California Is Coming For Lawyers Who File AI-Generated Nonsense

Ed. note: Welcome to our daily feature, Quote of the Day. [Lawyers continue to] submit materials that have hallucinations or have some other anomaly, and they attribute it to AI, and that simply can’t exist. Our system, our courts, our judiciary has to rely on the integrity of the litigants and the advocates. And if they can’t do that, everything breaks down.

• — *California state Senator Tom Umberg, chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, in comments given to Reuters, concerning legislation he introduced to govern lawyers’ use of generative artificial intelligence in legal practice. Umberg said the measure “gives the courts another tool if lawyers don’t follow the law, in terms of potential sanctions.” The bill has been approved by both chambers of the California Legislature and now awaits Governor Gavin Newsom’s signature.

Staci Zaretsky is the managing editor of Above the Law, where she’s worked since 2011. She’d love to hear from you, so please feel free to email her with any tips, questions, comments, or critiques. You can follow her on Bluesky, X/Twitter, and Threads, or connect with her on LinkedIn.