Lawyer apologizes for fake AI-generated quotes in Trump layoffs case
A lawyer at Binnall Law Group has apologized to a federal judge in San Francisco for submitting court filings containing quotations that never existed in the cited cases. Attorney Jason Greaves used Claude, an AI tool made by Anthropic, to draft the document and failed to verify the results before filing.
The filing related to a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration's firing of government employees. Greaves represented a former U.S. Department of Homeland Security deputy chief of staff as a witness in the case.
Greaves blamed time constraints for the oversight. He told U.S. District Judge Susan Illston: "As the supervising partner, and the signer of the pleading, the responsibility for having accurate citations is entirely on me. I take full responsibility for that and apologize fully to the court and to all counsel in this case."
Pattern across courts
Judges in more than 100 cases have sanctioned or admonished attorneys for using AI without adequate care since generative AI became widely available in 2022. Lawyers are not prohibited from using the technology but must ensure the accuracy of their submissions under court rules.
Illston said earlier this month she was "troubled" by quotations that did not appear in the cases cited in the filing.
Firm response
Jesse Binnall, the firm's founding and managing partner, called the false citations "unacceptable, inexcusable, and an embarrassment to this firm." He said this was the first such error at the firm and vowed it would not happen again.
Binnall said the firm maintains policies restricting AI use for legal research and drafting, requiring attorneys to use established platforms like Westlaw or LexisNexis instead. The firm is implementing additional safeguards, including supplemental training for staff.
For more on AI for Legal professionals, see how courts and law firms are addressing AI governance.
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