The Iowa Court of Appeals selects certain opinions for publication in the Northwestern Reporter. In December, the Court of Appeals selected three opinions for publication. Following are summaries of those opinions.
Stephen Dierickx v. DreamDirt Farms and Ranch Real Estate LLC dba DreamDirt Auctions, Tom Bradley, Jason Smith, Harry Gatzionis and Vail Holdings LLC,
Today's AI sanctions case
2/1 (per curiam) publishes this opinion today, granting a motion to strike an opening brief and sua sponte imposing monetary sanctions of $7500 to the court; and allowing appellant to file a new brief. It is undisputed that appellant’s attorney, Fahim Farivar, filed a brief containing numerous fabricated quotations—that is, language falsely attributed to published
Using AI to Prep for Oral Argument
I’ve been experimenting with using ChatGPT to prep for oral argument. I always do the thinking myself first, putting together my silly lists, outlines, and tough questions. But then I’ve been using AI to backstop or refine my work. It’s pretty good!
Here’s the basic process: First, I tell the client what I’m planning to
Writing tips & Shutdown news
Law360 has James Argionis’s article Junior Attys Must Beware Of 5 Common Legal Brief Mistakes — The 5 no-nos are: Including every possible argument; Not developing a theme; Being lazy with headings and subheadings; Not catching typos; and Not understanding that less is more.Law360 also has 7th Circ. Urges Litigants To Exercise Caution In Using
No AI sanctions here
In this unpub from 4/3, a pro per cites fictitious cases, but is not sanctioned. The court concludes:It is a serious and sanctionable action to cite fictitious cases on appeal. All parties, whether self-represented or not, must strive to include proper legal authorities in support of their arguments. Blind reliance on cases generated by artificial
Statewide injunctions and the quirks of artificial intelligence
The end of the Supreme Court term ends nationwide injunctions in federal courts…
In late June, in Trump v. CASA, Inc., a divided U.S. Supreme Court put the kibosh on so-called universal injunctions by federal district judges, holding that such broad injunctions lack a “historical pedigree” and are “outside the bounds of a federal
AI oral arg / "fun" opinions
Law360 has:
Top Supreme Court Atty Touts AI Version Of Own Argument
You’re not hallucinating — a tech-savvy U.S. Supreme Court advocate generated a near-facsimile of his voice, had an artificial intelligence chatbot use it to argue the same case he recently argued, and told Law360 on Tuesday that “many of its answers were as
SCOTUS term-end articles
Fourth Circuit Loses at Supreme Court With Every Ruling Reversed
Of the 62 cases the Supreme Court decided, including those not argued, eight came from the Fourth Circuit — the second highest number behind the 13 from the Fifth Circuit, according to data from Adam Feldman, author of the Legalytics newsletter on Substack. The Ninth
AI for appellate motions and more?
Bloomberg Law has US Courts Cautiously Experiment With AI to Speed Up Their WorkThe First, Fifth, and Federal circuits are looking into possible uses of AI. For example, the Fifth Circuit is testing whether AI can make initial evaluations on motions for extensions of time or determine whether a party filed an appeal in
New York Court Rejects Litigant's AI Avatar During Oral Argument
New
York Court Rejects Litigant’s AI Avatar During Oral Argument