Breaching Al policy at Singapore law firms may be a sackable offence

Law firms here are treating breaches of generative artificial intelligence (Gen Al) policies as potentially sackable offences, following a landmark High Court case that ordered a lawyer to personally pay $800 in costs for citing a hallucinated case, that is, one generated by AI and which does not actually exist.

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Several firms approached by The Business Times said violations of their AI guidelines would be treated as serious disciplinary matters, with consequences from restricted tool access to dismissal.

Ms Stefanie Yuen Thio, joint managing partner at TSMP Law, said key to the firm’s AI policy is that lawyers must continue to meet their professional responsibilities.

“Al, like any other software we use, is only a tool; and it is our responsibility to ensure that the final work product is accurate and appropriate,” she added.

Lawyers who violate this policy will be in breach of employment terms with “attendant consequences”, she said.

At Withers KhattarWong, noncompliance with Al policy may result in disciplinary action, from retraining and restricted access to tools to formal sanctions under its human resource and compliance procedures.

“The principle is clear,” said Mr Chenthil Kumarasingam, the firm’s regional division leader for dispute resolution in Asia. “Lawyers remain personally accountable for their work, whether Al is used or not.”

Drew & Napier will treat Al violations “as any other transgression and (deal with them) according to firm policies, which can result in disciplinary action”, said chief technology officer Rakesh Kirpalani.