United StatesProfessional services2025Morgan & Morgan
Motions citing cases generated by the firm's in-house AI platform (Wadsworth v Walmart)
Federal judge fines three Morgan & Morgan lawyers $5,000 in total over eight fake cases from the firm's AI tool
Problem
Motions in a products liability case against Walmart cited eight cases that do not exist. The lawyer who drafted them had used the firm's in-house AI platform, MX2.law.
Approach
Judge Kelly Rankin of the Wyoming federal court issued the order on 24 February 2025 under Rule 11. Rudwin Ayala lost his pro hac vice admission and paid $3,000. The supervising lawyer T. Michael Morgan and local counsel Taly Goody paid $1,000 each for signing without review. The firm itself was not sanctioned.
Results
Takeaway
The judge declined to sanction the firm partly because it had already trained staff and added a verification prompt to the tool. The supervising lawyer and local counsel were fined $1,000 each for signing without review.
Categories
- Size
- Large enterprise
- Industry
- Professional services
- Business function
- Finance, risk and legalInternal work and knowledge management
- Innovation type
- Process innovation
- AI technology
- Generative AI
- Adoption
- Built in-house
- Evidence
- Regulator, audit or court
Sources
Source summaries
LawNext reported the 24 February 2025 sanctions order and the amounts imposed on each lawyer. It also notes that the firm was spared a sanction because of the steps it had already taken.
Full details are in the original sources.