In the case of E.J. v. Johnson, No. 3:23-CV-1636 (M.D. Pa. Aug. 19, 2024 Mehalchick, J.), Judge Karoline Mehalchick of the Federal Middle District Court of Pennsylvania has taken the innovative step of issuing a Civil Practice Order on Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence.
Under this Order, which appears to be the first of its kind in the Federal Middle District Court of Pennsylvania, and possibly even the first of its kind out of any state or federal court in Pennsylvania, Judge Mehalchick ordered that if a party to any litigation pending before her has utilized AI in preparation of any filing, that must include a Certificate of Use of Generative AI with the filing.
In that Certificate of Use of Generative AI, the party is required to disclose and certify the following:
(1) The specific AI tool utilized
(2) The portions of the filing prepared by the AI program; and
(3) That a person has checked the accuracy of any portion of the document generated by AI, including all citations and legal authority
In the Order, Judge Mehalchick cautioned that failure to comply with this Civil Practice Order could result in sanctions.
 |
| Judge Karoline Mehalchick M.D. Pa. |
Judge Mehalchick also directed that all parties and counsel review the conclusions on pgs. 15-16 of the Joint Formal Opinion of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and Philadelphia Bar Association regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence. That Joint Opinion can be viewed at this LINK.
Judge Mehalchick otherwise concluded her Order by directing counsel to be mindful of their ethical and professional obligations before the Court in this regard.
Anyone wishing to review Judge Mehalchick’s Civil Practice Order on the Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence may click this LINK.
I send thanks to Attorney Jerry Geiger of the Stroudsburg, PA law firm of Newman Williams, P.C. for bringing this novel Order to my attention.
Source of AI image: Photo by Solen Feyissa on www.pexels.com.