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Lawyer's AI "Slop" Sparks Court Sanctions
22 Oct
Summary
- An appeals court referred a lawyer to the bar for possible discipline.
- Filings were rejected for bearing hallmarks of generative AI output.
- The court called the submissions "AI slop" and excessively unfocused.
A Florida appeals court recently referred attorney Jaclyn Soroka to the Florida bar for possible professional discipline. The West Palm Beach-based 4th District Court of Appeal found that Soroka's legal filings in a family law case exhibited characteristics of generative artificial intelligence output.
The panel described the submissions as "AI slop," noting they were excessively long, unfocused, and contained "gibberish." This situation differs from other AI-related sanctions where lawyers have submitted fabricated AI content without verification.
Soroka acknowledged using AI but argued her citations were real and verified. She attributed a false quotation in a lower court filing to human error and time pressures. However, the court maintained that a lawyer signing a pleading is responsible for its entire content.
