Blog
In re: Martin, 2025 WL 2017224 (Bankr. N. D. Ill. 2025):
- By: ALFN
- On: 09/12/2025 12:49:41
- In: Legal Update
A Bankruptcy Court sanctioned an attorney $5,500 for filing a brief with fake, AI-generated citations, warning that lawyers must independently verify all legal authorities.
Artificial intelligence (“AI”) is everywhere. It's like Skynet. In a recent Memorandum Opinion a Bankruptcy Court show caused an attorney for using AI generated legal sources without verifying the accuracy of the AI provided information. The attorney, “a prolific filer of Chapter 13 cases,” filed a legal brief in the bankruptcy case containing “fake quotations and nonexistent authority manufactured by artificial intelligence.” Citing other decisions discussing Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, the Bankruptcy Court found that the attorney had violated Bankruptcy Rule 9011 by failing to verify the AI generated information. “At the very least, the duties imposed by Rule 11 require that attorneys read, and therefore confirm the existence and validity of, the legal authorities on which they rely.” Benjamin v. Costco Wholesale Corp., No. 24-cv-7399, 2025 WL 1195925 (E.D. N.Y. 2025) (quoting Park v. Kim, 91 F4th 610, 615 (2nd Cir. 2024).
The Bankruptcy Court opined that “no lawyer should be using ChatGPT or any other generative AI product to perform legal research without verifying the results.” See e.g. Lacy v. State Farm General Insurance Co., No. CV-24-5205, 2025 WL 1363069 (C.D. Cal. 2025). The Bankruptcy Court refused to give the attorney credit for his alleged lack of knowledge regarding AI issues and sanctioned the attorney $5500.00 under Bankruptcy Rule 9011. The Bankruptcy Court also ordered the attorney to in person attend the NCBJ's seminar titled “Smarter than Ever: The Potential and Perils of Artificial Intelligence.”
Article By Michael Schroeder, Law Office of Michael J. Schroeder