3 Lawyers Apologize for AI-Faked Quotes in May 6 Federal Court Motion

4 articles · Updated · Bloomberg Law · May 16

Three lawyers for former DHS official Joseph Guy told a California federal judge that a May 6 motion to quash a subpoena contained AI-generated “phantom” quotations.
Jason Greaves said he used Anthropic’s Claude Console under tight time constraints, reviewed the cited cases only generally, and failed to verify the quotations before filing.
Jesse Binnall and Lindsay McKasson also apologized in declarations, and Binnall said the firm will tighten AI policies and add training on checking citations and filings.
The filing arose in AFGE v. Trump, a Northern District of California lawsuit over Trump administration mass layoffs, including at FEMA, where the court sought to depose Guy.
The episode adds to a widening pattern of lawyers misusing generative AI in court papers, with some attorneys in other cases already facing sanctions.

Are new law firm policies enough to stop the growing crisis of AI-fabricated legal evidence?

When an AI lies in court, who is truly at fault: the lawyer or the technology's creator?