Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly reports a judge in Barnstable Superior Court has refused to let a New York lawyer represent an LLC she owns in a Cape Cod case because some of her filings cite “fictional cases” and rulings that have nothing to do with the case, in motions that completely misconstrue Massachusetts law.
It’s the second time in a month that a Massachusetts judge has booted an out-of-state lawyer from the courtroom for failing to check AI-generated motions to see if cited cases really exist, rather than being computer-generated hallucinations.
In the Barnstable case, Judge Elaine Buckley rejected New York attorney Amanda Gordon’s “pro hac vice” request to appear as a lawyer in her court – representing an LLC she owns – after reading some of her initial filings and actually checking her work:
The attorney seeking Pro Hac admission has demonstrated a lack of candor to the court as she has filed pleadings and motions citing to fictional cases, wholly misconstrued the law and bastardized the case holdings and rulings which were wholly inapplicable to the case at Bar. She has demonstrated poor legal acumen, analysis and has filed pleadings prior to this motion which did not comply with the Rules of the Superior Court. This candidate is not of the Quality of a lawyer befitting appearances in the Superior Court.
Lawyers from other states not already licensed in Massachusetts can argue cases here, but only if they have a local lawyer sponsor them and the judge approves. After rejecting Gordon’s request, Buckley then denied a series of motions that Gordon had filed in the case – in which she sought to represent both herself and an LLC she owns against a suit by someone who had been living in a home she owns on the Cape.
Gordon, a graduate of Northeastern University Law School, can still defend herself pro se, but she would have to hire a lawyer to represent the LLC – in Massachusetts, LLCs in court have to hire licensed legal counsel.
