Incident Tracker

JNE24 v Minister for Immigration and Citizenship [2025] FedCFamC2G 1314

costs-order

In Australia's Federal Circuit and Family Court, a Western Australian lawyer filed migration submissions citing four fake authorities produced using Claude and 'validated' with Microsoft Copilot, admitting overconfidence in AI. Judge Gerrard ordered him to pay AUD 8,371.30 in personal costs and referred his conduct to the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia.

Date of decision/order

2025-08-15

Court

Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia (Division 2), General Federal Law

Jurisdiction

AUSTRALIA

AI tool

Claude (research) and Microsoft Copilot (validation)

Conduct

In a migration judicial-review matter, a Western Australian lawyer filed submissions citing four cases that did not exist or did not support the propositions advanced. He admitted developing an overconfidence in relying on AI tools and assuming their output was reliable. The proceeding was discontinued and he reimbursed his client in full.

Consequence

AUD 8,371.3

Regulatory outcome

Legal Practice Board of Western Australia (LPBWA): The court referred the lawyer's conduct to the Legal Practice Board of Western Australia; no LPBWA disposition has been published — the referral is pending. A personal costs order of AUD 8,371.30 was made against the lawyer, payable to the Minister. (2025-08-15)