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Recent Folio Article Jacksonville, FL May 2025

  • 1.  Recent Folio Article Jacksonville, FL May 2025

    Posted 06-04-2025 16:15
    Edited by Christina Dillahunt-Aspillaga 06-04-2025 18:49
    Article photo
    Feature (photo credit Folio)
    https://folioweekly.com/2025/05/21/roads-to-riches/

    Roads to Riches

    May 21, 2025
    by Carmen Macri
     16 mins read
    Also, note the use of AI. 
    From the Article
    Federal Judges William G. Young, Timothy J. Corrigan, Marcia Morales Howard and Roy B. Dalton Jr. co-authored and signed a 148-page order outlining serious misconduct by Farah. According to the judges, Farah's actions clogged the system: "Other litigants faced increased delays as the court had to divert its attention to cleaning up the mess that was the Engle docket." They went on to say it was Farah's "obstructive, deceptive and recalcitrant behavior," combined with hundreds of frivolous filings, that forced the court to pursue sanctions.
    Tobacco litigation claims were submitted on behalf of hundreds of people who had never authorized them, and in some cases, had never even smoked. More than 500 of the supposed plaintiffs were, in fact, deceased. The mess only came to light after the court, frustrated by the situation, brought in a special master to investigate. Despite pushback from the attorneys-who insisted everything was above board-the special master sent questionnaires directly to the individuals listed as plaintiffs. That's when the truth came out. The special master's report concluded that Farah and Wilner had violated Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 11, 28 U.S.C. § 1927, the Middle District's Local Rules and Florida's Rules of Professional Conduct.

    In a motion filed by Morgan & Morgan, nine cases were cited as precedent to support an injury claim against Walmart. The issue? Eight of those cases were entirely fabricated. The individuals weren't real. The citations didn't exist. The legal precedent originated from the Land of Make Believe - courtesy of artificial intelligence.

    Just like in the Farah case, the judge ruled that Morgan & Morgan's conduct violated Rule 11(b). He didn't mince words: "A fake opinion is not 'existing law,' and citation to a fake opinion does not provide a non-frivolous ground for extending, modifying, or reversing existing law, or for establishing new law."

    Link to Sanctions: https://www.lawnext.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/gov.uscourts.wyd_.64014.181.0_1.pdf

     

    Now?

    Is this still happening? Yes. A local attorney had 2 cases referred to them from another large firm last week. The claimants were found to be deceased. ?


    Do you need to know about AI it even if you do not use it?

    Yes. It is not going away. 

    Forbes published  a topical article about the use of AI in the courtroom 

    Can Expert Witnesses Use AI? (Link to the Forbes article) 

    General takeaways from the  Forbes article: 

    • Understand AI - what it is and what it isn't

    • Use AI as a complement only

    • Be transparent in your use of AI

    • Validate the use of AI and any results that are generated. Fact check it! 

     

    When using AI, the expert's responsibility lies in ensuring that the AI's contributions are transparent, explainable, and validated.

    WHAT ELSE CAN WE DO?

    Do you use an AI-powered writing assistant that helps improve grammar, spelling, punctuation, clarity, and tone in your writing?

    If you use a program like Grammarly, Ginger, or Copilot, ensure that you check your privacy settings. You might be sharing more than you know. 

    How to turn off training to LLM

    Ensure that you consider the applications of PHI in AI technology and the potential risks of HIPAA non-compliance when utilizing AI in your practice. 

    All articles listed herein are available for download. Understand terms before you share articles.

    This work, published in Folio, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which is available at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ and is incorporated herein by reference.
    Attribution 4.0 International

    You are free to:

    1. Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format for any purpose, even commercially.

    2. Adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially.

    3. The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.

    Public Domain Mark 1.0 Universal - (check this site)

    According to Creative Commons - No Copyright

    1. This work has been identified as being free of known restrictions under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights.

      You can copy, modify, distribute, and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission

    • Please note that I did not use any specific AI program to proofread my post. I used the Google search feature to locate links to the articles cited in this text. When in doubt, cite. 
    • Please note that I am not endorsing the use of any specific search engine or AI writing tool.


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    Christina Dillahunt-Aspillaga
    Professor
    cdillahuntas@usf.edu
    Tampa, FL United States
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