By now, most lawyers have heard of judges sanctioning lawyers for misuse of generative AI, typically for not fact checking the outputs. Other judges have issued local rules governing use of or prohibiting AI. These actions have become prevalent. What has not been prevalent is judges encouraging the possible use of AI in interpreting contracts. Perhaps that will change because of a very thoughtful concurring opinion in an appeal to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in insurance coverage dispute matter. In that opinion, Judge Newsom penned a 31-page concurrence which focused on whether and how AI-powered large language models should be “considered” to inform the interpretive analysis used in determining the “ordinary meaning” of contract terms.
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