Fines were the story for two years. This is the one where somebody lost the ability to practise.
Key takeaways
- On 16 April 2026 the Nebraska Supreme Court temporarily suspended Omaha attorney Greg Lake after he admitted using AI to draft a divorce appeal brief. Of 63 citations, 57 were defective,.
- 95 live listings in this category publish a rate, at a median top-of-range of $140 an hour and a ceiling of $400.
- The work is remote contract work, asynchronous, with no set hours and no guaranteed volume.
- Applications screen on a short skills assessment rather than a resume or interview.
What was reported
The finding
On 16 April 2026 the Nebraska Supreme Court temporarily suspended Omaha attorney Greg Lake after he admitted using AI to draft a divorce appeal brief. Of 63 citations, 57 were defective, including four entirely fabricated cases and 20 reference hallucinations, with some fabricated quotations attributed to real judges. Asked directly whether he had used AI, Lake first denied it, then admitted it and called it a grave error of judgment. Reporting describes it as the first indefinite licence suspension in the US tied to AI hallucinations in a court filing.
The arithmetic is what makes it land. Sixty-three citations, 57 of them defective. Four cases that did not exist at all. Twenty reference hallucinations. Fabricated quotations placed in the mouths of real judges. Then the denial, then the admission.
What the listings pay
The counterpart to that story is that AI labs are paying attorneys to catch exactly this before it leaves the building. Legal is the best paid category on our entire board: across 95 live legal listings that publish a rate, the median top-of-range is $140 an hour, reaching $400.
| # | Role | Advertised rate | Platform |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BigLaw lawyers | $140 to $400 an hour | micro1 |
| 2 | Intellectual Property Counsel | $100 to $200 an hour | micro1 |
| 3 | Lawyer | $80 to $180 an hour | micro1 |
| 4 | Pro Bono Counsel (Access to Justice Expert) | $170 to $170 an hour | Mercor |
| 5 | Corporate/M&A Lawyer (France) | $150 to $160 an hour | Mercor |
| 6 | Legal / Commercial Expert | $80 to $160 an hour | Mercor |
| 7 | Legal Expert: Tier 1 Specialist (Project Donna) | $150 to $150 an hour | Mercor |
| 8 | In-House Counsel (Germany) | $140 to $150 an hour | Mercor |
| 9 | Litigation Attorney (Commercial Real Estate) | $100 to $150 an hour | micro1 |
| 10 | Bankruptcy Attorney | $90 to $150 an hour | micro1 |
Source: 95 live listings on this board that publish a rate, read directly from each posting on 2026-09-06. Listings without a published rate are excluded rather than estimated.
How this compares across the board
A rate only means something next to the alternatives. This is every category we track with at least five listings publishing a rate, ranked by median top-of-range, so you can see where this work sits rather than taking a single number on trust.
| Category | Listings | Median low | Median top | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legal | 95 | $100 | $140 | $400 |
| Medical | 68 | $77 | $120 | $400 |
| Consulting | 45 | $80 | $120 | $280 |
| Finance | 94 | $80 | $110 | $280 |
| Engineering | 114 | $70 | $100 | $300 |
| Research/PhD | 132 | $70 | $90 | $280 |
| Writing | 36 | $40 | $80 | $280 |
| Bilingual | 78 | $44 | $52 | $120 |
| Annotation | 25 | $12 | $24 | $120 |
Same source and date as above. Categories are matched on listing title, so a role can appear in more than one.
What it means for you
It is the same underlying competence being valued in both directions. Verifying that a legal proposition is actually supported is either the thing that protects your licence or the thing you get paid $140 an hour for. See legal review roles for the paid version.
Who should apply
Two checks before you spend time on an application. Confirm the role accepts applicants from your country with the eligibility checker, since a meaningful share of listings carry location requirements. Then run the advertised rate through the take-home calculator, because this is contract work and the headline figure is before self-employment tax.
Applications complete on the hiring platform and usually take a few minutes, with a short skills assessment in place of an interview. Fill in every credential, language and professional background field on your profile. Those are what route you to the better paid listings, and most applicants leave them blank.
Frequently asked questions
What happened in the Nebraska case?
The state Supreme Court suspended an Omaha attorney in April 2026 after 57 of 63 citations in his appeal brief were found defective, including four fabricated cases. It is reported as the first indefinite US suspension tied to AI hallucinations.
How common are AI sanctions now?
A tracked database records roughly 1,490 court decisions worldwide responding to AI-hallucinated material, more than 1,000 of them in the US.
What do legal AI review roles pay?
Across 95 live legal listings publishing a rate, the median top-of-range is $140 an hour, reaching $400.
Do I need an active bar admission?
For most of the better paid listings yes. Some accept JD holders not currently admitted, and paralegal listings exist at lower rates.
Does this work create a conflict with my firm?
There is no client and no representation, so conflicts rules generally do not attach. Most firms still require written disclosure of paid outside work.
Sources
See every live role
The full board updates several times a week, with the advertised rate on each listing and closed roles removed.