What AI Hallucinations Can Teach Lawyers About Judgment, Verification, and Professional Responsibility

Orly Ahrony is the founding attorney of Ahrony Appeals Law Group, where she focuses exclusively on criminal appeals and post-conviction relief throughout California. For more than 16 years, she has built a distinguished reputation representing clients in criminal appeals, state and federal habeas corpus proceedings, parole hearings, resentencing matters, and other post-conviction litigation. Ms. Ahrony also serves as an attorney with the Independent Defense Counsel Office (IDCO).

Ms. Ahrony has successfully secured the reversal of numerous life sentences through California’s criminal justice reforms, obtaining relief under writs of habeas corpus, Penal Code sections 1172.6 and 1172.1, and the California Racial Justice Act. Her extensive appellate experience has established her as a trusted advocate for individuals seeking meaningful post-conviction relief.

In addition to practicing before all California state courts, Ms. Ahrony is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Courts for the Central, Eastern, and Southern Districts of California, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and the Supreme Court of the United States.

A recognized legal analyst and commentator, Ms. Ahrony has appeared on KTLA Channel 5 Morning News to discuss California’s bail reform legislation, serves as a legal commentator for the LawNewz Network on high-profile criminal cases, and contributes legal analysis and commentary to the Daily Journal.

Dedicated to educating the next generation of attorneys, Ms. Ahrony has served as a guest lecturer at the University of West Los Angeles School of Law, where she has taught students about the criminal appellate process.

Ms. Ahrony earned her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, magna cum laude, from California State University, Northridge, in 2008, and her Juris Doctor from California Western School of Law in 2011.

Her commitment to justice began well before entering private practice. As an undergraduate, she volunteered with JusticeCorps, assisting low-income litigants as they navigated the court system, and founded a chapter of Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, International. During law school, she interned with the California Innocence Project, advocating on behalf of wrongfully convicted individuals, and served as a law clerk with the National Science Foundation in Washington, D.C. These experiences laid the foundation for a career devoted to protecting the rights of individuals seeking justice.

Among her many accomplishments, Ms. Ahrony became the first attorney in Marin County Superior Court to obtain a Certificate of Rehabilitation for a client. She is equally recognized for her unwavering commitment to client communication, ensuring that every client understands the legal process, available options, and the strategy for moving forward. Whether handling a complex appeal, post-conviction petition, or resentencing proceeding, Ms. Ahrony is known for providing skilled advocacy, strategic counsel, and compassionate representation to clients and their families.

John Pavolotsky is a Partner at Stoel Rives LLP, where he co-chairs the firm’s AI, Privacy & Cybersecurity Group and Technology Industry Group, counseling clients on data privacy, information security, AI, and related technology compliance, transactional, and dispute matters. Before joining Stoel Rives, he served as associate general counsel at Roku, Inc. and group counsel at Intel Corporation, and he is a past chair and current advisor of the Intellectual Property Section of the California Lawyers Association. An active teacher and writer in the field, John has taught technology and privacy law at UC Davis and Santa Clara University School of Law, guest lectured at institutions including Stanford and UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business, and regularly contributes to the Stoel Rives Global Privacy & Security Blog and New Matter journal.

Rupa Patel is a Partner at MG+M’s Walnut Creek, California, office working in the firm’s Complex Litigation Practice Group.

Rupa has extensive experience representing/defending developers, general contractors, subcontractors, businesses, private parties and sureties in complex civil litigation, in construction claims, products liability actions and in business and corporate legal disputes. She also has served as general counsel and corporate counsel for several construction businesses.

Rupa earned her J.D. from John F. Kennedy School of Law in 2004. She was admitted to the California State Supreme Court in 2006.

Grace Parrish is an Associate Clinical Professor and Director of Field Placement Department at LMU Loyola Law School. Prior to leaving private practice, Prof. Parrish worked at a civil defense firm where she handled a variety of cases including defending accounting professionals in professional malpractice claims and regulatory actions; defending automobile dealerships in personal injury, consumer actions, and employment actions; defending complex construction defect actions and consumer class actions. She has also prosecuted special education matters on behalf of students and families. 

Prof. Parrish graduated from Loyola Law School, Los Angeles in 2006. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology from University of California, Los Angeles. She was admitted to practice in California in 2006.

Since 2012, Prof. Parrish has taught courses on Electronic Discovery. She also teaches ethics and a simulated litigation course which provides a survey of the litigation skills necessary to prosecute and defend a case from the pleading stage, through discovery and motions, up to, but not including trial.

Courtney McFate is a Member of the Firm at Epstein Becker Green, based in Portland with additional appearances in Los Angeles and San Francisco. She represents employers in a broad range of employment matters, from single-plaintiff harassment, discrimination, and retaliation claims to complex wage and hour class actions and PAGA litigation, while also advising clients on compliance issues such as hiring, terminations, leaves of absence, reasonable accommodations, pay equity, and workforce reductions. Admitted to practice in Alaska, California, Oregon, and Washington, she brings a litigator’s perspective to her counseling work, helping employers across industries like health care, retail, hospitality, and technology navigate risk before it turns into costly disputes.

Angela Dunning is a Partner at Cleary Gottlieb, recognized by Chambers USA in both Artificial Intelligence and Intellectual Property: Trademark, Copyright & Trade Secrets. Her practice centers on generative AI, intellectual property, appellate litigation, and complex commercial disputes for many of the world’s leading companies, and she has argued successfully before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in numerous published cases. Earlier in her career she clerked for Chief Magistrate Judge Gregory G. Hollows of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California and served as an assistant district attorney in San Francisco; she now teaches trademark law at UC Berkeley School of Law and was named Copyright Practitioner of the Year by Managing IP’s Women in Business awards.

Edward Koellner is a U.S. Registered Patent Attorney and Adjunct Professor of Law at UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law, where he teaches an advanced summer course examining the intellectual property challenges emerging from aerospace innovation, autonomous flight, and the commercial space economy. He currently serves as Director, Research Contracts & Industry Agreements at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, and is the Founder & Principal of OORT Ventures, a firm specializing in space law, IP strategy, and Web3. He holds an LL.M. in Air & Space Law, a JD, an MBA, and an MS in Global Technology & Development, and is a U.S. Navy veteran whose research and publications span space law, cultural heritage, human rights, and emerging technology governance.

Dr. Saj Salam is a Managing Engineer in Exponent’s Civil and Structural Engineering practice, based in Irvine. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil Engineering from Penn State University, an M.S. in Data Science from the University of Texas at Austin, and is a licensed Professional Engineer in California, Illinois, and Texas. He specializes in computational geomechanics, with expertise spanning earth dams, slope stability, retaining structures, foundations, and the seismic and hazard-related risk assessment of geotechnical assets.

Dr. Jeffrey Hunt, Ph.D., P.E., is a Principal Engineer at Exponent specializing in civil and structural engineering, with expertise in root-cause failure investigations and expert witness services for construction and design disputes. He holds a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from UC Berkeley and is a licensed Professional Engineer in eight states, having led investigations into structural failures involving buildings, bridges, airports, and industrial facilities damaged by earthquakes, fire, wind, and other hazards worldwide. An active member of the earthquake engineering research community, Dr. Hunt has conducted post-disaster damage assessments following major seismic events, including the 2023 Türkiye-Syria earthquake sequence and the 2019 Ridgecrest, California earthquakes.

Carron Joan Mitchell represents recording artists, music producers, songwriters, actors, models, content creators, entrepreneurs, collegiate and professional athletes, and other entertainment industry professionals in a wide range of transactional matters. Drawing on prior insider experience working within the music, sports, media, and radio industries, she brings a business-minded perspective that allows her to anticipate clients’ needs holistically. She advises athletes on opportunities beyond the field and court, but is also a certified contract advisor with the National Football Players Association (NFLPA) and National Basketball Players Association (NBPA). Her practice spans Entertainment & Media, Intellectual Property, and Corporate & Finance, with particular depth in the music, digital content and sports industries.

Carron negotiates a broad range of entertainment agreements on behalf of her clients, including recording, publishing, distribution, and catalog acquisition agreements; touring, merchandising, sponsorship, and endorsement deals; talent and production agreements; television and modeling contracts; talent representation agreements; athlete representation and marketing agreements, licensing; and content creation and monetization arrangements. She also advises on joint ventures, strategic partnerships and the sale and acquisition of music assets and other intellectual property.

A significant focus of Carron’s practice involves business development and strategy for talent, athletes, and founders. She works with talent to build and launch new business enterprises, including record labels, distribution companies, publishing companies, creative and marketing agencies, consumer brands, and athlete-led enterprises. She advises clients across every stage and various verticals of their careers to ensure they establish a durable foundation for long-term growth, not only as creative professionals, but as brands and businesses.

Carron also serves as outside general counsel to music, video game, Web3, blockchain, technology and digital media companies.  She regularly advises emerging entertainment platforms and production companies, including businesses in the rapid growing short-form and micro-drama content space, on talent, production, licensing, IP protection and other matters. In the outside counsel role, she collaborates with in-house legal counsel on entertainment, music, copyright and strategic issues, while also acting as a liaison across the various legal disciplines required for her clients’ evolving business ventures. She regularly counsels clients on emerging issues at the intersection of entertainment and technology, including digital assets, content monetization in virtual environments, and evolving licensing frameworks in the streaming era.