MyPillow lawyers fined for AI-generated court filing

Two lawyers for MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell were found to have submitted a court document riddled with errors that had been drafted using AI, resulting in accusations of incompetence and bringing the legal process into disrepute. What happened Attorneys Christopher Kachouroff and Jennifer DeMaster, representing Mike Lindell in a defamation case, filed a legal motion that was generated using AI tools and contained over 30 errors, including citations to non-existent cases and misquotes of legal principles, thereby violating court rules and US federal civil procedure. Judge Nina Wang ruled that the USD 3,000 fines per lawyer were the “least severe sanction” sufficient to both punish and deter this conduct. Why it happened Whilst defending Lindell in a defamation lawsuit brought forth by former Dominion Voting Systems employee Eric Coome, t he two lawyers used generative AI to cut their own costs, but failed to verify the output of the system. The jury found Lindell liable for false claims about the 2020 US Presidential election . Under questioning, they acknowledged using AI and failed to provide a credible explanation for not checking or correcting the errors before submission - reflecting a lack of due diligence in legal practice and a breakdown in transparency, as the errors were only admitted after the court’s intervention. The lawyers claimed they accidentally submitted an earlier draft of the filing in which the mistakes had not yet been corrected . They also admitted to not informing their client of their use of AI in the preparation of his case. What it means This incident highlights the dangers of legal professionals’ reliance on AI without proper verification of its outputs, thereby exposing their clients and the justice system to risks of misinformation and error-laden advocacy. For those directly impacted - including litigants who rely on lawyers for competent representation - the episode raises concerns about legal accuracy and fairness. More broadly, it serves as a warning to the legal industry and society about the limitations, transparency gaps, and accountability challenges in integrating unregulated AI into important decision-making roles. System 🤖 CoPilot Gemini Grok Developer: Google; Microsoft; xAI Country: USA Sector: Business/professional services Purpose: Generate legal filing Technology: Generati ve AI; Machine learning Issue: Accountability; Accuracy/rel iability; Fairness; Transparency Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️ ERIC COOMER, Plaintiff, v. MICHAEL J. LINDELL, FRANKSPEECH LLC, and MY PILLOW, INC.

Date it happened

2025-02-01

Organisation involved

MyPillow

Product, system or model

CoPilot; Gemini; Grok

This is a record of what was reported, not a finding that anyone broke the law. If it names your organisation and you believe it is wrong, the corrections process is free and open to everyone.