Technology
Sep. 17, 2025
State Court of Appeal issues 1st opinion sanctioning lawyer for AI 'hallucinations'
More than 200 documented instances of U.S. legal decisions have involved legal hallucinations to date, according to a database maintained by a Stanford Law School researcher. Last year Chief Justice John G. Roberts warned that "a shortcoming known as 'hallucination'" in AI tools can lead to citations to nonexistent cases.
A lawyer's failure to check the delusional ChatGPT output he folded into his pleadings has cost him $10,000 in sanctions and made him the target of a state appellate panel's withering opinion of first impression regarding hallucinations in legal drafting.
Plus, he lost the case, he's being reported to the State Bar, he must show the opinion to his client and he must certify to the court that he has done so.
"We conclude by noting that 'hallucination&#...
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