Professional Responsibility

Operationalizing ABA Model Rule 3.3 through the deterministic Fabrication Gate (S8).

integrity_gate_s8.rs

S8 Detection Logic

INPUT: Generated Synthesis S7

MATCH: "See Smith v. Doe, 123 U.S. 456..."

QUERY: Registry.lookup("123 U.S. 456")

FINAL: MISSING / FABRICATED

SCORE: 0.0

Integrity Flag Set

The Fabrication Gate (S8)

In legal practice, character and integrity are not "bonuses"—they are binary constraints. LegalChain operationalizes ABA Model Rule 3.3 ("Candor Toward the Tribunal") through a deterministic Citation Integrity Gate (S8).

Success Condition

If all citations are verified against our SCDB registry, the synthesis score stands. Truthfulness is verified before fluency is rewarded.

Failure Condition

If even one fabricated citation is detected, the integrity score is set to zero and flagged, regardless of how "well-reasoned" the intermediate steps appeared. The run continues to completion for full diagnostics.

Zero-Score Semantics

Unlike standard benchmarks that might penalize a hallucination with a minor deduction, LegalChain uses Zero-Score Semantics for integrity failures. This reflects the reality of U.S. courts (e.g., Mata v. Avianca), where submitting a brief with fabricated citations is a sanctionable offense that renders the document professionally worthless. The integrity score is set to zero and the violation is flagged in scoring details.

Technical Infrastructure

Registry Lookup: Cross-checked against the SCDB Case Universe.

Synthetic Traps: Intentional injection of fake cases to test model "biting."

Deterministic: 100% code-based verification; no LLM-as-a-Judge.

Lawyering Effectiveness

This design aligns with Shultz & Zedeck Factor 21: "Integrity & Honesty: has core values and beliefs; acts with integrity and honesty." For Legal AI to be production-ready, it must prioritize truth over fluency.