Lawyer sanctioned for citing AI-generated fake legal precedents in Siracusa court
A lawyer in Siracusa, Italy was sanctioned after submitting four fabricated Court of Cassation precedents with false quotations to support a sublease contract case. The lawyer reportedly generated the fake citations using generative AI, which a court verification process identified as non-existent.
What happened
A lawyer submitted four non-existent Court of Cassation precedents as evidence in a case at the Tribunale di Siracusa relating to a sublease contract. The precedents included purported direct quotations from the cited decisions.
Court judges verified the citations and found that none of the four cited precedents contained the quoted passages attributed to them.
Reported impact
The lawyer was sanctioned by the court for improper use of legal sources.
Index analysis
The lawyer reportedly used generative artificial intelligence to produce the legal precedents and supporting arguments.
Classification
Sources and evidence
Sources not yet published
This record was researched and written by the Index from original reporting. Its sources are still being verified by an editor, and they are listed here once that check is complete. Until then the record carries no reviewer.