State National Insurance Company, Inc. v. Treadwell

What the court wrote

Verbatim from the court's document (public domain). Ellipses mark omitted text; nothing is paraphrased.

the final version did, in fact, exist. Transcript of Show-Cause Hearing at 21–22 (March 26, 2026). Mr. May confirmed that the quotations were hallucinations of one or both of two popular generative artificial intelligence (“AI”) applications used by Mr. May—ChatGPT and OpenCase. (Doc. 69 at 2). In simpler terms, the quotes Mr. May cited were completely made up and resulted from what Mr. May admits was a “lack of diligence” on his part. (Doc. 69 at 3). FINDINGS OF FACT AND CONCLUSIONS OF LAW Citations to fake legal authority pose a serious threat to the fair administration of justice and the integrity of the judicial system, and they require an equally serious sanction. Johnson v. Dunn, 792 F. Supp. 3d 1241, 1246 (N.D. Ala. 2025). This court has stated, Even in cases like this one, where lawyers who cite AI hallucinations accept responsibility and apologize profusely, much damage is done. . . . [T]he court spends time reviewing materials, holding hearings, deliberating about sanctions, and explaining its ruling; the substance of the case is delayed; and public confidence about the trustworthiness of legal proceedings may be diminished. Id. at 1257