using
Generative Artificial Intelligence
BY DAVID SHELVEY
Effective communication, both written
and oral, is a fundamental skill for
a successful lawyer. Lawyers must
convey information, their thoughts, ideas,
and knowledge clearly and efficiently when
interacting with clients, judges, juries, and
the public (Xu et al., 2024). According to the
Washington State Bar Association, a 2023
statistical report1 indicates that violations
of Rule 1.4 of the Rules of Professional
Conduct, which pertain to a lawyer's failure to
communicate with their client, was the third
most common client complaint. (Agent, 2024).
Ineffective Communication
According to the results of the gathered data, statistically, the
'Failure to Communicate' grievances that clients filed with the
bar were either alleging that they never heard from their lawyer
or the communication they received from the lawyer was
ineffective (the client did not understand the communication
resulting in a negative outcome, which may have been
different if they had understood the communication). There
are also malpractice claims (civil lawsuits) where more than
85% of legal malpractice claims relate to attorney-client
communication issues (Frisby et al, 2020). Not only can the
lawyer face sanctions from the bar, but also monetary damages
from the court.
Use Caution when Adopting GenAI
Some lawyers are currently adopting generative artificial
intelligence (GenAI) technologies to enhance the accuracy
and efficiency of their written communications. Some lawyers
believe that by utilizing GenAI technology, they will be able to
communicate more clearly and effectively, thereby proactively
reducing bar complaints and malpractice claims (Kimbrough,
2025; Nielsen et al, 2024). However, some lawyers using
this technology are not fully aware of the problems with the
existing technology that still need to be corrected. Lawyers are
finding it necessary to educate their legal staff to be aware of
and understand the problems posed by Gen AI technology so
they can adopt effective strategies to prevent ethical violations.
Being Made Aware of the Problems
Some lawyers, unaware of these problems, have faced serious
consequences when using this technology to produce
court documents or to communicate legal theories to their
clients. What lawyers need to be aware of is that GenAI is an
unsupervised learning method, which is a program method
that deliberately allows the machine to generate creative output
(text, images, and media), and that is where the problem lies
(Sengar et al., 2025). A couple of these problems that Gen AI
technology is known to generate are hallucination cases (fake
cases) which, when cited in any court-filed documents or at
a hearing is unethical (see RPC 3.3). Lawyers who have been
caught citing hallucinated cases have ended up with some hefty
court fines (e.g., Wadsworth v. Walmart (2025) where three
attorneys were fined $5,000.00; Lawyers representing MyPillow
CEO Mike Lindell were sanctioned thousands of dollars
for submitting a legal filing containing over two dozen AI-
generated mistakes, including hallucinated cases (Diaz, 2025
July 10)). Gen AI technology has also generated mistaken, and
new, unknown legal theories (e.g., Merz v. City of Kalama et
al., 2025, where the plaintiff ’s current claims were dismissed,
and they needed to refile after removing the wrong legal
theories created by Gen AI). In the end, it is the client who
pays for the bad legal advice and misrepresentation and who
ends up filing a grievance with the state bar because of their
attorney’s ethical violations.
1. I began working on this article prior to the WSBA 2025 disciplinary publication.
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