Judges in New Jersey and Mississippi Admit AI Tools Produced Erroneous Federal Court Filings

Summary

Two U.S. federal judges, Julien Neals (D.N.J.) and Henry Wingate (S.D. Miss.), reportedly admitted that staff in their chambers used AI tools, ChatGPT and Perplexity, to draft rulings containing purportedly fabricated quotes, cases, and parties. The erroneous filings were reportedly docketed before review, prompting Senate and judicial inquiries. Both rulings were retracted.

Developers

• OpenAI
• Perplexity AI

Deployers

• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
• Julien Neals
• Henry Wingate
• Unnamed law clerk (S.D. Miss.)
• Unnamed law school intern (D.N.J.)

Harmed parties

• Plaintiffs and defendants in CorMedix Securities Litigation
• Plaintiffs and defendants in Jackson Federation of Teachers et al. v. Mississippi State Board of Education
• Julien Neals
• Henry Wingate
• United States District Court for the District of New Jersey
• United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi
• Epistemic integrity
• Judicial integrity