Federal judges admit staff used AI for error-ridden court orders

Two federal judges admitted over the summer that their staffs used artificial intelligence to draft court decisions that contained errors.

The admissions from U.S. District Judge Julien Xavier Neals in New Jersey and U.S. District Judge Henry Wingate in Mississippi came in response to an investigation by Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Grassley called the recent court decisions “riddled with errors.”

In letters released Thursday by Grassley’s office, the judges said decisions in unrelated cases did not go through their chambers’ regular review processes before being released.

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Both justices said they were taking measures to improve review of decisions before they are published.

In his letter, Neals said the June 30 draft decision in a securities case “was released in error – human error – and was withdrawn as soon as it was brought to my chamber’s attention.”

The judge said a law school intern used OpenAI’s ChatGPT to conduct legal research without permission or explanation, which was against the chamber’s policy and the relevant law school policy.

“My chamber’s policy prohibits the use of GenAI in legal research or drafting of opinions or orders,” Neals wrote. “In the past, my policy was communicated verbally to chamber employees, including interns. This is no longer the case. I now have a written, clear policy that applies to all law clerks and interns.”

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Senator Chuck Grassley called the recent court decisions “riddled with errors.” (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc. via Getty Images)

Wingate added in his letter that a law clerk used Perplexity “as a basic drafting assistant to synthesize publicly available information in the file” and that releasing the July 20 draft decision was “an error in human oversight.”

“This was a mistake. I have taken the necessary steps in my chambers to ensure this mistake does not happen again,” the judge said. he wrote.

Wingate had vacated and modified the original decision in the civil rights case; he declined to provide a statement at the time, but said it contained “clerical errors.”

Grassley had asked judges to clarify whether artificial intelligence was used in decisions after lawyers in related cases raised concerns about factual inaccuracies and other serious errors.

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Senator Chuck Grassley had asked the justices to clarify whether artificial intelligence was used in the decisions after lawyers raised concerns about factual inaccuracies and other errors. (Photo: SUSAN WALSH/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

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“Honesty is always the best policy. I commend Judges Wingate and Neals for admitting their mistakes, and I’m glad to hear they’re working to make sure this doesn’t happen again,” Grassley said in a statement. he said.

“Every federal judge, and the judiciary as an institution, has an obligation to ensure that productive use of artificial intelligence does not violate plaintiffs’ rights or impede fair treatment under the law,” the senator continued. “The Judiciary needs to develop more decisive, meaningful and permanent AI policies and guidelines. We cannot allow laziness, apathy or over-reliance on artificial assistance to subvert the Judiciary’s commitment to honesty and factual accuracy. My oversight will continue, as always.”

Lawyers have also faced scrutiny from judges across the country over accusations of misuse of artificial intelligence in court cases. In response, judges have imposed fines or other sanctions in many cases over the past few years.

Reuters contributed to this report.