Overview
- A junior solicitor at Pinsent Masons used an AI tool to draft two letters to the High Court that included a fabricated citation to IR 12.37(5) of the Insolvency Rules 2016 and other misleading legal material.
- The AI transcript showed the tool produced convincing but incorrect outputs and explicitly warned the user to verify provisions, a step the junior did not take.
- Supervising lawyers Samantha Poulton and Steven Cottee acknowledged they failed to properly check the AI‑drafted letters before they were sent, exposing weaknesses in the firm's review and escalation processes.
- Judge Mark Mullen publicly admonished the firm, accepted its self‑referral to the SRA and ruled that pursuing contempt proceedings would be disproportionate.
- Pinsent Masons has apologised to the court, reimbursed affected clients, transferred the work to Irwin Mitchell, and is putting tighter AI safeguards in place while the SRA investigation continues, highlighting wider risks for uncontested 'boxwork' applications and legal reliance on generative AI.