Major Law Firm Issues Apology Following AI-Generated Errors in Court Submission
Andrew Dietderich of Sullivan & Cromwell acknowledged that while the firm maintains AI usage protocols designed to catch citation errors, these safeguards were not properly implemented in this instance.
Prominent Wall Street legal practice Sullivan & Cromwell has issued a formal apology to a federal judge following the submission of a court document containing approximately 40 erroneous citations and additional mistakes stemming from artificial intelligence hallucinations.
In a letter sent Friday to Chief Judge Martin Glenn of the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, Andrew Dietderich, who serves as co-head of Sullivan & Cromwell's global restructuring team, expressed profound regret over the incident.
Dietderich acknowledged full accountability for the lapse, stating: "The Firm and I are keenly aware of our responsibility to ensure the accuracy of all submissions including under Local Bankruptcy Rule 9011-1(d), and I take responsibility for the failure to do so." The problematic document was an emergency motion that had been filed nine days prior to his apology letter.
This occurrence underscores the potential dangers that artificial intelligence technologies present in critical professional settings when adequate supervision is absent. Legal technologist Damien Charlotin maintains a comprehensive database that has documented 1,334 cases of AI hallucinations appearing in court documents globally, with over 900 of these instances occurring within the United States alone.
According to Charlotin's observations, the majority of these AI-related errors involve fabricated legal citations, although there have been occasional instances where entirely AI-generated legal arguments have been detected as well.
In his statement, Dietderich explained that Sullivan & Cromwell maintains established protocols governing the utilization of AI technologies, which specifically include verification procedures for citations, but acknowledged that these protocols were not adhered to in this case.
"Regrettably, this review process did not identify the inaccurate citations generated by AI, nor did it identify other errors that appear to have resulted in whole or in part from manual error."
Sullivan & Cromwell stands as one of America's largest law firms measured by revenue, holding the 30th position on the AmLaw Global 200 rankings. The firm has also served as legal counsel for cryptocurrency exchange FTX during its bankruptcy proceedings.
Sullivan & Cromwell is conducting an internal investigation
According to Dietderich, the law firm implemented "immediate remedial measures" in response to the discovery, which included conducting a comprehensive review of the circumstances and factors that contributed to the errors.
Furthermore, the firm is currently "evaluating whether further enhancements to its internal training and review processes are warranted," Dietderich indicated in his letter.
Dietderich additionally revealed that the mistakes were first identified by a competing law firm rather than through internal quality control measures.
"I also called Boies Schiller Flexner LLP on Friday to thank them for bringing this matter to our attention and to apologize directly to them as well," he disclosed in his communication.