The 80/20 Principle

The 80/20 Principle

AI fails silently. That's the problem.

Why good lawyers keep citing cases that don't exist.

Ernie the Attorney's avatar
Ernie the Attorney
May 01, 2026
∙ Paid

A lawyer cites a made-up case in a brief. Gets sanctioned. The story hits the news. Everyone shakes their head and asks, “How could they be so careless?”

Wrong question.

The better question: why does this keep happening to lawyers who’ve been careful their whole careers?

The old deal with technology

For decades, tech taught lawyers a simple rule: if somethi…

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