Law Firm Receives Sanctions Over AI-Cited Fake Case
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Cushing on Friday sanctioned attorney Larry Mason $10,000 and law firm Goldberg Segalla $49,500 for filing a post-trial motion that cited a fabricated case generated by an attorney who used ChatGPT without verifying the citation. A jury had earlier found the Chicago Housing Authority liable for lead-paint injuries, and the judge added $8 million in attorneys' fees Friday, bringing the CHA's total liability to $32.2 million.
Key Points
- 1Impose sanctions totaling $59,500 on Goldberg Segalla and Larry Mason for false citation
- 2Highlight risks of unverified AI legal research and fabricated case citations undermining judicial trust
- 3Require law firms to enforce AI policies, verify citations, and retrain attorneys on research standards
Scoring Rationale
Official court sanctions and a significant fee award drive a high score; limited by lack of novel technical advancement.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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