Sanctions watch

“I absolve the mother of any intention to mislead the court.”

“The state justices urged trial judges to examine proposed court orders “with the understanding that artificial intelligence software, with all of its potential risks and benefits, may have been used”.”

“The Court is deeply troubled by the errors previously identified in the Plaintiff’s filings, and counsel’s letter does little to allay the Court’s concerns.”

“This is larger than any of us,”

“The opinion is short and direct.”

““I’m pinning my sanctions on your signature as a sworn officer of the court,” Gamble of the 459th district court in Travis County said at a hearing.”

“but the sheer number of inaccurate or nonexistent citations suggests otherwise.”

““I did not comprehend that ChatGPT could fabricate cases,” Schwartz later told the judge.”

“Citing fake cases in court filings and other materials handed up to the court is an abuse of process and is tantamount to making a false statement … Unchecked, it can lead to a miscarriage of justice.”

“… well over the majority of the citations provided to this court in plaintiff’s opening brief were fabricated, misleading or unsupported.”

“"submission of a motion with numerous nonexistent and erroneous citations, coupled with her repeated failure to be forthcoming with the court, constitutes conduct that is 'akin to contempt of court,'"”

“In an apparent first, a California state appellate panel has sanctioned a Pacific Palisades lawyer and reported him to the bar for submitting AI-generated fabrications in his opening and reply briefs.”

“freely available generative artificial intelligence tools, trained on a large language model such as ChatGPT are not capable of conducting reliable legal research”

“Ms. Lee forthrightly acknowledges the fact that her factum was created using ChatGPT and contains fake cases.”

“Nichols “offered no meaningful explanation” and had filed “made-up” legal citations.”

“The situation was “troubling,” said Judge Ana Keil Lynch.”

“there would be a “discussion” at the end of the trial about how the initial submissions were prepared”

“This was “an extreme dereliction of professional responsibility” and “lazy, convenient fictions” substituting for truth.”

“It was a “perfect storm” of “temptation of AI out there at a time when [he] was busy and trying to meet deadlines.””

“In doing so, the intern acted without authorization, without disclosure, and contrary to not only chambers policy but also the relevant law school policy.”

“one also does not need to be a lawyer to read through a case to verify if it stands for the suggested proposition.”

“The most obvious explanation is … that the grounds of appeal were drafted in whole or in part by generative artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT.”

“"here is this case and it supports our position" and the case doesn’t exist.”

“Counsel relied upon unvetted AI – in his telling, via inadequately supervised colleagues – to defend his use of unvetted AI”

“pervasive inaccurate, misleading, and fabricated citations, quotations, and representations of legal authority”

“the attorneys’ actions were “embarrassing and certainly negligent.””

“The cases he has cited either do not exist, or do not have anything to do with what he has cited them for.”

“This citation appears to be an AI “hallucination,” as discussed in paragraph 5 of Diseño Textil.”

“Whether accidental or deliberate, reliance on false citations is a serious matter [see Zhang v Chen, 2024 BCSC 285].”

“if fines and public embarrassment were effective deterrents, there would not be so many cases to cite.”

“the court wonders if this citation may be the result of an AI generated hallucination”

“Plaintiffs cannot be sure, but the motion’s inclusion of fabricated citations and quotations are hallmarks of an AI generated motion with ‘hallucinations,’”

“it was unacceptable for AI to be used by solicitors or barristers in the production of court documents, unless the product of that use is independently and thoroughly verified.”

“the submission of fabricated authorities as “appalling professional misbehaviour””

“Whoever or whatever drafted the briefs signed and filed by Blackburn, it is clear that he, at the very best, acted with culpable neglect of his professional obligations.”

“an invention, indeed a hallucination, of AI.”

“null”

“Freely available generative AI tools… are not capable of conducting reliable legal research.”

“He wrote that allowing revisions would unfairly burden defendants who had already responded, noting that the proposed corrections still contained errors.”

“"highly suspcious"”

“the “extent and in what way it was used remains opaque, notwithstanding the written submissions of the solicitor responsible.””

““for his blind reliance on a technological tool which he did not seem to fully understand.””

“Use of AI is not the problem per se.”

“"The liability for using these new technologies without proper supervision falls squarely on the attorney. AI is a powerful tool, but it lacks professional judgment and a duty of candor to the court. Attorneys must remain the final check, or they will be held accountable for the errors it produces."”

“It is undisputed that appellant’s attorney, Fahiin Farivar, filed a brief containing numerous fabricated quotations—that is, language falsely attributed to published decisions.”

“the case simply does not exist”

““People are going to use [AI], and the courts are not going to be able to be a dam across a river that’s already flowing at flood capacity,””

“It is entirely understandable that litigants in person should resort to artificial intelligence for help.”

“It appears that the worker’s submission was created, at least partly, with the use of artificial intelligence.”

“This sounds like something that derived from an artificial intelligence source. It has all the hallmarks of ChatGPT, or some similar AI tool.”

“That to my mind is a gross breach of duty on the part of the solicitor.”

““an unrepresented person is still under a duty not to mislead the court””

“Finally, Plaintiffs [sic] objects to the Magistrate Judge’s “criticism” of his use of artificial intelligence to cite to non-existent case law and errors in other citations.”

“Defendant’s opening brief cites six cases which do not exist.”

“We are alarmed to reflect that some lawyers have started using AI to draft petitions.”

“to put client letters and decision letters from the Home Office into an open source AI tool, such as ChatGPT, is to place this information on the internet in the public domain, and thus to breach client confidentiality and waive legal privilege, and thus any regulated legal professional or firm that does so would, in addition to needing to bring this to the attention of their regulator, be advised to consult with the Information Commissioner’s Office.”

“Submitting a brief with fictitious caselaw is a recipe for sanctions.”

“Legal professionals are obliged to ensure that legal arguments which are presented to the First-tier Tribunal or Upper Tribunal are factually and legally accurate.”

“Deputy President World rejected a claim citing three phantom Full Bench authorities, warning of costs.”

“courts “should not have to parse case citations and parentheticals to discern whether cases exist.””

“"wild goose chase"”

“"more substantial penalties" will follow in future cases of non-compliance with the Notice.”

“It matters not how such citation errors come about.”

“It matters not how such citation errors come about.”

“"Misuse of AI in legal proceedings has serious implications for the administration of justice and public confidence in the justice system,"”

“The irony.”

“All parties – represented and unrepresented – owe a duty to the court to ensure that cases cited in legal argument are genuine and provide authority for the proposition advanced.”

“This is not sufficient disclosure.”

“The court understands that, in issuing this order, it does so in a proverbial new frontier as society begins to grapple with both the power and potential danger of this technology,” Hall wrote at the time.”

“bad faith”

“Mr Rasheed demonstrated a worrying lack of understanding of the extent to which AI is available in the modern world”

“violated basic duties of competence and candor as contemplated by the rules governing professional conduct.”

“Plaintiff’s motion is riddled with AI hallucinations, made up cases, quotes, and statements of law and fact.”

“the court accepted his explanation that he believed the AI tool had anti-hallucination protection”

“the most egregious violations of Rule 11”

“"Carelessness, good faith, or ignorance are not an excuse for submitting materials that do not comply with Rule 11."”

““While assistance in preparing complaints is not improper, a complainant remains responsible for the accuracy of allegations made on his behalf.””

““Unfortunately, for me at least, the tangential scattergun, smorgasbord approaches and references coupled with euphemisms formed outside of Europe approaches of this tool were a poor second to human oversight, I have come to expect and anticipate in actual statement and representation during a case.””

“The six cases were fake and likely the handiwork of a ChatGPT or similar artificial intelligence (AI) program’s hallucinations,”

“pervasive misconduct”

““no lawyer should be using … a generative AI product to perform research without verifying results. Period.””

“U.S. District Judge Murray Snow called Wright’s explanation a “convoluted tale.””

“simply not credible”

““Many of Ms Chen’s authorities are irrelevant or do not exist – in either case appearing to be hallucinations of a generative artificial intelligence application.””

“Lawyers who cite fictitious cases must face serious consequences,”

“The technology was “not capable of conducting reliable legal research.””

“"[C]ourts in this [C]ircuit have repeatedly found that presenting AI-generated hallucinations as valid caselaw constitutes subjective bad faith."”

“of indisputable importance for matters”

“Those who use artificial intelligence to conduct legal research notwithstanding these risks have a professional duty to check the accuracy of such research by reference to authoritative sources, before using it in the course of their professional work.”

““Rather than taking the time necessary to ensure that they did not compound the burdens on the court, however,” the justices wrote in their order that less than 12 hours after receiving the order, plaintiffs dug a deeper hole by filing “a declaration that included citations to at least four cases that do not exist in the Oregon Appellate Reports or the Oregon Reports.””

““Submissions that rely on non-existent cases generated by artificial intelligence, resulting in AI ‘hallucinations’ and cases that do not stand for the propositions alleged, are considered ‘frivolous conduct’ under 22 NYCRR § 130-1.1 and are sanctionable.””

“the worst example of misconduct by a lawyer that I think I’ve ever seen since I’ve been on the bench.”

“the law firm's name appeared on the case filing that contained "significant misrepresentations," the court explained.”

“it would be easy to think that this is a case about the naïve use of generative AI, but it is not merely about that; it is principally about supervision and the obligation to ensure that the tribunal is not misled.”

“The Court didn't mince words.”

““carried with it risks as well as opportunities”.”

“Because pro se parties are also bound by the Rule 11 duty to confirm that cited authorities exist and support their propositions, the court dismissed with prejudice, finding amendment would yield “additional unsupported allegations” and more defective filings rather than curing the complaint’s deficiencies.”

“While the Court does not prohibit counsel from using generative AI tools, counsel must comply with Rule 11(b), including confirmation that cases cited within a brief exist.”

“sufficient deterrent”

“if the citation was an AI 'hallucination', that would be 'analogous to relying on bogus evidence' and represent a procedural irregularity.”

“Mr. Watkins's misconduct includes—and extends well beyond—the misuse of artificial intelligence to make both misleading and outright fabricated statements of law.”

“The state justices urged trial judges to examine proposed court orders “with the understanding that artificial intelligence software, with all of its potential risks and benefits, may have been used”.”

“Morgan has made no showing that he has learned from his mistakes in that case.”

“Mr. Cho has confirmed that he indeed used AI, which provided him with hallucinated case law and propositions that he then incorporated into his reply brief without verification.”

““In this age of instant gratification, this incident serves as a timely reminder to, at least, the lawyers involved in this matter that when it comes to legal research, the efficiency of modern technology still needs to be infused with a dose of good old-fashioned independent reading. Courts expect lawyers to bring a legally-independent and questioning mind to bear on, especially, novel legal matters, and certainly not to merely repeat in parrot-fashion, the unverified research of a chatbot.””

“the Court determined to dismiss Mr Ba's claim.”

“The ability of the court to rely upon the accuracy of submissions made by counsel is fundamental to the due administration of justice.”

“the attraction of AI for lawyers was currently a “dangerous mirage”.”

“Attorney has harmed his credibility with this Court.”

“A regulated professional is under a duty to exercise independent judgment and cannot abdicate that responsibility to an algorithm.”

“technological convenience must never outweigh accuracy and integrity in the judicial process.”

“The judge explained to the claimant the danger of relying upon AI to source case authorities and the steps which must be taken to check that they are genuine.”

“It became apparent that the claimant had used a generative AI tool to assist her in producing her written submissions.”

“The tribunal is aware of the growing use of artificial intelligence and it would appear that an AI tool was used to prepare the Respondent’s grounds of appeal.”

““demonstrates the inherent dangers associated with practitioners solely relying on the use of artificial intelligence in the preparation of court documents and the way in which that interacts with a practitioner’s duty to the court”.”

“the “extraordinary” sanctions were warranted”

“the court emphasized citing non‑existent cases generated by AI constitutes an “unacceptable” “abuse of the adversary system.””

““We attach no blame to him, since he is a litigant in person but we have recorded the names so that others do not fall into the same trap.””

“The careless use of generative artificial intelligence to "save time" by not independently confirming citations is instead a waste of judicial resources and ...”

“In the quickly expanding universe of cases involving sanctions for the misuse of artificial intelligence, this case is a notorious outlier in both degree and volume,”

“like an idiot”

““as a warning””

““This case presents the Court with an unusual scenario — attorneys for both litigants engaged in similar sanctionable conduct,””

“the need to check whether the assertions and quotations generated were accurate trumps all.”

““Mr. Millan’s primary grievance is that [the Judge] did not appropriately weigh his good intentions.”

“multiple inaccurate quotations or citations”

“After the first, he promised the court, “I’m not going to do it again,” just before getting hit with two more rounds of sanctions a month later.”

“Whatever the merits of artificial intelligence, it is no substitute for actual intelligence.”

“Justice Lukasz Granosik noted that the cited authorities appeared to be AI "hallucinations" with no basis in law.”

“from haste and a naive understanding of the technology”

“AI was misused”

“"This is unacceptable," the appeals court said.”

“tantamount to bad faith”

“The Court ruled that even a single factitious citation violates its orders and justifies striking filings.”

“It should go without saying that it is the lawyer’s duty to read cases before submitting them to a court as precedential authorities.”

““It should be obvious that any attorney who uses AI must scrupulously review its work product to ensure that the cited cases exist and that the citations accurately and fairly represent the underlying case law,””

“Reliance on Gen-AI does not excuse or ease this requirement.”

“the critical failing as the fact that the reviewing lawyer did not properly check the accuracy of the document before it was filed and served”

“why they should not be sanctioned for misrepresenting “the law through the use of generative artificial intelligence.””

“Sanders submitted a brief “prepared with the assistance of generative artificial intelligence, containing citations to nonexistent cases, fictitious purported Court of Appeals quotations wholly contrary to actual law, and misrepresentations about what certain real cases actually held or decided,” LaSalle wrote.”

“"Counsel cannot discharge those obligations by relying on a paralegal, much less on an artificial intelligence program."”

“AI is not a legal advisor, it owes no duty to the Court or the administration of justice and owes no duty to act in the best interests of [the applicant] or to observe regulatory or ethical standards, including in its engagement with other practitioners and parties.”

“The next lawyer who does the same thing is warned that he or she will likely see a more significant penalty.”

“"Rule 11 is clear," Judge Oliver said, referring to a federal civil procedure rule that requires lawyers to ensure their arguments are supported by current law or a good-faith basis for modifying current law.”

“However, [Counsel]'s decision not to be honest with the Court during oral argument also demonstrated his professional immaturity, arrogance, and profound lack of respect for the judicial system.”

“"But unlike a human, a large language model does not appreciate nuance or exercise judgment or use a moral compass when writing. It just does calculations, and then puts words in the order dictated by statistical probabilities. The calculations are impressive – large volumes of authoritative-sounding text are generated in seconds or minutes. But they are just calculations. And the product only reads or sounds like text written by humans. It isn't the same."”

“The trial court described the filing as containing “nonexistent citations” and “fictitious quotations,” ultimately imposing sanctions under California Code of Civil Procedure § 128.7.”

“If someone—even an intern—gets the case name, number, year, and quotation wrong, they are not struggling with research or citation formatting. They are struggling with honesty.”

“The injection of false precedent undermines the integrity of the proceedings. Doing it repeatedly, and in response to a show cause order, warrants imposition of a meaningful sanction.”

“We issue this disciplinary order, and explain our reasoning at some length, as a warning to the members of this Court's bar: be aware of the risks of overreliance on generative AI, read everything cited in a court filing—whether drafted by generative AI or not—and disclose quickly and transparently generative AI hallucinations that are inadvertently included in court filings….”

“Material parts of the arbitrator’s reasons relied on false references to authorities.”

“The pro se litigant cited only one nonexistent case, but the court ruled that that was sufficient to warrant the imposition of a sanction.”

“The submission of fictitious or fabricated case law—whether the product of carelessness, misunderstanding, or reliance on generative artificial-intelligence tools—is sanctionable.”

“legal professionals bear ultimate responsibility for their work and cannot outsource the process of legal research or of legal reasoning to an AI.”

““Lawyers make errors. Competent and ethical lawyers own them””

“"It's striking, concerning, disappointing, and saddening to think that members of the bar would forward cases to a court that don't exist, and to think that the lawyers on the other side of that didn’t read it for whatever reason, didn’t check it."”

“Ignorance of the risks of AI usage is no longer an excuse,”

““While I reviewed the cited cases generally to confirm their applicability, as well as many other cases that I reviewed, I did not double check the quotations and obviously did not read the cited cases carefully,” Greaves wrote.”

“It is important for parties to be aware that they have a duty not to mislead the tribunal and that the fabrication of authorities (whether intentionally or because references generated through Artificial Intelligence have not been verified) can lead to sanction.”

“Pro se litigants are not shielded from the sanctions offered by Rule 11”

“"I am going to hold you in contempt," Judge Gordon said, "but I am going to issue an oral admonition."”

“no person has immunity from sanction”

“Although AI can be a useful aid in research and drafting, its use does not diminish an attorney's nondelegable duties of diligence, candor, and reasonable inquiry.”

““In reviewing the trial court’s order denying the motion for a new trial, there are at least five citations to cases that don’t exist, and there’s at least five more citations to cases that do not support the proposition for which they are cited, including three quotations that don’t exist,””

“The Court does not prohibit or oppose the use of artificial intelligence in legal advocacy, so long as counsel independently verifies the accuracy of AI-generated content.”

“While the use of [generative AI] is not necessarily problematic, the failure to confirm the accuracy of the filing is. ... Plaintiff’s pro se status does not relieve her of this requirement.”

“We do not have a double standard for those represented by counsel and those who are unrepresented – we expect all to follow our procedures. … We have repeatedly stressed that self-represented litigants and attorneys alike have a duty to independently verify the authenticity and veracity of all sources and assertions when relying on artificial intelligence tools to prepare trial or appellate court filings.”