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Technology

Jun. 25, 2026

Legal AI is smarter than it seems yet dumber than it claims

At a Westlaw CoCounsel demo in Los Angeles, lawyers revealed a mix of excitement and unease as legal AI showed it can draft briefs and reshape research workflows, while still relying heavily on human direction and falling short of true independent legal reasoning.

Thomas M. Hall

Attorney
Law Office of Thomas M. Hall.

Family Law

PO Box 49820
Los Angeles , CA 90049

Phone: (310) 231-3475

Email: TomHallFamilyLaw@aol.com

Loyola Law School

Thomas is a certified specialist in family law practicing in West Los Angeles.

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Legal AI is smarter than it seems yet dumber than it claims
Shutterstock

Westlaw recently hosted an event in Los Angeles to promote its new Co-counsel AI program. After a presentation on the wonders of the new program, one of Westlaw's saleswomen roamed among the audience tables, asking if people would like to comment on what they were seeing of AI in their practices.

One young woman in the middle of the room spoke up. Clients and potential clients were using AI, she said. They were looking too closely at retainer agreements...

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