Overview
- U.S. District Judge Terry Moorer publicly reprimanded Alabama attorney James A. Johnson, fined him $5,000 to the CJA fund, ordered him to inform clients, and referred him to the court’s advisory panel after filings used Ghostwriter Legal to produce fabricated citations.
- Moorer noted the case involved publicly funded appointed counsel and warned that replacing counsel increases costs, calling the spread of fake citations an ongoing epidemic.
- New York Supreme Court Judge Joel Cohen granted sanctions after defense counsel Michael Fourte submitted AI‑hallucinated citations in a brief and then doubled the mis-cites in his opposition, with the court stressing that candor cannot be delegated to software.
- Cohen awarded the plaintiff attorneys’ fees for the added work to unravel bogus authorities and directed that the decision be reported to the New Jersey Office of Attorney Ethics.
- The Massachusetts Office of Bar Counsel issued new guidance urging strict verification and supervision of AI-assisted filings, warning that courts are ratcheting up sanctions for fabricated citations.