The Quality of Counsel's Filings Further Deteriorated

A magistrate judge in Parker v. Costco Wholesale Corp. issued sanctions against counsel after discovering their filings contained “hallucinated” case citations, misrepresentations of law, and numerous errors indicative of unverified AI use or extreme negligence. The court detailed how the Plaintiff’s Response to a Motion for Summary Judgment relied on inapplicable law, misquoted sources, and included fabricated quotes, with formatting suggesting it was directly copy-pasted from an AI program. Counsel admitted to using Callidus AI but claimed he was unaware the contract attorney utilized it and took responsibility for not verifying the information. Despite his apology, the court found the errors “outrageously improper, unprofessional and unethical,” violating Rule 11 and demonstrating a failure to adequately represent his client, particularly regarding a critical motion to dismiss. The judge publicly reprimanded counsel, ordered $3000 in sanctions, and referred the matter to the Washington state bar for potential disciplinary action. The case also highlighted a prior failure by counsel to properly serve the defendant, further demonstrating a pattern of inadequate practice and compromising the client’s ability to pursue her claims of racial discrimination.

(Source：Reason Magazine)