In re: Sanctions Order of Kenney, Kerry

In re: Sanctions Order of Kenney, Kerry, No. 25-C-389, La. App. 5 Cir., opinion issued October 23, 2025 (2025 WL 2986582), affirming sanctions imposed by the 24th Judicial District Court (Judge Nancy A. Miller) on relator Connie P. Trieu, counsel for plaintiff. Copy of primary document: `files/sources/D-99-in-re-kenney-kerry.pdf`.

Trieu filed an opposition to a peremptory exception containing three entirely fabricated cases (one central to the plaintiff's argument), a doctored quotation from a real case, and misrepresented holdings of two other real cases. Printed copies of generative AI summaries of the "Burns" and "Smith" cases (from Microsoft Copilot, ChatGPT, and Google AI) were the first indication she had used generative AI for legal research. At the sanctions hearing she conceded the citations were "AI hallucinations," claimed her paralegals and law clerks had cross-checked them with Google, ChatGPT, and Copilot, and argued the errors were an "honest mistake."

The trial court found a violation of La. Code Civ. P. art. 863(B)(2) and ordered Trieu to pay defendants' reasonable attorney's fees of $1,368 plus court costs within 30 days. On supervisory review, the Fifth Circuit affirmed, finding no abuse of discretion and calling the award "the least severe that could have been imposed," and additionally ordered Trieu to attend 3 hours of CLE training on the ethical and responsible use of generative AI programs and referred Trieu to the Office of Disciplinary Counsel for the Louisiana Attorney Disciplinary Board. The appellate court declined to award further monetary penalties for the writ itself, warning that future AI-citation writs may be deemed frivolous.

Cross-checking citations against ChatGPT, Copilot, or Google is not verification; check each authority in a real legal database. Read every pleading personally before filing, and do not delegate verification to staff using the same AI tools that created the errors. Correct fabricated citations immediately by withdrawing or amending the filing rather than filing errata that compound the problem.