The Volokh Conspiracy
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Apparent AI Hallucinations in Defense Filing in Coomer v. Lindell / My Pillow Election-Related Libel Suit
From yesterday's decision by Judge Nina Wang in Coomer v. Lindell (D. Colo.):
As discussed extensively on the record, after confirming with Mr. Kachouroff that he signed the Opposition consistent with his obligations under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court identified nearly thirty defective citations in the Opposition. These defects include but are not limited to misquotes of cited cases; misrepresentations of principles of law associated with cited cases, including discussions of legal principles that simply do not appear within such decisions; misstatements regarding whether case law originated from a binding authority such as the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit; misattributions of case law to this District; and most egregiously, citation of cases that do not exist.
Despite having every opportunity to do so, Mr. Kachouroff declined to explain to the Court how the Opposition became replete with such fundamental errors. For example, when confronted with the first misquotation in a parenthetical appearing on page 3 of the Opposition—purportedly drawn from Mata v. City of Farmington, 798 F. Supp. 2d 1215, 1227 (D.N.M. 2011)—Mr. Kachouroff stated to the Court:
Your Honor I may have made a mistake and I may have paraphrased and put quotes by mistake. I wasn't intending to mislead the Court. I don't think the quote is far off from what you read to me.
When asked how a case from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Kentucky became attributable to the United States District Court for the District of Colorado, Mr. Kachouroff indicated that he "had given the cite checking to another person," later identified as Ms. DeMaster. When asked whether he would be surprised to find out that the citation Perkins v. Fed. Fruit & Produce Co., 945 F.3d 1242, 1251 (10th Cir. 2019) appearing on page 6 of Defendants' Opposition did not exist as an actual case, Mr. Kachouroff indicated that he would be surprised.
{There is a District of Colorado case of Perkins v. Fed. Fruit & Produce Co., 945 F. Supp. 2d 1225 (D. Colo. 2013), appeal dismissed, No. 13-1250 (10th Cir. July 29, 2013), but such case does not stand for the proposition asserted by Defendants, i.e., that a Court of Appeals affirmed "admitting evidence of prior emotional difficulties to challenge damages claims."} Time and time again, when Mr. Kachouroff was asked for an explanation of why citations to legal authorities were inaccurate, he declined to offer any explanation, or suggested that it was a "draft pleading."
Not until this Court asked Mr. Kachouroff directly whether the Opposition was the product of generative artificial intelligence did Mr. Kachouroff admit that he did, in fact, use generative artificial intelligence. After further questioning, Mr. Kachouroff admitted that he failed to cite check the authority in the Opposition after such use before filing it with the Court—despite understanding his obligations under Rule 11 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure. Even then, Mr. Kachouroff represented that he personally outlined and wrote a draft of a brief before utilizing generative artificial intelligence. Given the pervasiveness of the errors in the legal authority provided to it, this Court treats this representation with skepticism….
The court ordered defendants' lawyers to explain why they shouldn't be sanctioned, and why they shouldn't be referred for disciplinary proceedings. It added,
Counsel will specifically address, under the oath subject to the penalty of perjury, the circumstances surrounding the preparation of the Opposition to Plaintiff's Motion in Limine, including but not limited to whether Defendants were advised and approved of their counsel's use of generative artificial intelligence ….
No later than May 5, 2025, defense counsel of record SHALL CERTIFY that a copy of this Order has been provided to Defendant Michael Lindell personally ….
One might say Mr. Kachouroff was caught with his pants down, though I think the current problem is worse than the earlier one:
Thanks to my colleague Justin Grimmer for the pointer (to the AI hallucination matter, not the pants one).
