The principal of a Victorian boutique firm was reprimanded for breaching the Supreme Court’s guidance on the use of generative artificial intelligence in litigation.
Justice Steven Moore of the Victorian Supreme Court has reprimanded Seham Rizkallah, principal of Rizkallah Partners, for using generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in the preparation of her client’s opening submissions.
The submissions contained four authorities that Justice Moore’s chambers were unable to locate. While Rizkallah replaced one with a “correct citation” and said another did not use its correct name, she could not locate the remaining two.
The use of GenAI was contrary to the Supreme Court’s guidance, published in May 2024, including that it did not relieve a responsible legal practitioner of the need to exercise judgement and professional skills in reviewing the final material.
“It is trite to observe that practitioners who conduct litigation in the court have a responsibility to comply with any requirement imposed upon them by legislation, the rules of the court, practice notes and other published guidance,” Justice Moore said.
Rizkallah “unreservedly apologised” to the court for the errors and insisted she did not intend to mislead it, instead chalking it up to her reliance on “AI-assisted legal research software”.
She said it would not be appropriate to refer the matter to the Victorian Legal Services Commissioner because her conduct did not amount to unsatisfactory professional conduct.
However, Rizkallah also said the “most efficient course” was for the court to deal with it and impose a sanction.
Justice Moore accepted there was “little utility” in making the referral, given the nature and circumstances of her conduct were sufficiently clear from material already provided to the court.
He was satisfied it was unsatisfactory professional conduct.
“As a principal of a law practice conducting litigation in the court, Rizkallah’s ignorance of, and non-compliance with, the requirements imposed by the guidelines in relation to the use of AI tools in preparing the defendant’s opening submissions constitutes a failure by her to deliver legal services competently and diligently as required by the relevant rules of professional conduct,” Justice Moore said in his written reasons.
The case: Re Walker [2025] VSC 714.
Naomi Neilson is a senior journalist with a focus on court reporting for Lawyers Weekly.
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