Danuta Dec v. Homeland Security

What the court wrote

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

No. 25-2417 B This court recently acknowledged the promise and pitfalls of AI in pro se litigation. See Jones v. Kankakee Cnty. Sheriff’s Dep’t, 164 F.4th 967, 970 (7th Cir. 2026). Other courts have also grappled with the use of generative AI in briefing, referring to AI hallucinations and non-existent case citations as repeat offenders. See, e.g., In re Nwaubani, 2026 WL 687194 at *3 (4th Cir. Mar. 11, 2026) (collecting cases). The use of AI will only become more common and sophisticated. So, “we have little doubt that litigants and courts alike will arrive over time at sound and workable practices, policies, and rules that account for these realities and the nuanced consideration they de- serve.” Jones, 164 F.4th at 970. Whatever AI’s future in litigation, our concern lies with trained lawyers failing to check the accuracy of legal citations and quotations in their filings. We remind counsel that this is easier now than ever. Entire briefs can be submitted to Westlaw or LexisNexis to check citations. Though Dec’s coun- sel described her efforts to mitigate future errors, she should have been more careful. Still, she took responsibility and showed contrition. That opposing counsel also failed to catch these errors and bring them to our attention also gives us pause, albeit to a lesser degree.

Authorities cited in the passage: In re Nwaubani, 2026 WL 687194