Judge Hits Attorney with $6,000 Fine for Using AI-Generated Fake Case Citations in Court Briefs
Indianapolis – A federal judge has imposed a $6,000 penalty on an attorney who submitted legal briefs containing references to fictitious court cases generated by artificial intelligence. The attorney, representing an Indiana excavation firm in a dispute with a multiemployer benefit fund, admitted to employing generative AI to draft these documents, which erroneously included what have been termed “hallucination cites.” Judge James Patrick Hanlon, overseeing the case, highlighted the seriousness of the attorney’s actions while determining the sanction. He emphasized the need to discourage reckless behavior among attorneys but also took into account factors that … Read more