AI Legal Answers Without Sources Are Worse Than No Answer

An unsourced AI legal answer isn't just unhelpful — it's worse than silence. The argument here is simple: lawyers have already faced sanctions for filing citations to cases that never existed, because the tool sounded certain and no one checked. Confidence isn't law. - The proposed standard: every claim traces back to a statute, a paragraph, or a real decision you can open and read - The 30-second test: if you can't verify it that fast, don't send it to a client, a tenant, or a board - Why it matters: the failure mode isn't a wrong answer, it's a convincing one This is the principle LEGALDIGM was built on — answers first, sources right behind them. Bring your hardest question and check the citations yourself.