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... presented here do not rise to the level necessary to support the imposition of sanctions,” even though the alleged behavior was “less than is expected of counsel.” All counsel was given a “caution.”

020

... referring to both Rule 8.4’s prohibitions against conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice, harassment, and conduct that adversely reflects fitness to practice. The Court also cited to NY’s Standards of Civility, an appendix to the rules. However, “the circumstances ... (cont.)

...Opposing counsel didn’t deny this childhood behavior; his argument was essentially: “they started it.” The Court found that “neither side is innocent here – or as Shakespeare would say, ‘A plague o’ both your houses.’” The Court held that it had the authority to issue sanctions, ... (cont.)

...confer conference. When plaintiff’s lawyer indicated that a motion to compel may be necessary, opposing counsel “performed a mocking mimicry of [his] words” and then stated: “Oh, are you going to give me a spanking?” plaintiff’s lawyer moved for sanctions on the grounds of incivility ... (cont.)

100

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Is incivility a valid basis for sanctions? During a NY litigation, opposing counsel were “periodically at loggerheads and engaging in sporadic kerfuffles and disagreements.” This escalated during a meet and ... (cont.) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... #law #lawsky

Man pounding table. Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

... court concluded: “allowing the presentation of the AI video constituted fundamental error … and so prejudiced [the defendant] as to render the sentencing procedure fundamentally unfair.”

... indicia of reliability.” The Arizona Court of Appeals agreed. The video did not portray actual events or an actual person: it was just the “imaginings of the victim’s sister” presented as if a genuine representation of the victim, and it clearly had that effect on the judge. The ... (cont.)

120

... sentence of 10.5 years, more than the prosecution asked for. On appeal, the defendant argued that the AI video should not have been admitted because it carried “undue emotional weight” it “dilute[d] the constitutional requirement that sentencing evidence possess minimal ... (cont.)

... even though that's what you wanted you allowed [victim's first name] to speak from his heart as you saw it. I didn't hear him asking for the maximum sentence.” Despite his impassioned statement about forgiveness, the judge gave the defendant the maximum allowable ... (cont.)

100

... over, the judge stated: “I loved that AI … I feel that that was genuine; that his obvious forgiveness … reflects the character I heard about today, but it also says something about the family because you told me how angry you were and you demanded the maximum sentence, and ... (cont.)

100

... representation of who [the victim] was .. not how the courtroom portrayed [him],” talked about his believe in “forgiveness and a God who forgives,” and assured his family he would “see them on the other side.” Defense counsel did not object to the video. After it was ... (cont.)

... sentencing hearing, the victim’s sister was permitted to play an “an AI video, which depicted the “victim” speaking to the camera.” Among other things, the AI victim explained that he was AI, introduced real video clips of him during his live, stated that it was “a true ... (cont.)

100

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can the family of a murder victim use #AI to have the victim testify at the murder trial? An AZ road rage incident ended in a death, then murder charges, and then a manslaughter conviction. At the ... (cont.) coa1.azcourts.gov/Portals/1/Op... #law #lawsky

... The associate was sanctioned $1,500. The partner was sanctioned $2,500 because he failed to accept responsibility and denied his ethical obligations.

061

... with their ethical duties and professional responsibilities.” The Court’s response to this argument was “Not so.” The lawyer was counsel of record, and CA bar guidance is clear that because AI was used, he had a duty to independently verify the citations. ... (cont.)

130

... The partner took a different approach. He argued that “it was not reasonable for him to verify every citation in a brief prepared by an associate attorney, and a supervising attorney should reasonably be permitted to rely on his associates to draft briefs, verify citations, and comply ...(cont.)

150

... who was counsel of record, but he petition was drafted and signed by an associate. The petition contained several hashtag#AI hallucinations. In response to an order to show cause, the associate fessed up and admitted he misused #AI because of time constraints. ... (cont.)

120

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Is it reasonable for the partner to check every citation included by the associate? A CA law firm submitted a petition to the Appellate Division of the Superior Court. The cover page listed the firm named partner ... (cont.) www.courts.ca.gov/opinions/doc... #law #lawsky #ai

courts.ca.gov

130

... ethical rules, and decided that none apply to the lawyer’s conduct. The decision to disqualify the lawyer was reversed as an abuse of discretion.

... evident why” the lawyer’s report of the email to the police “would be considered improper,” and even if it was the Rules of Professional Conduct don’t require a lawyer to avoid the “appearance of impropriety.” The Court went through each Conflict of Interest rule, and some other ... (cont.)

... email to the police created an “appearance of impropriety.” The Court acknowledged that this was mostly Husband’s fault, but since the Husband could not be removed from his own divorce, the lawyer would have to go. On appeal, the MN Court of Appeals stated that “it is not ... (cont.)

... filed a motion for sanctions. The Court, without a hearing, disqualified the lawyer from the case on the grounds that the animosity between Husband and the lawyer “was a hindrance to the matter being concluded” and that the lawyer’s decision to report the threat to the ... (cont.)

... husband sent a profanity-laced email to the court claiming he was being “harassed” by the lawyer and advising that the court “THROW THE SCUMBAG F-CK IN PRISON, THROW AWAY THE F-CKING KEY, OR BETTER YET, PUT THE F-CKER DOWN.” When the lawyer reported the email to police, Husband ... (cont.)

... telling him that he should shoot himself.” The lawyer got a restraining order preventing the Husband from contacting him except for certain communications related to the proceeding. When the lawyer wrote to Husband about wrapping up the matter by selling the marital home, ... (cont.)

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Can the opposing party get me disqualified by threatening me? A MN lawyer represented Wife in divorce proceedings. As soon as the lawyer appeared, Husband started emailing the lawyer, “wishing death upon him and ... (cont.) mn.gov/law-library-... #law #lawsky

EVERY F-CKING TIME I SEE THAT CORRUPT
PIECE OF SH-T'S NAME ON ANOTHER GOD DAMN
DOCUMENT, OR F-CKING EMAIL, I WANT TO DO
WHATEVER IS F-CKING NECESSARY TO ENSURE
THAT CORRUPT F-CK GET WHAT HE F-CKING
DESERVES!
*2 THROW THE SCUMBAG F-CK IN PRISON,
THROW AWAY THE F-CKING KEY, OR BETTER YET,
PUT THE F-CKER DOWN.
....
KILL YOURSELF YOU CRIMINAL F-CK, YOUR
CHILDREN WOULD BE BETTER OFF AS F-CKING
ORPHANS, RATHER THAN HAVE A SCUMBAG LIKE
YOU AS A F-CKING ROLE MODEL.

100

... so there is a lack of candor problem. Third, the Ohio case does not stand for proposition cited, which is in itself sanctionable whether or not #AI was used. Sanctioned with referral to the Florida bar.

000

... had three responses: First, the court stated that this explanation does not make things better because the Ohio decision was overruled, so if you intended to cite that case it means you intended to mislead us. Second, the court implied that it didn’t really believe this excuse ... (cont.)

100

... The lawyer failed to admit AI use and claimed that the false citation was a “transcription error” and “clerical mistake” by a paralegal, who meant to cite the Ohio case of Citigroup Glob. Markets, Inc. v. Masek, No. 2006-T-0052 (Ohio Ct. App. May 11, 2007). The Court basically ... (cont.)

... cert. petition to the District Ct. of Appeal. The petition cited to Citigroup Global Mkts., Inc. v. Masek, 982 So. 2d 1231 (Fla. 4th DCA 2008), a case that does not exist. The citation also contained a hyperlink to a real case, but that case had nothing to do to the relevant argument ... (cont.)

100

#LegalEthics Tidbit: Overruled cases are not good substitutes for hallucinated ones A FL lawyer tried to get opposing counsel disqualified and ended up getting himself sanctioned. After the motion to disqualify was denied, he filed a ... (cont.) law.justia.com/cases/florid... #law #AI #lawsky

During multi-jurisdictional research
(to find exact match not found
in Florida), the Ohio decision was
inadvertently assigned the Florida
Fourth District Court of Appeal
– thereby making the citation a
clear transcription error during final
compilation.

100

... of confidentiality under Rule 1.6.

000

... 8.4(d) as requiring officers of the court to speak up and disclose “procedural or jurisdictional information,” that could impact the fairness of the proceedings, and that includes information that would get the judge recused. Note, however, that this duty may be limited by the duty ... (cont.)

100

... the conflict is not obvious or the judge’s memory has failed. Does the lawyer have an affirmative obligation to bring it up even though the judge doesn’t? The answer is yes, per Rule 8.4(d) (conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice). The ABA interprets Rule ... (cont.)

100

... economic interest implicated by the case, or extrajudicial knowledge of the underlying facts. ABA Opinion 522 addresses situations in which a lawyer knows about grounds for a judge’s disqualification, but for some reason the judge hasn’t raised it, perhaps because ... (cont.)

100

#LegalEthics Tidbit: If I know the judge should recuse herself, but I don’t want her to, can I keep my mouth shut? Judges may be disqualified from a case for a number of reasons, including a personal relationship with a party, an ... (cont.) www.americanbar.org/content/dam/... #law #lawsky

Woman holding hand to mouth as if surprised. Image by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

100

... enforcement training experience was not a true rebuttal expert because he was not "rebutting" any of the opinions in the report itself The Court, annoyed that the defendant waited two months to request an extension, denied the motion as untimely.

... rebuttal expert deadline so that it could obtain a linguistics expert to “opine about the likelihood that AI was used” in the plaintiff’s expert reports and “how much of the report was AI created.” The plaintiff opposed the motion, arguing that a linguistics expert with no law ... (cont.)

100

... these reports, especially given since he had not written any lengthy types of reports prior to becoming an expert.” Two months later, after the expert discovery deadline had closed but before day two of the deposition had been scheduled, the defendant moved for an extension of the ... (cont.)

100

... apparently “provided deposition testimony that he used ChatGPT extensively to draft that expert report.” The defendant thought the expert was being misleading about how much he used AI “because he does not have any formal writing training that supports his ability to write ... (cont.)

100

#LegalEthics Tidbit: If my opponent’s expert relied on #AI, should I get extra time to find an #AI rebuttal expert? During day one of a two-day expert deposition in a NV civil case, the plaintiff’s law enforcement training expert ... (cont.) storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us... #law #lawsky

100

... lawyer] implemented at Affiliate C is in use at [Affiliate A] today and gives [the lawyer] a material advantage.” Motion for disqualification allowed.

... collection practices. In addition, the lawyer received confidential information in her representation of Affiliate C that was the same information she would have gotten representing Affiliate A, such that “there is a significant and tangible risk that the very strategic wisdom [the ... (cont)

101

...factual information as would normally have been obtained in the prior representation would materially advance the client's position in the subsequent matter.” This was because both the present and past cases related to the evaluation of the defendants’ debt ... (cont.)

100

... client” for purposes of the conflict analysis. As to the remaining parts of the analysis, the Court found the matters were “substantially related” not because the new case involved the same transaction as prior matters, but because “there is a substantial risk that confidential ... (cont.)

100

... the Umbrella Company, the same operational services like IT and HR, and some management personnel. The companies also appeared to share lawyers, which was some indication of financial dependence. Therefore, the Umbrella Company and its affiliates were considered “one ... (cont.)

100

... Circuit test requiring a determination of “degree of operational commonality” between the entities, and the extent to which one [affiliate] depends financially on the other” entities. Here the sister entities shared “virtually identical operations,” the same C-Suite personnel from ... (cont.)