Lawyers in Wyoming have found themselves in hot water after court filings included references to eight legal cases that do not exist.
The incident came to light during proceedings in a lawsuit involving Walmart and Jetson Electronic Bikes, Inc. Court documents in the case contained case citations that could not be verified in any legal database. District Judge Kelly Rankin issued a court order demanding an explanation for the discrepancies and warning of possible sanctions. The development has raised fresh questions about the reliability of artificial intelligence in legal research.
The lawsuit centers on claims that a Jetson hoverboard’s lithium-ion battery malfunctioned, causing a fire that damaged a family’s home and led to severe injuries. The legal motion sought to exclude certain evidence by citing several precedents. When court officials attempted to verify these citations, none of the cases could be located in any established legal repository. This anomaly prompted Judge Rankin to question the foundation of the legal arguments presented. The matter remains under scrutiny by the court.
In response to the inquiry, the law firm acknowledged that its internal artificial intelligence platform was responsible for generating the erroneous case citations. The firm described the incident as an AI “hallucination” during the drafting process of the motion. The explanation highlighted the tool’s capacity to fabricate information and raised concerns about its unchecked use in legal research. The acknowledgment came as part of the firm’s broader internal review, which seeks to understand how the error occurred and to prevent similar incidents in the future.
This case is not the first time that AI-generated content has led to errors in legal documents. In a 2022 case involving an incident on an Avianca Airlines flight, lawyers were found to have cited fictitious cases to support their argument regarding a malfunctioning service cart. That error led to a financial penalty and intense scrutiny of the legal team’s research practices. More recently, in 2024, disbarred former celebrity attorney Michael Cohen experienced similar issues when his legal team received incorrect case citations generated by a tool from a major technology company. Each of these events has highlighted the dangers inherent in trusting AI outputs without rigorous verification.
The reliance on artificial intelligence in legal work has grown substantially over the past few years. Law firms increasingly turn to AI tools for tasks such as document review, legal research, and drafting motions. These technologies promise enhanced efficiency and speed, but the recent events have underscored the risks of incorporating unverified automated outputs into critical legal filings. Errors such as these can damage a firm’s reputation, lead to professional sanctions, and potentially harm a client’s case. The situation reflects a broader debate about the role of technology.
Some firms have begun rethinking their approach to integrating artificial intelligence into legal workflows. Training programs now focus on the limitations of AI and emphasize the importance of manual verification of all AI-generated content. New protocols are being introduced that require a secondary review of legal citations before they are included in any official filings. The move comes as part of a larger effort within the legal community to adapt to rapidly evolving technological tools. Internal audits and stricter review processes are being implemented to ensure that reliance on AI does not compromise the quality of legal work.
