Complaint about lawyer's alleged improper AI use a first for N.B., law society says
Denis Sawyer faces complaints about improper use of AI and 'fictitious' citations
Savannah Awde · CBC News · Posted: Aug 04, 2026 5:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago
A New Brunswick lawyer is facing allegations of improperly using AI in his work — and the law society says it's a first for the province.
In a public notice, the Law Society of New Brunswick said its disciplinary committee is looking into a complaint against Denis Sawyer stemming from a brief he submitted to the provincial court on April 29, 2025.
It's alleged that Sawyer failed "to use generative artificial intelligence in a competent manner" while preparing the brief and submitted it with 10 "fictitious" citations out of the 12 listed in total.
"When Mr. Sawyer was informed of this, he filed a subsequent brief, in which he removed almost all fictitious citations except for two," the notice reads.
"At the hearing, at opposing counsel’s request, Mr. Sawyer disavowed both briefs and asked the Court to only consider his oral submissions."
The complaint doesn't identify the case or say what the brief was about.
Joleen Dable, registrar of complaints, said the society hasn't dealt with a complaint about improper AI use before.
"The Law Society recognizes that artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly common tool in the delivery of legal services," Dable said by email.
"The use of AI is not prohibited. However, lawyers remain responsible for complying with their professional obligations … regardless of whether AI is used in the provision of legal services."
In a reply to the law society, published Tuesday, Sawyer took "full responsibility" for the details of the complaint, calling what happened an "oversight."
The society's discipline committee will hold hearings into the complaint on Sept. 3.
Sawyer is allowed to continue practising in the meantime.
He is a lawyer with Miramichi-based Murphy's Law, and the firm, which serves clients in other locations as well, confirmed to CBC News that he remains employed there.
Dable declined to do an interview on AI use in the profession, citing the active disciplinary process, but said the law society is paying close attention to the issue.
"Recognizing the evolving role of AI in legal practice, Council has established a task force to develop guidance for members on the appropriate and responsible use of AI," Dable said. "That work is ongoing."
Amy Salyzyn of the University of Ottawa faculty of law says that in Canada there has been an "accelerating trend" of lawyers facing complaints about their AI use, with the first ones popping up in 2023.
"We need to make sure that we try and, you know, stem this accelerating tide, because it doesn't show any signs of going away on its own," Salyzyn, who teaches legal ethics, said in an interview.
Because the legal system relies on previous court decisions to decide cases in the present, Salyzyn said the use of fictitious cases in legal documents can have far-reaching implications for individual freedoms and the integrity of the justice system.
"When you have, you know, a machine kind of interjecting things … that are simply, kind of fictional creations, you don't really have rule by law. You have rule by ... machine fabrications," she said.
"And that's … really fundamentally contrary to our understanding of what it means to administer justice in a fair way."
Dable said the law society advises lawyers who use AI to make sure they are still meeting their professional obligations, including protecting client confidentiality and verifying the accuracy of information.
While professional bodies can make AI training available to lawyers and have started doing so in some provinces, Salyzyn echoed the need for lawyers to hold themselves to professional standards.
"On the one hand, this is a technology issue — they've used AI — but it's also a basic competence issue here as well," she said. It means they're not reading the law that they're including to the court ... they're, in essence, taking shortcuts.
"When that happens, that needs to be taken seriously."
