Tovar v. American Automatic Fire Suppression Inc., decided Oct. 3 by San Diego County Superior Court Judge Carolyn M. Caietti, declined to impose sanctions on defendant’s lawyers, because the plaintiff hadn’t complied with certain procedural rules, but added:
Notwithstanding the denial on procedural grounds, the Court is deeply troubled by the conduct of Defense counsel. Defendants admitted to submitting authority that was miscited, non-existent or inapposite…. “Simply stated, no brief, pleading, motion, or any other paper filed in any court should contain any citations—whether provided by generative AI or any other source—that the attorney responsible for submitting the pleading has not personally read and verified.” … [A] party’s citation to fabricated legal authorities violate[] “a basic duty counsel owed to his client and the court” ….
One of Defendants’ most recent motions contain both citations to cases that do not appear to exist and factual misrepresentations. On July 23, 2025, Defendants filed a motion to compel an independent medical examination of Plaintiff. There is a citation to a case that does not exist and a citation that does not stand for the premise asserted.
In addition, Attorney Woods’ supporting declaration contained [non-AI-related] misrepresentations to the Court. [Details omitted. -EV]
Defendants also cite to a Notice of Errata filed in relation to the IME motion as having cured any false citations or misrepresentations. While the Notice of Errata removed citations to two of the cases cited, it more so “corrected” other citations to repealed statutes. It also minimized the citations to “clerical errors” that did not alter the substance of the legal argument presented. A stark contrast to the position taken by Defendants now.