A sitting judge’s exploration of artificial intelligence and its implications for the courtroom and the practice of law.
Writing and speaking on how artificial intelligence is reshaping access to the law, the cost of litigation, and the reliability of evidence.
Access, cost, and evidence
Artificial intelligence is lowering the practical barriers to litigation. Self-represented litigants are using it to draft filings, research procedure, and organize claims that would previously have required counsel. This is changing who brings a case, how often, and what claims become economically viable to pursue.
The same tools reshaping who can litigate are reshaping what litigation costs. Drafting, research, and document review are becoming less expensive to perform, which touches contingency economics, the viability of small claims, and whether disputes previously priced out of the system become viable to pursue. It also raises questions about the billable hour as the basic unit of legal pricing, and about the administrative burden a rising volume of filings places on the courts themselves.
Courts have long treated photos, videos, and recordings as presumptively reliable evidence. The advent of inexpensive and easy-to-use AI media generation tools has changed that. Authentication and credibility determinations now require a level of scrutiny the rules of evidence did not originally anticipate. The same shift extends to decisions made or assisted by AI outside the courtroom, which may later need to be explained and justified to a judge, opposing counsel, and eventually a jury.
Writing and Speaking
Writing
-
“Confidently Wrong: What Generative AI Means for Your Reputation and Your Obligations”
Examines how the careless use of generative AI can undermine a lawyer’s reputation and professional obligations, grounding the discussion in the Massachusetts Rules of Professional Conduct rather than proposing new AI-specific regulation.
-
“Reputation Is Everything, Don’t Let AI Ruin Yours”
Uses a Massachusetts Superior Court ruling denying pro hac vice admission to an attorney previously sanctioned for AI-fabricated citations to examine how professional accountability, not the technology itself, is what courts are testing when AI enters a filing.
Speaking
-
AI in the Courts: A Practical Summit on Judicial AI
Host Committee member for an invite-only summit convening judges, litigators, legal technology experts, and academics for a practical discussion of how artificial intelligence is affecting courts and the judicial system. Session/panel to be added once confirmed.
Event link once available -
The Future of AI and Legal Work
Panelist alongside Matt Kelly (Head of AI Practice, Simpson Thacher) and Miriam Kim (Partner, Munger Tolles & Olson), moderated by Jens Frankenreiter, Treiman Professor of Law. The panel addresses how artificial intelligence is changing legal work, legal AI products, junior lawyer training, and the future direction of legal practice.
Biography
Brian Palmucci serves as an Associate Justice of the Massachusetts District Court. During the course of his career, he has served as both a state and local prosecutor, managing attorney for a boutique law firm, and a local elected official. Across those roles, he has always worked at the intersection of law, public policy, and government. In his current position he is focused on the practical challenges of administering justice in today’s fast changing technological landscape.
The Judiciary
Justice Palmucci presides over a robust docket of both civil and criminal matters in a high-volume trial court. His work requires the application of complex statutes, case law, evidentiary rules, and procedural requirements in real time, often in matters involving competing interests and significant consequences.
As a trial judge, he manages the competing demands of efficiency, fairness, and due process while ensuring that each party has a meaningful opportunity to be heard. He regularly addresses complex legal and evidentiary issues, evaluates the information presented in court, and explains legal principles and procedural requirements to both attorneys and self-represented litigants.
His experience on the bench has given him a practical perspective on the challenges facing modern courts and the importance of maintaining both efficiency and procedural fairness. It has also provided a firsthand understanding of how courts function as institutions and how they must adapt to changing technology, evolving legal practice, and the needs of the public while maintaining the integrity and public trust that are essential to the judicial process.
Artificial Intelligence and the Law
Justice Palmucci chairs the Massachusetts District Court’s Artificial Intelligence Working Group, which examines the opportunities and challenges presented by generative artificial intelligence and its effects on access to justice, court operations, the practice of law, and the administration of justice.
His perspective is grounded in direct courtroom experience. He sees how lawyers and self-represented litigants are incorporating AI into their work, how AI-assisted evidence and algorithmic outputs are presented and challenged in court, and how judges and jurors encounter increasingly sophisticated technology in legal proceedings. His work examines how courts can adapt to these developments while preserving accuracy, procedural integrity, and public trust.
Law, Government, and Public Policy
Before joining the bench, Justice Palmucci spent nearly two decades practicing law in civil and criminal matters. He served as a state and local prosecutor and later maintained a private law practice, where he handled complex litigation and business transactions, including the sale of businesses and matters governed by a dense compliance framework. He also advised businesses navigating regulatory uncertainty in an emerging industry, work that included engagement with policymakers as the rules themselves were being written.
He also served seven terms as a City Councilor in a city of over 100,000 people. During his tenure, he worked on legislation and policy involving budgeting, land use, public safety, and municipal government, while working directly with constituents, state and federal partners, and community stakeholders.
Leadership and Governance
Throughout his career, Justice Palmucci has served in leadership and governance roles with for-profit corporations, as well as civic and nonprofit organizations. That board experience has given him a working knowledge of organizational governance, strategic decision-making, regulatory compliance, and public accountability.
He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Massachusetts Judges Conference, the professional organization representing Massachusetts state court judges. His work with the organization includes legislative policy, emerging technologies, judicial education and exchanges, and issues affecting the operation and security of the courts.
Teaching and Education
Justice Palmucci is an adjunct professor at Quincy College, where he currently teaches a course on government. He has also mentored attorneys, law clerks, and staff throughout his career and regularly speaks and writes on issues involving law, government, the judiciary, and artificial intelligence.
J.D., New England School of Law (2004) · B.A., UMass Amherst (2000)