Case D-60 · AI Sanctions Case Tracker

Smith v. Farwell

Massachusetts Superior Court (Norfolk), February 12, 2024

The case

Darlene Smith v. Matthew Farwell, & others, Massachusetts Superior Court (Norfolk), February 12, 2024, Civil Action No. 2282CV01197 (Justice Brian A. Davis). Copy of primary document: `~/workspace/goals/ai-sanctions-case-monitoring/files/sources/D-60-smith-v-farwell.pdf` (16-page scanned Findings, Rulings and Order Imposing Sanction).

What happened

Plaintiff's counsel filed several legal memoranda opposing the defendants' motions to dismiss that cited and relied on wholly fictitious case law ("Fictitious Case Citations"). When questioned at a December 7, 2023 hearing, counsel pointed to an unidentified AI system as the culprit behind the fictitious citations and openly acknowledged his personal lack of diligence in failing to thoroughly review the memoranda before they were filed.

The rule and the sanction

Violation of counsel's gatekeeping duty under Mass. R. Civ. P. 11 to ensure filings are accurate: "The blind acceptance of AI-generated content by attorneys undoubtedly will lead to other sanction hearings in the future." The court ordered plaintiff's counsel to pay a $2,000 monetary sanction to the Clerk of Court within ten days, stating that "no other or further sanction is imposed at this time." The court deliberately withheld counsel's name from the order as a matter of professional courtesy (footnote 3), so no attorney name is stated in the primary document. Source URLs: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly scan served as the primary document (https://masslawyersweekly.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2024/02/12-007-24.pdf); Reason/Volokh coverage: https://reason.com/volokh/2024/02/16/2000-sanction-in-another-ai-hallucinated-citation-case/.

How it could have been avoided

Verify every cited case in an authoritative database before filing; fictitious citations are discovered by routine cite checking. Review office filings personally rather than delegating unchecked AI output to interns or junior staff. Know which AI tools your office uses and supervise their output as the rules require.

Sources