LaRoche v. Sterett
The case
LaRoche v. Sterett, No. 24-AP-406 (Vt.), order filed November 13, 2025, reported at 2025 WL 3174940. State supreme court. Copy of primary document: `~/workspace/goals/ai-sanctions-case-monitoring/files/sources/D-107-laroche-v-sterett.pdf`.
What happened
Attorney Donald P. LoCascio filed a brief containing a purported quotation generated by his client's "AI helper." He submitted the quotation without reading the authority it was supposedly taken from, and the quotation did not exist as represented.
The rule and the sanction
Rule 11(b)(2), Vermont Rules of Civil Procedure. Nonmonetary sanction: LoCascio must file the court's order in every Vermont Superior Court case in which he has appeared and certify compliance within 14 days.
How it could have been avoided
(a) A client's AI-generated research is still the lawyer's responsibility once filed under the lawyer's name. (b) Read the cited authority itself, not just the client's summary of it. (c) Quote only language confirmed in the source document.
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