2 September 2025
On 19 August 2025, the Victorian Legal Services Board varied the practising certificate of the Victorian legal practitioner identified by the Federal Circuit and Family Court as ‘Mr Dayal’ in Dayal [2024] FedCFamC2F 1166. In this matter, Mr Dayal tendered a list and summary of authorities to the court that had been generated through the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and provided inaccurate citations and summaries.
The variation of Mr Dayal’s practising certificate resulted in him:
- no longer being entitled to practise as a principal lawyer
- no longer being authorised to handle trust money
- no longer operating his own law practice
- only practising as an employee solicitor
- undertaking supervised legal practice for a period of two years
- both the practitioner and his supervisor reporting to the Victorian Legal Services Board on a quarterly basis during the period of supervised legal practice.
The Board’s regulatory action in this matter demonstrates our commitment to ensuring legal practitioners who choose to use AI in their legal practice do so in a responsible way that is consistent with their obligations.
We strongly advise legal practitioners to refer to our Statement on the use of artificial intelligence in Australian legal practice, and if they intend on using AI in the course of legal practice, consider undertaking continuing professional development to improve their knowledge.