US appeals court rule would require lawyers to certify AI — prepared filings
By Nate Raymond Sept 18 (Reuters) — A federal appeals court in Denver on Friday proposed requiring lawyers to certify that any court filings prepared with the assistance of generative AI have been reviewed by humans for accuracy. If adopted, the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals would become the first of the 13 federal appeals courts nationally to have a rule targeting the mountain of instances of fake and hallucinated case citations that have shown up in court filings since AI debuted on a mass scale in 2022. The rule, if implemented, would take effect from January 1, 2027 and apply to any federal appeals cases in the six states that the 10th Circuit has jurisdiction over — Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. It would apply to both licensed lawyers and self-represented litigants. Several district courts have sought to regulate the use of AI. But to date, the appeals courts have relied on preexisting rules to sanction lawyers for submitting AI-prepared briefs with fabricated case citations. The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024 scrapped plans to adopt what would have been a first-of-its-kind appellate regulation of AI use after its propo
By Nate Raymond Sept 18 (Reuters) — A federal appeals court in Denver on Friday proposed requiring lawyers to certify that any court filings prepared with the assistance of generative AI have been reviewed by humans for accuracy. If adopted, the 10th US Circuit Court of Appeals would become the first of the 13 federal appeals courts nationally to have a rule targeting the mountain of instances of fake and hallucinated case citations that have shown up in court filings since AI debuted on a mass scale in 2022.
The rule, if implemented, would take effect from January 1, 2027 and apply to any federal appeals cases in the six states that the 10th Circuit has jurisdiction over — Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming. It would apply to both licensed lawyers and self-represented litigants. Several district courts have sought to regulate the use of AI. But to date, the appeals courts have relied on preexisting rules to sanction lawyers for submitting AI-prepared briefs with fabricated case citations.
The New Orleans-based 5th US Circuit Court of Appeals in 2024 scrapped plans to adopt what would have been a first-of-its-kind appellate regulation of AI use after its proposal drew stiff opposition from members of the bar, who argued that rules already on the books were enough to deal with any issues. Chris Wolpert, the 10th Circuit's clerk of court, in an email told Reuters that while lawyers should be reviewing their filings for accuracy, the court continues to encounter situations in which existing rules are not being followed with respect to filings produced with the help of AI.
" Lawyers who do not comply with that and other rules governing the briefs they sign would still face the pre-existing risk of monetary sanctions, referrals for discipline and having their appeals dismissed. The 10th Circuit is also proposing adding two new forms of potential sanctions, in which litigants would face the risk of having the affected issue be deemed waived by the court or having their non-compliant submissions struck from the case docket. The 10th Circuit is accepting public comment on the proposal until October 18 and plans to finalize it by December 1. net/)