What Happened
Former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen used Google Bard for legal research and passed along case citations supporting his motion for early termination of supervised release. His attorney David Schwartz filed them without verification, and Judge Jesse Furman found that none of the cited cases existed. Cohen said he believed Bard was a 'super-charged search engine' and did not realize it could invent cases.
Impact
The court threatened sanctions and publicly branded the episode embarrassing and negligent, though it ultimately declined to sanction Cohen or his lawyer; the case reinforced judicial skepticism of AI-assisted filings.
How to Prevent This
- Verify every AI-suggested citation in Westlaw, LexisNexis, or official court records before filing
- Educate clients and attorneys that chatbots generate text, not authoritative search results
- Adopt firm-wide policies requiring disclosure and human validation of AI research
- Cross-check quoted holdings against the actual opinions, not just case names
- Use citation-verification software as a mandatory pre-filing step