The trouble began when a plaintiff’s representative used Google Gemini and Westlaw Precision with CoCounsel to draft an outline for a supplemental brief in a civil case against State Farm. This outline, which contained bogus research, was passed to the firm K&L Gates. The document was filed without any internal review or cite-checking by staff at either firm. When Wilner flagged the initial errors and requested clarification, the firms resubmitted a brief that featured even more made-up citations and quotations.
California Judge Sanctions Law Firms Over Fabricated AI Citations
A California judge has slapped two law firms with $31,000 in sanctions after they submitted a brief riddled with nonexistent legal precedents generated by artificial intelligence. Judge Michael Wilner discovered the fraud when he attempted to verify the cited authorities, only to find the cases were entirely fabricated.
Wilner’s ruling highlights the professional failure inherent in the process, noting that no competent attorney should outsource fundamental research and writing to unverified AI tools. The judge emphasized that the firms’ failure to disclose the use of AI not only undermined the integrity of the court but also jeopardized the reputations of the professionals involved. This incident joins a growing list of courtroom mishaps involving generative AI, including previous cases where lawyers relied on hallucinations from ChatGPT and Google Gemini to construct legal arguments.
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