Dewald v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. (AI avatar at oral argument), App. Div. 1st Dept.

warningunverified — pending primary-source confirmation

Before New York's Appellate Division, First Department, self-represented appellant Jerome Dewald played an AI-generated avatar posing as his lawyer at his 26 March 2025 oral argument. The panel halted the video within seconds and he admitted it was AI-generated. He was verbally rebuked and allowed to continue in person; no sanction issued.

Date of decision/order: 2025-03-26
Court: New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division, First Department
Jurisdiction: US-STATE
AI tool: AI-generated video avatar (tool not named)
Conduct: A self-represented appellant obtained leave to play a prerecorded video for his oral argument, then played a generative-AI avatar of a fictional lawyer. The presiding justice stopped the video within seconds; the appellant admitted the presenter was AI-generated and was permitted to continue his argument in person.
Consequence: See outcome

Sources

Underlying appeal: Dewald v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co., App. Div. 1st Dept. (Index No. 655380/23) — the avatar episode is oral-argument conduct, documented in press/argument record, not in the written decision

Cite this incident

SafeLegalAI Global Legal AI Incident Tracker, "Dewald v. Massachusetts Mutual Life Ins. Co. (AI avatar at oral argument), App. Div. 1st Dept.", safelegalai.com/tracker/dewald-ai-avatar (accessed 2026-07-16). Data: CC BY 4.0.