AI incident #1572 ·
Westlaw CoCounsel Reportedly Generated False Legal Quotations in United States v. Farris
What happened
In United States v. Farris, court-appointed attorney Steven N. Howe admitted using Westlaw CoCounsel to draft appellate briefs that reportedly included AI-generated false quotations and misleading descriptions of precedent. The filing disrupted Farris's appeal, leading the court to appoint new counsel and restart briefing, while Howe lost his compensation and faced possible disciplinary action.
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News reports (1)
Coverage catalogued by the AI Incident Database. Titles link to the original publisher; the text is not reproduced here.
Who was involved
- Alleged deployer
- Steven N. Howe, Legal Professionals, Law Firms
- Alleged harmed party
- United States Court Of Appeals For The Sixth Circuit, Legal Clients, Judicial Integrity, John C. Farris, Epistemic Integrity
Classification (MIT AI Risk Repository taxonomy)
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