AI, holograms and the future of trial practice dazzle CAALA conference

LAS VEGAS -- Artificial intelligence and holograms took center stage Thursday as the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles opened its annual conference in Las Vegas, where speakers warned that lawyers who fail to adopt new technology risk being outpaced by defense firms already slashing costs with AI.

Danny Abir, managing partner of Acts Law, flashed photos of the Flintstones and the Jetsons on an overhead projector, saying they demonstrated how far AI technologies have improved in the past year.

"You're going to be left behind," Abir warned them.

"Defense firms are using AI and decreasing their costs by 60%," he told them later.

The real show began when Robert T. Simon of the Simon Law Group in Torrance appeared in the room via hologram. Simon was actually across the hall from the presentation but his image in them room couldn't have been clearer. And he could see the crowd.

"I see Judge Mary Ann Murphy in the front," Simon's AI image called out to the Los Angeles County judge who was in the audience.

During his presentation, Simon also demonstrated an AI notetaker by Claude that is installed on his smartwatch.

"I'm testing out for this conference. It will record everything that is going on, and I can remember it even after networking all day. It does a transcript, so it gives me calls to action later."

"Why not do that with depositions? Have it record in live time and send to a partner," he said.

L.A. County Judge Theresa M. Traber cautioned attendees to verify work product generated by AI to ensure it comports with Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, which governs how attorneys and parties must conduct themselves when signing and filing pleadings, motions, and other papers in court.

Traber told them that her research attorneys have become outraged by the volume of AI-generated hallucinations they see in attorney pleadings. She said the research attorneys have urged her to become more aggressive about sanctioning attorneys over faulty work product generated by AI.

Nearly 3,000 lawyers and judges from across California are meeting at the Wynn Las Vegas & Encore Resort for the conference that runs through Sunday.

Note: Drop by Booth 109 to meet Daily Journal editors.