{"id":905721,"date":"2026-05-27T16:29:26","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:29:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/?p=905721"},"modified":"2026-05-27T16:29:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T22:29:28","slug":"artificial-intelligence-how-not-to-use-in-briefing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myconstructionexpert.com\/blog\/artificial-intelligence-how-not-to-use-in-briefing\/","title":{"rendered":"Fifth Circuit Explains How (Not) to Use AI in Briefing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Andrew Gould | Hicks Johnson<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining the ever-increasing ranks of courts across the country, the Fifth Circuit recently confronted the problem of AI\u2011hallucinated quotations and citations<\/a> in a legal brief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\u00a0Fletcher v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.<\/strong><\/em>,\u00a0<\/strong>No. 25-20086 (5th Cir. Feb. 18, 2026)<\/a>, the court \u2014 in an opinion by Chief Judge Elrod, joined by Judges Smith and Wilson \u2014 sanctioned counsel $2,500 after concluding that she used generative AI \u201cto draft a substantial portion, if not all, of her reply brief\u201d; failed to verify the brief’s hallucinated quotations and citations; and then offered evasive, misleading explanations when the court asked what happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Two aspects of the opinion stand out.\u00a0First,<\/strong>\u00a0the court reaffirmed that a bespoke rule is unnecessary to govern AI misuse in lawyers’ briefing. Existing tools \u2014 Federal Rule of Appellate Procedure 46(c) (allowing courts to discipline attorneys for \u201cconduct unbecoming a member of the bar\u201d) and the court\u2019s inherent authority (allowing the imposition of “sanctions for abuse of the judicial process\u201d) \u2014 are enough to address inaccurate filings, as well as an attorney’s misleading behavior when confronted with such errors.\u00a0The Fifth Circuit even declined last year to adopt a proposed certification rule about AI use<\/a>, opting instead to remind practitioners that they must review filings for accuracy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Second<\/strong>, candor matters. The court emphasized that it likely would have imposed lesser sanctions had counsel been forthright about the mistake from the outset. Instead, after the show\u2011cause order itemized a laundry list of fabricated quotations and other misstatements, counsel blamed \u201cpublicly available sources\u201d for the errors \u2014 which, as the court showed, was highly unlikely (to put it mildly) \u2014 and only later confessed to the use of AI. The court deemed this conduct \u201cevasive, misleading, and sanctionable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Takeaways: <\/strong>Use AI responsibly \u2014 not blindly. (Or, as the maxim goes, \u201cTrust, but verify.\u201d) And if you discover an error after filing, notify the court and own up to it \u2014 promptly. The Fifth Circuit\u2019s message isn’t \u201cdon\u2019t use AI\u201d; it\u2019s \u201cdon\u2019t outsource your professional judgment \u2014 and take accountability when you slip.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

If it were ever an excuse to plead ignorance of the risks of using generative AI to draft a brief without verifying its output, it is certainly no longer so. To ethically use generative AI in the practice of law\u2014which we do not dispute can be helpful if done properly and carefully\u2014a lawyer must \u201censure that the legal propositions and authority generated are trustworthy.\u201d ByoPlanet Int\u2019l, LLC v. Johansson, 792 F. Supp. 3d 1341, 1347 (S.D. Fla. 2025). Failure to do so \u201cabdicate[s] one\u2019s duty, waste[s] legal resources, and lower[s] the public\u2019s respect for the legal profession and judicial proceedings.\u201d Id.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 www.ca5.uscourts.gov\/…<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

When one of your cases is in need of a construction expert, estimates, insurance appraisal or umpire services in defect or insurance disputes – please call Advise & Consult, Inc. at 801.641.8304, or email experts@adviseandconsult.net<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Andrew Gould | Hicks Johnson Joining the ever-increasing ranks of courts across the country, the Fifth Circuit recently confronted the problem of AI\u2011hallucinated quotations and citations in a legal brief. In\u00a0Fletcher v. Experian Information Solutions, Inc.,\u00a0No. 25-20086 (5th Cir. Feb. 18, 2026), the court \u2014 in an opinion by Chief Judge Elrod, joined by Judges… Continue reading Fifth Circuit Explains How (Not) to Use AI in Briefing<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[172],"tags":[9895,3918,11331,27],"class_list":["post-905721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-construction-law-2","tag-advise-consult","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-construction-law","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nFifth Circuit Explains How (Not) to Use AI in Briefing - 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