Judge Sanctions 4 Lawyers Over AI Citations

A federal judge in Mississippi sanctioned four attorneys after discovering they filed AI-aided court briefs containing citations that did not exist.
Judge Sanctions 4 Lawyers Over AI Citations
A gavel and a block is pictured at the George Glazer Gallery antique store in this illustration picture taken in Manhattan, New York City, on Aug. 18, 2020. Andrew Kelly/Reuters
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A federal judge in Mississippi sanctioned four attorneys Tuesday after discovering that lawyers on both sides of a lawsuit filed court briefs containing citations to legal cases that did not exist.

U.S. District Judge Sharion Aycock issued the order June 8 in a contract dispute between Louisiana attorney Tom Withers III and the City of Aberdeen, Mississippi. The judge found that attorneys representing both parties submitted legal filings containing what the court described as “hallucinatory citations” generated with artificial intelligence (AI).