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Florida Appeals Court Orders Lawyer to Explain Possible AI-Fabricated Citations

Published
Score
11

Why it matters

A Florida appellate court dismissed a roofing company's contract dispute after the parties agreed to settle, but used the occasion to order the company's attorney to explain apparent AI-generated citations in his brief. The panel found the filing may have contained fabricated or unsupported legal authorities and directed the lawyer to justify the anomalies before deciding whether to impose sanctions.

The underlying breach-of-contract case was routine commercial litigation. The parties moved to dismiss by mutual agreement, which would normally end the appellate court's involvement. Instead, the court proceeded to scrutinize the lawyer's brief, flagging citations that appeared unreliable or potentially generated without verification.

The case exemplifies a growing problem in appellate practice: courts are now actively policing AI-assisted legal writing for hallucinated citations. Attorneys should assume that every authority cited in a filing—whether drafted with or without generative AI—will be verified by opposing counsel and the bench. The Florida court's decision to investigate even after settlement signals that misconduct reviews can proceed independently of case disposition.

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