Furious Judge Cancels Entire Trial After Finding Out Lawyers on Both Sides Used AI

A federal judge in Mississippi canceled a trial and imposed severe penalties after learning that lawyers on both sides of a dispute over unpaid legal fees relied on AI tools that produced fabricated legal citations. Judge Sharion Aycock of the Northern District of Mississippi issued a sanctions order fining two attorneys $1,000 to $3,500 and barring them from appearing in her court for two years. All four lawyers involved were disqualified from the case. The case centered on a breach of contract claim by plaintiff Tom Withers against the city of Aberdeen, Mississippi. During a January 20 hearing, attorneys Kathryn Williams (representing Withers) and Kathleen Wilson (representing the city) admitted to using AI for legal research and drafting filings but failed to verify the accuracy of the citations. Both expressed embarrassment and apologized to the court. Judge Aycock rejected Wilson’s claim of ignorance, writing that her explanation about not knowing AI could generate false cases was ‘incredulous.’ Williams argued that her firm’s AI tool was not supposed to produce errors, but the judge dismissed this as an insufficient defense. The judge noted that both attorneys relied on AI-generated content without proper verification, leading to ‘hallucinatory citations’ in court filings. This incident highlights a growing problem in legal proceedings, where AI tools are increasingly used without adequate oversight. A 2025 report found that AI hallucinations remain a pervasive issue, slowing down cases and damaging trust in the legal system. Aycock’s ruling serves as a stark warning about the risks of unchecked AI use in legal filings.